A-4: Rural (4.0 ha lot)

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One house with a secondary suite (s. 5.24). Small-scale multi-unit housing and garden suites aren't listed uses here (s. 125.1)

Main uses

Farming, a house, boarders (at most 2 in a home), home occupations (bed and breakfast among them), a farm produce stand, accessory buildings; logging is prohibited (ss. 125.1 to 125.3)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

4 ha, 60 m wide; no panhandle lots (s. 125.9)

Lot coverage

40% on a lot under 2,000 m²; none set on bigger lots (s. 125.4)

Height limit

House 7.5 m, 6.5 m with a flat or low-pitched roof (under 3 in 12); farm buildings one storey (a hayloft or mezzanine allowed); accessory buildings 3.75 m (ss. 125.5, 125.6, 125.8)

Setbacks

House, farm buildings (not for animals), the produce stand and other accessory buildings: front, rear and street side 7.5 m, sides 3.0 m; farm buildings 3.0 m from homes. Buildings for farm animals 15 m from every lot line and 7.5 m from homes, kennels 15.2 m (s. 5.31)

A house: floor space ratio at most 0.45, and at most 400 m² of gross floor area, whichever is less (s. 125.6(c)); this cap doesn't apply where a building permit application was made before January 1, 2025 (s. 5.40).

Farm residential footprint: on an A-zoned lot of 2,000 m² to about 60 ha (148 acres), or any lot in the ALR, the house, any other homes and their yards sit inside one rectangle of at most 1,000 m² (lot under 5,000 m²), 1,500 m² (under 20,000 m²) or 2,000 m², drawn round the existing house or, on a lot without one, at a front corner within 40 m of the front line (s. 5.41).

All land in the Agricultural Land Reserve also falls under the Agricultural Land Commission Act and its regulations (ss. 5.33, 5.41(h)). Whether this lot is in the ALR is in the report's ALR section.

Farm buildings: a bathroom at most 3.0 m² without a shower (4.0 m² with one where biosecurity needs it); produce stand at most 12 m², one per lot (ss. 125.5, 125.7).

Poultry and other animals: setbacks by flock size and lot size in Table 5.2 (s. 5.31).

Christmas tree sales from December 1 to 26 on a lot over 0.5 ha (s. 5.23).

A secondary suite: one per property, inside the house or a houseplex, never on a title of its own, lived in only once the District has issued an occupancy permit, usually with one more parking space; no boarders in it (s. 5.24).

Home occupations: residents only, at most 20% of the floor area or 50 m², indoors, no more than two clients at a time; a bed and breakfast at most 40 m² of guest rooms (s. 5.5).

Short-term rental (stays under 30 days) isn't among the zone's listed uses (s. 2 defines it apart from bed and breakfast); ask the District whether and how a home here may be rented that way.

Sections 5 (special regulations), 6 (landscaping) and 7 (parking) of the bylaw also apply.

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 the District of Saanich's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: Schedule 125 of District of Saanich Zoning Bylaw No. 8200 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-04); zone map: Saanich Data Catalogue Licence (based on the Open Government Licence – British Columbia).