At a glance (2 minute read)

• The City of Vancouver is updating its bylaw regulating zoning and development to make it easier to find and use information.
• This change is coming in November.
• The city will be holding a series of events to teach residents how to use the new document.

Vancouver is updating its Zoning and Development By-law  to be more user friendly, making it easier to find and use the bylaw’s information. 

Scheduled for release in mid-November, the updated bylaw will feature tables, diagrams, reorganized sections, hyperlinks, and accessibility features. 

This autumn, Vancouver will host online training workshops. 

Vancouver launched the Regulation Redesign project in 2018 to comprehensively review the city’s land use rules to make them easier to find and easier to understand. 

The objective is to simplify, clarify, and improve the consistency of Vancouver’s land use regulations and related land use documents.

The project focused on three key streams of work:

• modernizing the zoning bylaw structure and format; 
• simplifying land use regulations; and 
• improving access to land use documents and information.

Vancouver has been working to simplify and clarify zoning regulations, which includes:

• amendments to building height;
• introducing definitions for porches, decks and similar features;
• improving the consistency of related regulations;
• clarifying authorities; and 
• consolidating administrative regulations. 

Simplified and more consistent regulations will also be easier to understand and more consistently applied, helping to streamline the permit review process.

Vancouver has also created a zoning and land use document library. This comprehensive inventory of land use documents includes the bylaw, as well as other land use regulation and policy documents.

Vancouver’s digital zoning map is a consolidated convenience version of the Zoning District Plan of the bylaw. It provides an easy way to find the zoning designation of a parcel with a direct link to the specific district schedule or CD-1 bylaw. 

Learn more by visiting vancouver.ca/regredesign. You can sign up to receive notifications.