Home PermitsCanada

City directory

Home permit guides in British Columbia.

Choose a municipality in British Columbia to open its local guide.

Directory audit: September 28, 2026 · 101 municipal guides in the current library
British Columbia 21 municipalities
AbbotsfordLocal guide reviewedBurnabyLocal guide reviewedChilliwackLocal guide reviewedCoquitlamLocal guide reviewedDeltaLocal guide reviewedKamloopsLocal guide reviewedKelownaLocal guide reviewedLangley TownshipLocal guide reviewed Langley City Local guide reviewedMaple RidgeLocal guide reviewedNanaimoLocal guide reviewedNew WestminsterLocal guide reviewedNorth Vancouver CityLocal guide reviewedNorth Vancouver DistrictLocal guide reviewedPort CoquitlamLocal guide reviewedPrince GeorgeLocal guide reviewedRichmondLocal guide reviewedSaanichLocal guide reviewedSurreyLocal guide reviewedVancouverLocal guide reviewedVictoriaLocal guide reviewed

How to use the British Columbia permit hub

This British Columbia directory currently links to 21 local permit guides, including Abbotsford, Burnaby and Chilliwack. Start with the municipality or authority for the property rather than relying on a rule from a nearby city. A project can involve separate zoning, building, development, trade or servicing questions, and the office that handles one step may not handle every approval.

In British Columbia, the same renovation can involve zoning, building, development, servicing or other property-specific checks, so the local authority and project scope matter more than a province-wide shortcut. Before assuming work is exempt, write down the project scope, dimensions, structural changes, new plumbing or electrical work, any change of use and whether new dwelling space is involved. Those facts make the official permit search much more reliable. If your location is not listed here, use the current municipal or delegated authority directly instead of borrowing another city's threshold.

Province-level permit map

How residential permits are routed in British Columbia

Residential building and plumbing approvals are normally administered by the local government, while provincial codes set the technical baseline. Zoning, development permits, heritage controls and hazard or servicing requirements remain local/property-specific checks.

Code layer: The BC Building Code 2024 and BC Plumbing Code 2024 apply to most of the province. Vancouver is a major exception: it uses the Vancouver Building By-law rather than the BC Building Code for municipal building regulation.

Trade permits: Electrical and gas permits are generally issued by Technical Safety BC, but delegated local governments issue some of their own permits. Among cities covered here, Burnaby, Maple Ridge, North Vancouver (City and District) and Vancouver handle both electrical and gas; Surrey and Victoria handle electrical; Kelowna and Richmond handle gas.

Coverage: HomePermitsCanada currently has 21 municipal guides in British Columbia. Use the city page for the project trigger, zoning/development check, municipal department, inspections and official city sources; use the province-level sources below to understand which approvals may sit outside city hall.

Official province-level starting points

Last reviewed: September 28, 2026. Province-level context does not override a municipality, safety authority or property-specific approval.