Locations

Selecting a location

Vancouver Film Office staff are your most valuable resource when choosing a location in our City; please avail yourself of our services early in the process.

Before you start

Get a Sensitive Location list from the Vancouver Film Office. From time to time there are areas in which filming may be restricted due to neighbourhood concerns. Always check on the status of a location with the Vancouver Film Office before you show it to the director. Please read the following:

• General Filming Guidelines ( PDF)
• Things to keep in mind when choosing a Location
• Fees and Services

Some neighbourhoods also have guidelines which are specific to that area:

• Chinatown ( PDF)
• Kits Point ( PDF)
• Strathcona ( PDF)
• Southlands ( PDF)

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To book a location:

Send a tentative locations list to the Vancouver Film Office for pre-booking as soon as possible. Include a description of the filming activity planned and approximate times at each location. Your Film Office coordinator will let you know of any potential conflicts or restrictions at any of the locations. For each location, please submit a Film Location Worksheet and Street Use Request form, along with a site map. Please follow up by telephone with your film coordinator to discuss planned filming activity.

Film office forms:

As soon as the schedule is set, send a final location list to the Vancouver Film Office so the information can be entered into our location booking system. Various guidelines apply to the use of City property depending on the nature of the activity planned and the neighbourhood in which the activity is planned.

Close consultation with the Vancouver Film Office is the key to ensuring that filming goes smoothly.

Parks:

The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation has over 1200 hectares of parkland in more than 160 parks. The parks are located throughout the City and offer a wide variety of facilities (i.e. play fields, baseball diamonds, pools, golf courses, ice rinks, marinas, restaurants, gardens, and community centres) for filming. In order to film at a park or beach area within the City of Vancouver a permit from the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation is required.

The filming coordinator for Parks can be reached at 604-257-8498 or visit their Vancouver Parks Board website.

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Civic Properties:

The City of Vancouver owns more than 300 buildings and properties that are available to film companies for rental. Most civic properties are under the responsibility of the City's Building Management division in the Corporate Services department. The department is also responsible for parking areas, grounds and parks associated with these buildings. The City of Vancouver makes civic buildings available for filming whenever possible, and likes to set a good example for the private sector by keeping rental costs low. However, civic buildings tend to be heavily used spaces and cannot always accommodate the demands and disruptions of filming. A number of civic buildings operate during the normal Monday to Friday work week, however, there are many that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Filming in building entranceways, interior public areas and office spaces can be scheduled after office hours or on weekends.

For filming in or around the main City Hall building, please contact the Film Office.

The City discourages the use of civic building space for use as dressing rooms, washroom facilities, or food services; however, any requests for facilities would be considered. For more information on which civic properties are available and the guidelines that apply to their use, please download the Civic Building Properties List and Guidelines ( PDF. 107kb).

Many productions have used Mountain View Cemetery. For more information, download:

• Guidelines for Filming at Mountain View Cemetery ( Word)
• Guidelines for Filming at Mountain View Cemetery ( PDF. 80kb).

If there is a civic building you are interested in for filming, contact:

Undeveloped sites may be rented for parking of vehicles. Contact the Property Clerk in the Real Estate Services department at 604.873.7426.

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