What kind of property can you build in North Vancouver?
- 9
- Kinds of property
- 6,781
- Lots in the city
- 13
- Zones read
- September 19, 2026
- City records
the City of North Vancouver does not have one answer to this. Its zoning bylaw sets a different list of permitted uses for each zone, so the kinds of property you may build depend on which zone your lot sits in. This page lists the 9 kinds the bylaw allows somewhere in the city, and for each one, the zones that allow it and how many of the city's 6,781 lots those zones cover.
The counts come from the City of North Vancouver's own records of September 19, 2026 and from 13 zones read out of the zoning bylaw section by section. A kind is counted for a zone only where that zone's own section lists it, so a kind missing from a zone is missing because the bylaw leaves it out.
To go the other way round and start from an address, the lookup gives one page per lot with the zone, the number of units allowed and the full breakdown.
9 kinds of property, each with its own page
- House 5,601 lots in 12 zones, middle lot 6,820 sq ft (634 m²). The bylaw calls it One-Unit Residential Use.
- Secondary suite 725 lots in 11 zones, middle lot 7,278 sq ft (676 m²). The bylaw calls it Accessory Secondary Suite Use.
- Coach house 419 lots in 9 zones, middle lot 6,985 sq ft (649 m²). The bylaw calls it Accessory Coach House Use.
- Duplex 5,424 lots in 10 zones, middle lot 6,815 sq ft (633 m²). The bylaw calls it Two-Unit Residential Use.
- Triplex 4,876 lots in GO, middle lot 6,750 sq ft (627 m²).
- Fourplex 4,821 lots in GO, middle lot 6,754 sq ft (628 m²).
- Sixplex 599 lots in GO, middle lot 6,169 sq ft (573 m²).
- Townhouse 95 lots in 5 zones, middle lot 5,997 sq ft (557 m²). The bylaw calls it Townhouse Residential Use.
- Apartment building 332 lots in 4 zones, middle lot 13,216 sq ft (1,228 m²). The bylaw calls it Apartment Residential Use.
Questions
What kinds of property can be built in North Vancouver?
9 kinds have a page here: a house, a secondary suite, a coach house, a duplex, a triplex, a fourplex, a sixplex, a townhouse and an apartment building. Which of them your own lot allows depends on its zone, and no lot allows all of them.
Can I build a multiplex on any lot in North Vancouver?
No. The Ground Oriented zone, which covers most of the city's low-density lots since December 2025, sets a cap of 3, 4 or 6 units depending on the lot's size and the category the city's plan gives it. Lots in the older one-unit and two-unit zones, and in the apartment and townhouse zones, follow their own sections instead.
Does this cover commercial and industrial property?
No. The zones read into this tool are the residential ones. A lot in a commercial, industrial or public zone gets a page that names its zone and sends you to the city, with no figures, because the rules for it have not been read into the tool yet.
How current is this?
The lot, zoning and land use records were downloaded from the City of North Vancouver on September 19, 2026, and every rule is quoted from the section of the zoning bylaw named beside it. A city can amend a bylaw at any time, so check the city's own copy before you commit to a design.
Why do you use words like "fourplex" and "sixplex" if the bylaw does not?
Most zones set a maximum number of units on a lot and leave the building's shape to the design, so the bylaw itself often names no kind of building at all. "Fourplex" and "sixplex" are the everyday words for a lot holding 4 or 6 units, used here because that is what people type into a search box, and each kind's page says plainly whether the bylaw uses its own name or not.
Does it cost anything to look up a kind of property here?
No. Every page listed here is free to read, with no account and no sign-up. If you want the full breakdown for one specific address by email, that form sits on the address's own page rather than on these kind pages.
Can I build a laneway home or coach house alongside any of these kinds?
It depends on the zone, and each kind's own page says whether a separate unit at the back is allowed in the zones that allow that kind, and what conditions come with it. Some zones fold a back unit into the same unit count as the front building; others treat it as its own accessory building with its own rules.
I have an address, not a kind of property in mind. Where do I start?
Use the address lookup instead of these kind pages. Typing your street address gives your lot's own zone and its own number of units directly, with a link back to whichever of these kind pages matches what your zone allows.
More about building in North Vancouver (City)
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