Building and legalizing your basement or secondary suite
Building more rental suites is an excellent way to reduce our carbon footprint, and expand affordable housing choices.
To accommodate this, the City now permits suites in every detached single-family home in Vancouver within the RS, RM, and RT zones.
Council has also relaxed a number of building codes to make creating rental suites easier. For instance, they have:
- Reduced ceiling height requirements
- Relaxed sprinkler system requirements
- Permitted full basements, to accommodate more functional, liveable basement suites
Learn about the permit, inspection, and approval process
If you would like to add a new secondary suite to your house - or keep an existing suite that was created without permits - start by reviewing the City's secondary suite guide.
The guide explains the steps you need to follow to create or legalize your suite, what the requirements are, and the fees you can expect to pay.
Find out what you need to do to install or retain a suite in your home
If you would like to add a rental suite to your home - or have an unpermitted suite approved for use - start by arranging a special inspection.
A City inspector will come to your home, examine your space, and tell you what upgrades or changes you will need to make in order to create your legal, conforming suite.
