C-5: Commercial, West End

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

No new homes: homes, seniors housing, community care and group residences only where they stood on February 4, 2014 (conditional), none within 2.0 m of the street's grade on a commercial frontage, entrances aside (ss. 2.1, 2.2.3)

Main uses

Shops, a grocery or drug store, offices, banks, health care offices, Class 1 restaurants, barbers, clubs, theatres, fitness centres, pools, a community centre, a social service centre, child day care, schools and vet clinics, outright; Class 2 restaurants, a pub, a cabaret, a hotel, liquor and cannabis stores, pawnshops, gas stations, parking, bed and breakfast and short-term rental, conditional. Carried on inside a building, patios and the like excepted (ss. 2.1, 2.2.1)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

None set in the district (our reading); a street-level shop at most 7.7 m of frontage, unless the Director of Planning allows more for an older grocery or drug store and its neighbours on a wide site (ss. 3.1.2.1, 3.1.2.6)

Lot coverage

None set. Floor space ratio 2.20; 10% more from a heritage density transfer (ss. 3.1.1.2, 3.1.1.5, 3.1.1.6)

Height limit

18.3 m, under a plane from 7.4 m at the north lot lines and 11.0 m at the south ones on a street or lane (ss. 3.1.2.2, 3.1.2.8 to 3.1.2.11)

Setbacks

No front or side yards (none allowed, but the Director of Planning may allow them to keep shops continuous or give homes light); rear 7.6 m for homes, which the Director of Planning may reduce, none for other uses; the ground floor built to the front and side lines (ss. 3.1.2.3 to 3.1.2.5, 3.1.2.12 to 3.1.2.15, 4.3.2)

The schedule's aim is shops and services that fit the West End's mostly residential character, with buildings oriented to people on foot (s. 1.1).

Shopfronts need display windows or the like, a door to each shop from the street and continuous weather protection 1.5 m deep; corners on commercial streets are rounded or cut back and marked (ss. 4.3.1 to 4.3.7).

Each habitable room needs a window on an outside wall (s. 4.2).

Outright uses get a permit once they meet the rules; conditional uses are at the Director of Planning's discretion, weighing the schedule's intent, Council's policies and guidelines and what neighbours, owners and tenants submit (s. 2.1).

Short-term rental is a conditional use, only in the operator's principal residence (a home, secondary suite, laneway house or lock-off unit); never in an accessory building or a vehicle, or alongside a bed and breakfast; at most 2 adults to a bedroom and one booking at a time; its permit lasts 2 years (s. 11.9.1).

Bed and breakfast: at most 2 bedrooms and 4 guests, the operator living in the home, and no boarders at the same time (s. 11.9.2).

Sections 2 (definitions), 10 (general regulations) and 11 (use-specific regulations) of the by-law also apply. Parking is set by the separate Parking By-law, which we haven't summarised.

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 City of Vancouver's development, buildings and licensing department before you buy or build.

Source: the C-5, C-5A and C-6 Districts Schedule (June 2026) of Zoning and Development By-law No. 3575 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-05 and 2026-10-06); Section 11, Use-Specific Regulations (February 2026), Zoning and Development By-law No. 3575; Section 2, Definitions (June 2026), Zoning and Development By-law No. 3575; zone map: Open Government Licence – Vancouver.