British Columbia’s small-scale multi-unit housing (SSMUH) rules set total-home minimums for local zoning in covered areas. They are not a parcel approval or a guarantee that a particular ADU design will fit.
Establish statutory coverage
The minimums apply only where residential use is permitted and the parcel is in a restricted zone under the Act. That means a zone that would otherwise limit residential use to specified detached-home or duplex configurations; manufactured-home zones are excluded.
Under Local Government Act §481.3(4), the first coverage branch applies when a parcel is wholly or partly in an urban containment boundary established by a regional growth strategy that applies to a municipality or regional district. This branch has no 5,000-person population test. If it does not apply, subsection (4)(b) covers a parcel in a municipality with more than 5,000 people when it is wholly or partly in that municipality’s official-community-plan urban containment boundary. If neither earlier branch applies, subsection (4)(c) covers parcels in a municipality with more than 5,000 people. For the population test, the regulation uses the most recent Canadian census.
Apply the unit-count minimums
The current Local Government Zoning Bylaw Regulation, B.C. Reg. 262/2023 sets a minimum of three housing units for covered parcels at or below 280 square metres and four for larger parcels. These are total homes, not additional ADUs.
Check the frequent-transit branch and exceptions
For a covered parcel in a municipality, the six-unit minimum applies when the parcel is at least 281 square metres and wholly or partly within 400 metres of a qualifying bus stop. The route must be scheduled, on average, at least every 15 minutes from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. This branch depends on coverage under subsection (4); a nearby stop alone does not establish it.
Section 481.4 exempts some land, including protected heritage land, land without municipal or regional-district water or sewer service, certain zones with a 4,050-square-metre minimum subdivision lot size, and parcels larger than 4,050 square metres. The regulation also exempts transit-oriented areas and certain hazardous land when the statutory risk conditions and a qualified professional’s report are met.
Confirm local implementation for the property
Check the current local bylaw, zoning map, parcel area, applicable boundary, transit schedule, and any extension or exemption. Building, fire, access, environmental, servicing, and permit requirements remain separate. The cited regulation was current to October 20, 2026; no parcel result is established here.
For the general method, see how to screen an ADU property and how to read a local zoning use rule.