How Many Units Can You Build on a New Westminster Lot?
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.
Most BC municipalities answered Bill 44 with an override: a clause that reaches over the zoning map and changes what a district allows without changing the district. New Westminster did not. Its unit counts are purely the enacted district schedule, so the code on your title is the number.
The entitlement went into two brand new districts created under the City's Infill Housing Program: RGO-A, which allows 4 units, and RGO-B, which allows 6. Lots were placed in them by Official Community Plan designation rather than by a blanket rezoning, so whether your lot moved is a matter of which designation it carries.
| Situation | Units | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Legacy district (RS, NR, RT-1) | 3 units | Principal dwelling, suite, and DADU |
| RGO-A district | 4 units | 0.8 FSR, 12 m |
| RGO-B district | 6 units | 1.0 FSR, 12 m |
RGO-A and RGO-B, the districts that carry the entitlement
RGO-A is the Residential Ground-Oriented Infill District at 4 units, with a floor space ratio of 0.8 and a height limit of 12 m. RGO-B is its 6-unit counterpart, at 1.0 FSR and the same 12 m. Both are a real step up from the legacy districts, which sit at 0.5 to 0.7 FSR and a 7.62 m height limit.
That height difference is worth sitting with. 7.62 m is 25 feet, which is a two-storey building. 12 m is comfortably three. The Infill Housing districts are not just a higher unit count, they are a different building.
What a legacy district actually gives you
RS-1, RS-4, RS-5, NR-1, NR-5 and RT-1 read as 3 units, and that figure is correct, but the arrangement behind it is specific. It is one principal dwelling, plus a secondary suite inside it, plus one detached accessory dwelling unit. It is not a triplex, and the detached unit is conditional on the Official Community Plan in several districts.
Bylaw 8453, adopted in June 2024 and titled as implementing Bill 44 and Bill 47, is mostly parking and secondary-suite housekeeping. It did not raise the counts in the legacy districts, which is why reading the bylaw's title is a poor guide to what it did.
The infill districts are deliberately outside the transit areas
New Westminster publishes a real Transit-Oriented Area boundary layer, adopted under its own designation bylaw, with one polygon per tier per station. All five stations are SkyTrain, so the tiers follow the provincial regulation: 5.0 FAR and 20 storeys within 200 m, 4.0 and 12 storeys within 400 m, and 3.0 and 8 storeys within 800 m. A lot inside overlapping rings takes the tightest tier.
Queensborough is its own case
The Queensborough districts sit in a third bucket, on the provincial framework rather than on the Infill Housing Program. If your property is on the island, expect the answer to come from a different part of the bylaw than it does on the mainland side of the city.
If your title says RT-A or RT-B
RT-A and RT-B are townhouse residential districts enacted in 2025 and are not in the published consolidation of the zoning bylaw. Several hundred New Westminster parcels carry one of those codes, and the governing text is a separate bylaw the City links from its townhouse page rather than from its zoning bylaw page.
If you are researching one of these yourself and cannot find the district in the consolidated bylaw, that is why. The zone is real; the document is just somewhere else.
The districts that decide a New Westminster house lot
| Zone | Name | Dwelling units |
|---|---|---|
| RGO-A | Residential Ground-Oriented Infill District (4 Unit) (RGO-A) | Up to 4 |
| RGO-B | Residential Ground-Oriented Infill District (6 Unit) (RGO-B) | Up to 6 |
| RS-1 | Single Detached Residential Districts (RS-1) | Up to 3 |
| RS-4 | Single Detached Residential Districts (Queen's Park) (RS-4) | Up to 3 |
| RS-5 | Single Detached Residential Districts (Small Lots) (RS-5) | Up to 3 |
| NR-1 | Neighbourhood Single Detached Residential District (NR-1) | Up to 3 |
| NR-5 | Neighbourhood Single Detached Residential District (Small Lots) (NR-5) | Up to 3 |
| RT-1 | Duplex Districts (RT-1) | Up to 3 |
RGO-A and RGO-B are the Infill Housing Program districts and carry the real small-scale entitlement. The rest are the legacy districts, which reach 3 units as one principal dwelling plus a secondary suite plus a detached accessory dwelling unit rather than as a triplex.
Every New Westminster zoning district, A to Z
New Westminster Bill 44 FAQ
How many units can I build on my lot in New Westminster?
It depends entirely on your district. RGO-B allows 6 units, RGO-A allows 4, and the legacy single detached, neighbourhood and duplex districts allow 3 as one principal dwelling plus a secondary suite plus a detached accessory dwelling unit. New Westminster has no override clause, so the district on your title is the answer.
What are RGO-A and RGO-B zoning in New Westminster?
They are the Residential Ground-Oriented Infill Districts created under the City's Infill Housing Program to carry the Bill 44 entitlement. RGO-A allows 4 units at 0.8 FSR and 12 m of height; RGO-B allows 6 units at 1.0 FSR and the same height. Lots were placed into them by Official Community Plan designation.
Why does my New Westminster lot still only allow 3 units?
Because it is in a legacy district and New Westminster chose not to override its district schedules. Bylaw 8453 in June 2024 dealt mainly with parking and secondary suites and did not raise the legacy counts. Several hundred lots in the city sit at the provincial floor of 3 for this reason.
Does being near a SkyTrain station in New Westminster give me more units?
Not by right, and often the opposite. The Infill Housing districts were placed outside the Transit-Oriented Areas, and the land inside them was largely left on legacy zoning. Inside a TOA the route to higher density is a rezoning under the provincial Bill 47 framework, which reaches 3.0 to 5.0 FAR and 8 to 20 storeys depending on distance from the station.
Is three units in New Westminster a triplex?
No. In the legacy districts the three units are one principal dwelling, a secondary suite within it, and one detached accessory dwelling unit, and the detached unit is conditional on the Official Community Plan in several districts. That is a different building and a different cost base than a triplex.
What is the height limit in New Westminster's residential districts?
7.62 m, which is 25 feet, across RS-1, RS-4, RS-5, NR-1, NR-5 and RT-1. The RGO infill districts raise it to 12 m, which is the single biggest practical difference between the two families of district.
Next steps for your lot
- Run your address for the exact permitted unit count and buildable envelope.
- New Westminster Bill 44 map
- New Westminster zoning districts
- See what Burnaby lots allow
- See what Vancouver lots allow
Last reviewed September 2026.