BC zoning guides: how many units can you build?

Bill 44 required every BC municipality over 5,000 people to allow small-scale multi-unit housing, and almost every one of them implemented it differently. These guides explain what each city actually did, in plain English, with the figures taken from the same zoning bylaw tables our reports read.

By municipality

How many units can I build in Abbotsford? Abbotsford states its small-scale entitlement once, centrally, in Section 140 of the Zoning Bylaw. Read your zone section on its own and you will get the wrong number.
How many units can I build in Burnaby? The R1 Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing District, 4 units and 6 near transit.
How many units can I build in Chilliwack? Chilliwack's whole Bill 44 grant is one clause with seven conditions. Your zone tells you almost nothing; whether your lot clears those seven is the entire question.
How many units can I build in City of Langley? The City rewrote its zoning bylaw from scratch in 2026 and put the whole small-scale framework into one zone, R1. Most lots allow 4 units, some reach 6, and lots near the coming SkyTrain station sit at 2 until they are rezoned.
How many units can I build in Coquitlam? The R-1 to R-4 zones, and why Coquitlam has no 6-unit tier.
How many units can I build in Delta? Delta did not create new small-scale zones. It wrote small-scale multi-unit housing straight into Zoning Bylaw 7600 as an overlay on the zones you already have, behind three gates that decide whether your lot gets 3 units, 4, or 6.
How many units can I build in District of North Vancouver? The District of North Vancouver caps its detached zones at 3 units, a house, a suite and a coach house, which is below the 4 units the Province expects on a lot above 280 m². The map marks that gap lot by lot.
How many units can I build in Kamloops? Kamloops rewrote its residential zones around lot size and named them plainly. R1 through R3 allow four units. R4 allows six, and the thing that unlocks it is a rear lane.
How many units can I build in Kelowna? Kelowna's RU1, RU2 and RU3 zones allow up to 4 units. Unlike most Bill 44 cities, an unconfirmed servicing check does not cap your lot here: only a confirmed absence of a sewer connection does.
How many units can I build in Lake Country? Lake Country publishes its own small-scale gate, and it is stricter than the provincial minimum suggests. Four units needs municipal sewer and water, both confirmed, not one or the other.
How many units can I build in Maple Ridge? Maple Ridge is the one city in the region that publishes its own answer. The City maps a small-scale unit band onto every parcel, so you do not have to guess whether a bus stop counts.
How many units can I build in Nanaimo? Nanaimo does not have one citywide unit number. The answer depends on the zone, lot size and form, and for R5 lots whether City water and sewer servicing can be confirmed.
How many units can I build in New Westminster? New Westminster is the one city where your zone really is the answer. There is no override clause, no hidden general regulation. The entitlement lives in two new districts, and whether your lot is in one is the whole question.
How many units can I build in North Vancouver? The City rezoned most of its low-rise neighbourhoods into one new zone, and inside it your unit count is read off your Official Community Plan designation rather than your zone. Two identical lots can be 4 units and 6.
How many units can I build in Peachland? Peachland folded its old R2 and R3 zones into R1, and R1 needs both municipal water and sewer for 4 units. RM2 doesn't carry that condition at all. Off a serviced corner or through lot, those 4 units come as a house or duplex with suites, not townhouses.
How many units can I build in Penticton? Penticton's R4-L and R4-S zones allow up to 4 units outright, with no floor area ratio and, unlike most Bill 44 cities, no servicing test attached to the count. Checked against BC Transit's actual schedule, no Penticton stop qualifies Penticton for a 6-unit tier.
How many units can I build in Port Coquitlam? Port Coquitlam rewrote its residential zones rather than overlaying them, so RS1 through RS4 are the small-scale zones. Most lots allow 4 units, some reach 6, and a few hundred near Lincoln Station are held at 2.
How many units can I build in Port Moody? Port Moody counts units from a City map rather than from the zone alone. Most single detached lots reach 4, lots near a prescribed bus stop reach 6, and lots inside a Transit-Oriented Area are held to their ordinary zone count.
How many units can I build in Richmond? The RSM lot-size categories and the affordable-housing density bonus.
How many units can I build in Summerland? Summerland's small-scale housing tops out at 4 units, with no 6-unit transit tier anywhere in the District. Which of RU1, RU2 or RU3 you're in decides both the servicing test and whether a fourplex is even the right description.
How many units can I build in Surrey? The rewritten R1 to R4 zones, 4 units and 6 near frequent transit.
How many units can I build in Township of Langley? In the Township the unit count is a property of the lot, not the zone. Two lots in the same zone across the street from each other can be 4 units and 1, and seven conditions decide which.
How many units can I build in Vancouver? R1-1 multiplexes, 3 to 6 units, up to 8 with below-market rental.
How many units can I build in Vernon? Most Vernon house lots are zoned MUS and allow up to 4 units, as long as the lot has water and sewer and sits inside the Urban Containment Boundary. Acreage lots of 4,050 m² or more (MUA) allow 3. A 6-unit band near frequent transit is possible, but the bylaw does not tie it to any named route.
How many units can I build in Victoria? Most Victoria residential lots now sit in GRD-1, which sets no unit maximum for a lot that meets the minimum size. A smaller group of lots stays under the older 1980 bylaw, where the answer is different.
How many units can I build in West Kelowna? West Kelowna's small-scale gate is stricter than Kelowna's across the bridge. Four units needs community water and sewer together, and three other tests have to pass before servicing is even reached.
How many units can I build in West Vancouver? West Vancouver applied the Bill 44 unit bands to its RD duplex zones only. Its single-family RS zones, which cover most of the District, still allow 3 units, and a 2026 amendment that would add a fourth is not yet law.
How many units can I build in White Rock? White Rock renamed its residential zones as small-scale housing zones, so most lots allow 3 or 4 units and lots near a prescribed bus stop reach 6. The catch is size: every house-plex unit must be at least 96 m².

Bill 44 maps

A guide tells you what a city decided. The map shows where it lands: every lot coloured by how many homes it can hold, clickable down to a single address.

By zone

Vancouver R1-1 zoning guide Setbacks, FSR, site coverage and permitted uses in Vancouver's R1-1 zone.

Look up any BC address for the unit count, buildable floor area, height and setbacks on a specific lot.