These points come from the City of Vancouver and Environment and Climate Change Canada. Rules change, so confirm with the City before you order.
What the City’s web page says about permits
The City of Vancouver’s fences and walls page says a fence along the property lines of a single detached home or duplex needs no permit if it is 4 ft or less around the front yard and 6 ft or less along the side and rear. A fence over 4 ft can be considered by the Director of Planning through a development permit for an over-height fence. The City cannot say where your legal boundary is or take part in fence disputes between neighbours, and it points owners to a Registered BC Land Surveyor.
Source: City of Vancouver, Fences and walls
Fence rules in metres, and pergolas count as fences
Section 10.10 of the Zoning and Development By-law (October 2026 revision) is written in metres, not feet. It limits a fence to 1.9 m in a required yard and to 1.2 m in a required front yard in the C-1 district or any R district. The web page figures and the by-law figures do not match exactly, so each is attributed to its own source here and neither is converted into the other. A fence above a common boundary retaining wall, or within 1.0 m of one, has its permitted height reduced by half of the wall’s height. The by-law counts arbours, archways, gates, pergolas, screens, trellises and walls as fences.
Source: City of Vancouver, Zoning and Development By-law, Section 10
Over-height fences in a front yard
The Director of Planning’s bulletin on over-height fences in front yards says a conditional development permit can allow a fence above 1.2 m. It explains that the 1.2 m limit lets private gardens add to the street and keeps front yards open and visible. An over-height gate can be considered and should be primarily transparent, while the rest of the front yard fence should still comply with 1.2 m. The bulletin counts a 1.2 m fence on a 600 mm retaining wall as over-height, and says a freestanding pergola or arbour marking a pedestrian entry path should generally not exceed approximately 2.5 m. It was last amended on November 14, 2022.
Source: City of Vancouver, Bulletin: Fences, Overheight Fences in Front Yards
Vancouver’s 22 local-area neighbourhoods
The City’s open data lists 22 official local areas, among them Dunbar-Southlands, Kerrisdale, Kitsilano, Shaughnessy, Marpole and Renfrew-Collingwood. No City page we read labels any of them newer or established, so this page does not rank them. The by-law’s front yard rule is tied to the zoning district (C-1 or any R district), so check your lot’s zoning with the City.
Source: City of Vancouver Open Data, Local area boundary
Wetter and milder than Toronto
At the Vancouver International Airport station, Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991-2020 normals show 1,159.5 mm of precipitation a year against 806.8 mm at Toronto Pearson, with 1,119.2 mm of that as rain against 697.4 mm. Snowfall is 36.6 cm a year against 114.5 cm, and the January daily mean is 4.1 °C against -5.0 °C. These are airport station figures, not readings for every part of the city. There is no wood to rot and no steel to rust.
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991-2020, Vancouver Intl A
Ordering from Mississauga
PrimeAlux ships to Vancouver from its one showroom in Mississauga, Ontario, about 3,346 km from Vancouver City Hall in a straight line (not a road distance). There is no local branch or install crew. Delivery options, dates and fees are confirmed by our sales team. The showroom is in Ontario, so a visit means travelling there; free samples are available if you would like to see the finish first.
Source: OpenStreetMap Nominatim geocoder (coordinates used for the straight-line distance)
