Secondary Suites & Carriage Houses

How to Apply

Please read over the Secondary Suite & Carriage House Documents to brush up on the latest requirements for this type of housing and how they apply to your property. We've also provided a summary of the basic requirements below so you can quickly determine if you're ready to proceed with the process, or if you need to chat with us about how to meet the regulations.

Building Department staff are here to help guide you through the application process. Please note, if you require a variance or rezoning to accommodate a suite, you will be asked to work with our Planning Department first so your property meets the requirements.

Secondary Suite & Carriage House Documents

Requirements to Legalize a Secondary Suite

A secondary suite must be listed as a permitted secondary use as per Zoning Bylaw No. 0154.
The suite must be fully contained within the primary dwelling.
The suite shall not exceed 40% of habitable floor area of the home or 90 square metres (968 square feet), whichever is less.
One parking space, located on the property, must be provided for each bedroom within the secondary suite (tandem parking is permitted).
One secondary suite is permitted per parcel; no suite is permitted in a home with a bed and breakfast operation or a business that employs someone who does not live in the house.
An independent access and egress to the suite must be provided and the entrance must be located on a separate exterior wall from the primary dwelling unit access.
No suite will be approved without connection to a community sanitary sewer unless:
1. The parcel is larger than 1 hectare and meets the requirements of the Interior Health Authority; or,
2. Approval by a Registered Onsite Wastewater Practitioner (ROWP) for septic capacity;
3. The parcel is located within an existing sewer system strategy area; and,
4. The property owner connects to the sewer system as soon as it is available.
All construction requires a building permit.
The suite is registered.
1. One time, initial suite registration ($125 fee for voluntary legalization and $250 for involuntary legalization resulting from bylaw enforcement);
The suite must be accessed by a public road, unless written approval is received from all shared access owners, easement holders or a strata council, as applicable.
The suite must not be used for tourist or short term accommodation less than 30 days, and
The property owner must obtain a valid business licence ($60 annual fee).

Requirements to Legalize a Carriage House

The minimum parcel area required to accommodate a carriage house on a parcel with a single detached dwelling is specified in Table 3.11.

Table 3.11 Minimum parcel area

Zone	Minimum Parcel Area
RC1 & RC2	650 m²(6,996.5 ft²)
R1	1100 m² (11,840.3 ft²)
RIL, RU1, RU2, RU3, RU4, RU5 & A1	2,500 m² (26,909.7 ft²)

A carriage house requires a connection to a community water system unless:

(a) Connection to a community water system is not available to the parcel; and

(b) The applicant for building permit for the carriage house provides to the District the certification of a professional engineer specializing in groundwater hydrology, registered to practice in the Province of B.C., that a sufficient supply of potable groundwater is available to serve the existing or proposed single detached dwelling and the proposed carriage house.

A carriage house requires a connection to a community sewer system unless:

(a) Connection to community sewer is not available to the parcel;

(b) The parcel has a minimum lot area of 1 ha (2.4 ac); and

(c) The applicant for building permit for the carriage house provides to the District evidence that all filings with Interior Health that are required by Section 8 of the Sewerage System Regulation have been made.

The maximum gross floor area of a carriage house is specified in Table 3.12.

Table 3.12 Maximum gross floor area.

Zone	Maximum Gross Floor Area
RC1, RC2, R1, R1L, RU1,	90 m² (968.7 ft²) or 75% of the gross floor area of the principal dwelling, whichever is less
RU2, RU3, RU4, RU5, A1	140 m²(1,506.9 ft²) or 75% of the gross floor area of the principal dwelling, whichever is less

No portion of the roof of a carriage house shall be higher than the peak of the roof of the principal detached dwelling on the same parcel.

For 1.5 storey carriage house dwellings, the upper storey shall have a maximum floor area of 75% of the main floor area.

Dormers are permitted on carriage house roofs provided that:

(a) The side walls of the dormer are set back horizontally a minimum of 0.9 m (2.9 ft) from a roof edge;

(b) The front face of the dormer is set back a minimum of 0.6 m (1.9 ft) from the outer edge of the parallel eave;

(d) The width of the dormer does not exceed 40% of the length of the roof from which the dormer projects.

.Required parking spaces for a carriage house shall be accessed by a highway, unless written approval is received from all shared access owners, easement holders or strata council, as applicable.

.The entrance to the carriage house shall be a separate exterior entrance that does not require passage through any part of the building used for motor vehicle parking.

A carriage house must be separated a minimum distance of 3 m (9.8 ft) from the single detached dwelling on the same parcel.

.A solid screen, consisting of either fencing or a hedge with a minimum height of 2.0 m (6.5 ft), must be provided and maintained on parcels with a carriage house, along rear and interior side parcel boundaries adjacent to existing residential uses.

A carriage house shall not include any above ground patios or roof top decks.

.A carriage house shall not be subdivided under the Strata Property Act building strata subdivision provisions from the principal single detached dwelling on the parcel.

.A vacation rental use is not permitted in a carriage house.

.A carriage house is not permitted on a parcel that contains a secondary suite.

.A carriage house is not permitted on a parcel that contains a bed and breakfast.

.A carriage house is not permitted on a parcel that contains an agricultural worker dwelling.