Fraser Valley Short-Term Rental and Suite Rules
On this page (11 sections)
Whether a house can carry a rental suite, a short-term rental, or extra units decides what an investor will pay and what a buyer can do with it. The rules are set city by city, and they are not the same across the Fraser Valley. This page gathers what each city's own documents say, with the bylaw numbers, so you can ask the right questions before you make an offer.
The rules at a glance
| City | Short-term rentals | Multi-unit (small-scale housing) bylaw |
|---|---|---|
| Chilliwack | Bylaw No. 5141 (adopted November 24, 2021): stays of 28 days or less, up to 3 sleeping units and 8 guests, in your principal residence or an accessory dwelling on the same lot; the Business Licence number goes on every ad | Zoning Bylaw Amendment Bylaw 2024, No. 5395 (readings June 4, 2024): up to 4 units on lots over 280 m² inside the urban growth boundary |
| Abbotsford | Business Licence Bylaw 1551-2006, section 11.30, plus section 140 of the Zoning Bylaw: proof of principal residence, a fire safety plan and a parking plan before a licence is issued | Zoning amendments adopted June 2024 |
| Mission | Not covered on this page | Zoning Amending Bylaw 6299-2024-5949(163), adopted July 17, 2024 by a 4 to 2 vote |
| Maple Ridge | Not covered on this page | Zone Amending Bylaw No. 7998-2024, adopted June 25, 2024 |
| Pitt Meadows | Not permitted anywhere in the city; bed and breakfasts are allowed under section 5.6 of Zoning Bylaw No. 2505, 2011 | Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 2986, 2024, adopted June 25, 2024; secondary suites must be registered with the City |
| White Rock | Allowed under section 5.8 of Zoning Bylaw 2024, No. 2506, but only one accessory use at a time (a registered suite and a short-term rental cannot both be in place) | Not covered on this page |
Source: each city's own bylaw, council record or website, read November 1, 2026. Bylaws change, so confirm the current version with the city. Hope and Harrison Hot Springs are covered further down. How these figures are defined and sourced
Chilliwack
Chilliwack regulates short-term rentals through Short-Term Rental Bylaw 2021, No. 5141, adopted November 24, 2021. The bylaw treats a short-term rental as an accessory home occupation: guests stay 28 consecutive days or less, the rental uses no more than three sleeping units, and it must be in the dwelling unit or an accessory dwelling unit on the same lot as your principal residence. The bylaw caps a rental at three sleeping units and eight guests in total, and any online advertisement has to show your Business Licence number. It also repealed the City's older Bed and Breakfast Bylaw 2003, No. 2968.
On multi-unit zoning, Chilliwack's bylaw for the Province's small-scale multi-unit housing rules is Zoning Bylaw Amendment Bylaw 2024, No. 5395, which received its readings on June 4, 2024. The City says it must now allow up to four units on single-detached or duplex lots larger than 280 m² inside the urban growth boundary, while keeping many of its existing zoning parameters, including two parking spaces per unit.
Abbotsford
Abbotsford puts its short-term rental licence rules in the Business Licence Bylaw, 2006, Bylaw No. 1551-2006, Part 11, section 11.30 (added by Bylaw 3675-2025). A short-term rental accommodation has to comply with section 140 of the Abbotsford Zoning Bylaw, 2014. Before a business licence is issued, the host must provide proof of principal residence, a fire safety plan and a parking plan. A business licence is required in the first place under section 5.1.
The City says Council adopted zoning amendments in June 2024 to implement the Province's small-scale multi-unit housing and Transit-Oriented Areas legislation.
Mission
Mission implemented the Province's small-scale multi-unit housing requirements through Zoning Amending Bylaw 6299-2024-5949(163), which amends Zoning Bylaw 5949-2020. The adoption date is July 17, 2024, not July 15. An adoption motion at the July 15 regular meeting was defeated, and Council adopted the bylaw two days later at a special meeting on reconsideration, by a vote of 4 to 2.
Maple Ridge
Maple Ridge adopted Zone Amending Bylaw No. 7998-2024 on June 25, 2024, amending Zoning Bylaw 7600-2019 to match the Province's housing legislation. The City's own page sets out how many units eligible lots can hold, and my Maple Ridge selling page walks through what that means for an owner.
Pitt Meadows
Pitt Meadows is the clearest short-term rental answer in this group. The City's home-based business page says short-term rental units such as Airbnb and VRBO are not permitted anywhere in Pitt Meadows. Bed and breakfasts are permitted under section 5.6 of Zoning Bylaw No. 2505, 2011.
Secondary suites are permitted under the same bylaw and must be registered with the City. Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 2986, 2024, adopted June 25, 2024, sets the multi-unit rules; the City says those rules do not legalize a suite built without a building permit. My Pitt Meadows selling page covers what this means for an owner.
White Rock
White Rock's current zoning bylaw is White Rock Zoning Bylaw, 2024, No. 2506, which repealed Zoning Bylaw 2012, No. 2000. Section 6.1.2 lists the accessory uses allowed with a one-unit residential use: an accessory child care centre, boarding, a registered secondary suite, an accessory dwelling unit, a bed and breakfast, a short-term rental under section 5.8, and a care facility. The bylaw permits no more than one of them at a time. In practice that means a property with a registered suite is not also set up as a short-term rental under this section.
Ask the City for that section before you buy a White Rock property on the strength of rental income.
Hope and Harrison Hot Springs
The Province's principal residence requirement for short-term rentals does not apply everywhere. The Province exempts municipalities with populations under 10,000 that are not within 15 km of a larger municipality, and its list of exempt municipalities includes Hope and Harrison Hot Springs. The Province's page showed a last-updated date of September 21, 2026. An exemption from the provincial requirement does not remove local zoning or licence rules, so the same question still goes to the town.
Sources
City of Chilliwack, Short-Term Rental Bylaw 2021, No. 5141
City of Chilliwack, council meeting of June 4, 2024 (Bylaw 5395)
City of Abbotsford, Business Licence Bylaw 1551-2006
City of Abbotsford, Making progress on housing
City of Mission, special council meeting minutes of July 17, 2024
City of Maple Ridge, housing open house boards, March 6, 2025
City of Pitt Meadows, new provincial housing legislation
City of Pitt Meadows, home-based businesses and short-term rentals
City of White Rock, Zoning Bylaw 2506
Province of BC, short-term rental principal residence requirement
Short-term rentals and zoning: your questions answered
Can I use a Chilliwack secondary suite as a short-term rental?
The bylaw's definition covers sleeping units in a dwelling unit or an accessory dwelling unit, as long as the rental is on the same lot as your principal residence and stays within the three sleeping unit and eight guest limits. Whether a particular suite qualifies depends on its zoning and permits, so confirm with the City before you rely on it.
What does Abbotsford want before it licenses a short-term rental?
Proof of principal residence, a fire safety plan and a parking plan, and the rental must comply with section 140 of the Zoning Bylaw. All of that is in section 11.30 of the Business Licence Bylaw.
Does a city that allows four units on a lot also allow a short-term rental in each unit?
No. Multi-unit zoning and short-term rental rules are separate. The unit count comes from the zoning bylaw, and the short-term rental rules come from a licence or accessory-use bylaw. In White Rock, for example, the zoning bylaw allows only one of its listed accessory uses at a time.
How recent is this page?
The rules were checked against each city's own documents on 2026-11-01. A bylaw can be amended after that date, so treat this as a starting point and confirm the current version with the city.
What Buyers & Sellers Say
Excerpts from Google reviews for Jared Gibbons, REALTOR® at Royal LePage Little Oak Realty (Suite 201 - 15272 Croydon Dr, Surrey). Quoted word for word; initials only.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A.T. Google review
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5 out of 5 stars
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