FC-2: False Creek Flats Innovation Hub

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Homes only in sub-areas B, C1, C2 and E (on the schedule's map): mixed-use buildings, micro dwellings, temporary modular housing and homes with artist studios (all conditional), never at street level, entrances aside; in C1 and C2 every home social housing. None in sub-areas A and D (ss. 1.1, 2.1, 2.2.4, 3.2.1.4, 3.3.1.2)

Main uses

Artist studios, theatres, labs, catering, printing, studios, Class 1 restaurants, vocational schools and light manufacturing (bakeries, clothing, furniture, electronics, creative products), outright; offices (in sub-areas B, C1, C2 and D not lawyers', accountants', real estate, insurance or travel offices; health care offices only in A and E), a hotel, Class 2 restaurants, a pub, brewing, heavier manufacturing, storage, wholesaling, data centres, shops selling art, handcrafts or take-out food only, and short-term rental, conditional. Offices and data centres never at street level (ss. 2.1, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.4, 2.2.5, 2.2.7)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

None set in the district (our reading)

Lot coverage

None set. Floor space ratio by sub-area: A 7.00 (offices to 6.75, a hotel 4.00); B 5.00 for other uses and 3.00 for homes, up to 6.50 (homes 5.00) with approval; C1 1.00, up to 1.50 with approval, 2.50 with social housing; C2 4.00 (homes 3.00), up to 6.50 with approval; D 3.00, up to 7.50 with at least 1.00 in light industry; E 3.00, 6.50 for a mixed-use building with rental or social housing and light industry. Restaurants at most 300 m² each (ss. 3.1.1, 3.2.1, 3.3.1, 3.4.1)

Height limit

By sub-area: A and B 22.9 m, up to 51.8 m with approval; C1 10.7 m, up to 18.3 m; C2 and D 10.7 m, up to 51.8 m; E 18.3 m, up to 42.7 m. The ground floor at least 6.0 m floor to floor (ss. 3.1.2.1, 3.1.2.5, 3.1.2.7, 3.2.2.1, 3.2.2.7, 3.3.2.1, 3.3.2.7, 3.4.2.1, 3.4.2.7)

Setbacks

Front 0.6 m (1.2 m for parking), no side yards (a corner's street side as the front), rear 0.6 m; the Director of Planning may reduce them (ss. 3.1.2.2 to 3.1.2.4, 3.1.2.8 to 3.1.2.12, and the same in 3.2.2, 3.3.2 and 3.4.2)

The schedule's aim is a dense mixed-use neighbourhood of jobs across the False Creek Flats economy, creative, food, industrial and research work, with some homes (s. 1.1).

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).

One family to a home, plus at most 2 boarders or lodgers; no home rented for less than 30 days except as a hotel, bed and breakfast or short-term rental (ss. 11.3.1.1, 11.3.1.7). The smallest home is 37 m² (29.7 m² with the Director of Planning's approval) (s. 11.3.1.2).

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).

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 FC-2 District 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.