C3: Commercial Service

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

A house, on the R3 zone's rules; and every C2 home: an accessory dwelling unit attached to the lot's main use, homes above a ground floor kept for shops or other uses in a mixed-use building of two or more homes, bed and breakfast rooms (ss. 70(1), 69(1); definitions in s. 12). The zone sets no count of homes for a mixed-use building, so how many fit is unclear: ask the Municipality

Main uses

Every C2 use (Shops, a retail lumber and building supply yard, motor vehicle parts, a wholesale store, tool rental, appliance and small equipment repair, offices, a financial institution, a medical laboratory, a veterinary clinic, a hairdresser, a dry cleaner and laundromat, a funeral parlour, a hotel, a restaurant, a pub and a night club, entertainment uses, a club, a fitness centre, a commercial school, a child care centre, a nursery, a bus depot, a car wash, a service station and commercial cardlock, mini-warehousing, parking, a food truck, trailer or cart; a mixed-use building, an accessory dwelling unit, bed and breakfast, a home-based business, a house); also an automotive repair shop, major equipment repair (farm, construction and industrial equipment and commercial vehicles), motor vehicle sales and rentals, a truck depot, warehousing, a market garden (a market mainly for farm products), a micro cannabis production facility, a custom workshop accessory to the main use, mobile food service (ss. 70(1), 12)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

560 m², 15 m of frontage (s. 70(2), (3))

Lot coverage

50% (s. 70(4))

Height limit

Main buildings 12.0 m; accessory buildings 5.0 m (s. 70(6))

Setbacks

Main buildings: front 8.0 m, one side 5.0 m; accessory buildings: front 8.0 m, one side 1.0 m. Where a side line is next to residentially zoned land, the side yard is on that side; a rear line next to residentially zoned land 8.0 m (s. 70(5))

The bylaw gives no statement of the zone's intent; its uses are C2's shops and services plus vehicle, equipment and warehouse uses (our reading).

A house here follows the R3 zone's rules (s. 70(1)); see that zone for its lot, coverage and setbacks.

Next to residentially zoned land, a landscape screen of planting and a 2.0 m fence, on a landscaped strip at least 1.1 m wide (s. 39(2)).

A home-based business is accessory to a home on the lot and limited to arts and crafts studios, repair of private cars, day care, hairdressing, offices and small tool and appliance repair (s. 12).

Short-term rental isn't a use this zone lists; ask the Municipality of North Cowichan before renting a home short term.

Site-specific exceptions listed in the bylaw by legal description can add or change uses for one property, and development permit areas, the ALR and building rules apply on top. Confirm with North Cowichan's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: Section 70 of Zoning Bylaw 1997, No. 2950 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-06); zone map: Open Government Licence – Municipality of North Cowichan.