Small-scale housing zone names across Metro Vancouver

Why the zone names differ when the numbers are the same

The province sets the minimum number of homes. It leaves the zone names, building types and site rules to each city, guided by the provincial policy manual. So a fourplex lot can be called R3 in Surrey, R1 in Burnaby and RSM in Richmond, with different rules for height, floor area and parking in each.

Cities also choose which building types count toward the limit. Surrey allows a houseplex (a triplex or fourplex) only in R3, and reaches 4 or 6 homes in its other zones through duplexes with suites and coach houses. Delta's page lists a single detached house or a duplex, plus suites, garden suites and coach houses, with no houseplex. Delta staff reported to council on 27 April 2026 and said they plan to explore a standalone houseplex zone. Burnaby's June 2024 release lists multiplexes, cottage courts and rowhouses among the forms its R1 district allows.

And cities change their own rules after adoption. Burnaby's October 2025 amendments cut the maximum height from 4 storeys to 3 storeys and 10 metres, limited rear buildings to 2 storeys, reduced achievable floor area by 33 to 60 percent depending on the project, cut lot coverage by 5 percent for all housing types, and raised parking minimums to 0.67 to 1 space per home. Coquitlam renamed its Housing Choices program, which had run in Southwest Coquitlam since 2011, as Small-Scale Housing and expanded it to most low-density residential areas.

City by city

The table lists only cities whose own page or bylaw we opened on 23 October 2026. Each note is a single fact from that page. For the full rules, open the city's bylaw, and read our Journal post for that city where one exists.

Vancouver is left out of the table on purpose. Its small-scale zone is covered in our Journal guide to R1-1 zoning, and the provincial numbers apply to it through section 565.03 of the Vancouver Charter. The City's website refused automated reads when this guide was checked, so this guide carries no Vancouver zoning figure.

Reading the table, and what it leaves out

The adoption date shows when the current zone started. For the latest change, check the bylaw itself. Burnaby amended its R1 district in October 2025, Surrey's R3 zone was amended in June and July 2026, and Surrey's Council endorsed a full review on 27 July 2026. Bill 25 also required cities to update affected zones by 30 June 2026, so a city's rules may have changed again since its page was written. Check the amendment date on the bylaw before relying on any number.

Some cities are missing on purpose. The City of Langley has proposed a new R1 zone in Zoning Bylaw No. 3300, and we could not confirm its adoption status on the City's page, so Langley is covered by our Journal post comparing the City and Township of Langley. Maple Ridge has its own Journal post, and a separate post covers hazard exemptions on the North Shore. A city's absence from the table means only that we did not open its page for this guide.

Two notes in the table matter beyond their own city. Port Moody's point about building schemes applies wherever a scheme is registered on title, because the scheme is a private restriction the city is not party to. Coquitlam's point about bus stops shows that the six-unit rule depends on actual bus service, so it can appear in one city and not its neighbour.

Where our city guides go deeper

Each city in this chapter has more rules than one line can hold: setbacks, floor area, height, parking and the details of which lots qualify. Our Journal has a separate post for Burnaby, Coquitlam, Richmond, Pitt Meadows and Port Moody, each linked below this chapter, and those posts are the place to read one city's rules in full.

For Delta, read our post on Delta's houseplex zone and Scott Road. For New Westminster, read the post that covers New Westminster and Coquitlam together. For Surrey, read the Surrey chapter of this guide and our post on strata and freehold ownership for Surrey multiplexes.

Use this chapter to find the right zone name and the right page. Then use the reading-your-zone chapter to work through the bylaw in order, and the title check to confirm nothing on title says less than the zone.