Building on a lot in Courtenay.

For anyone buying a lot in Courtenay, on subjects, or planning a suite, ADU, multiplex, shop or shed: the short version of the rules that decide what you can build. Everything here comes from Courtenay’s new Zoning Bylaw No. 3203, 2026 (adopted March 27, 2026, consolidated July 21, 2026), which replaced Zoning Bylaw 2500, read in September 2026. Where a rule couldn’t be confirmed from the document itself, this page says so rather than guess.

Courtenay replaced its zoning bylaw this year. Zoning Bylaw No. 3203, 2026 was adopted March 27, 2026 and repealed Bylaw 2500; the current consolidation is dated July 21, 2026. Zones quoted from the old bylaw may be out of date. The main residential zones:

• R-SSMUH Residential Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing — up to 4 homes per lot: house, duplex, townhouse, suite or ADU. New lots from 280 m² and 10 m wide. Setbacks 4.0 m front (6.0 m to a garage door), 1.5 m sides, 3.0 m on a street side, 5.0 m rear, and 1.5 m rear for an ADU. Height 11 m, ADU 6.5 m. Buildings plus paved surfaces can cover 70% of the lot. On a lot without community water or sewer, only one suite or ADU (s.8.1).
• R-1A Residential One A — the large-lot zone: 4 units per lot, new lots from 1.0 ha, 25% coverage (s.8.2).
• R-3, R-4, R-5 and RM-1 — multi-unit zones where density is set by floor-area ratio.

Suites and ADUs are allowed in every zone that allows a house or duplex. The bylaw sets minimum sizes — 30 m² studio, 45 m² one-bedroom, 65 m² two-bedroom, 85 m² three-bedroom — plus 15 m² of private outdoor space per unit, and they can’t be subdivided off (s.6.18). R-SSMUH needs 1 parking space per home.

• Fences — 1.25 m in the front yard, 2.0 m in side and rear yards, measured from average grade. No barbed or electric wire in residential zones. At a corner, nothing between 1.0 m and 3.0 m high inside the 6.0 m sight triangle (s.6.7–6.8).
• Sheds and accessory buildings — side or rear yard only, up to 4.5 m high, 1.5 m from side and rear lines (4.5 m on a street side). Together they can take 50 m² or 10% of the rear yard, whichever is greater. No one can live in one unless it’s a permitted ADU (s.6.2).
• Pools — enclosed by a non-climbable fence at least 1.5 m high with a self-closing, self-latching gate (s.6.8.6–6.8.10).
• RVs — you can live in one only while building a home under a valid building permit, and never rent it out. One commercial vehicle up to 907 kg on a residential lot; a vehicle unlicensed for over a year and not in a garage counts as derelict (s.6.10, 6.21).
• Home business — the resident runs it with no employees, up to 50 m² or half the home, whichever is less, one unlit sign up to 0.5 m², and a business licence (s.6.3).
• Short-term rentals — one per lot, in the house, a suite or an ADU; the owner’s principal residence has to be on the lot; up to 3 bedrooms and 6 guests; a business licence and one extra parking space (s.6.19).
• Hens and bees — up to 6 hens, no roosters, coop in the rear yard. Up to 2 hives on a lot at least 15 m wide and 550 m², with hives 6.0 m from every lot line (s.6.17).

This page covers the rules across Courtenay. A report reads them against one lot. The free check gives you the lot’s size, its zone, the units the provincial housing rules allow, and flags for floodplain, farmland, streams and wildfire.

A LotSimple report ($50) adds setbacks and buildable area sketched on your lot, the permit areas on it and what each triggers, a LotSimple score, and 12 months of alerts if the rules change. See a sample of every tier.

Buying in Courtenay with a subject to remove? Answer these first:

• Which zone is the lot actually in? Check the zoning map, not the listing.
• Is it in a permit area, floodplain or stream setback? Each adds steps and cost.
• Is it on City water and sewer, or a well and septic? That decides what you can add.
• What’s on title? Covenants and rights-of-way can limit a lot more than zoning does.
• Anything you’ll spend money on: confirm it with the City of Courtenay planning department.

• Steep slopes. Any lot with a slope of 20% or more over at least 10 m is in the steep-slope development permit area. Expect a geotechnical report, no buildings in the hazard area, and slopes over 30% left natural (Division 10, DPA 5).
• Other permit areas. Courtenay has other development permit areas as well. Ask the City which touch your lot, or get a free check, which flags them.
• Deck, shed and tree permits. The building and tree bylaws weren’t confirmed for this page. Before you build a deck, put up a shed or take down a tree, check with the City.
• Old zone codes. A parcel showing CR-1, RU-8, RU-20, RU-ALR or TU-1 is outside the City and falls under the Comox Valley Regional District’s rules instead.