Guides · For you
Investing in BC real estate
Cash flow versus appreciation, the gap between a quoted cap rate and the debt-service coverage a lender wants, which is what gets deals declined, the short-term-rental rules, and the taxes that decide whether the numbers work.
Start here
The one to read first
The roadmap for this whole path — read it before the rest.
BC Real Estate Investor — Complete Pillar
Cap rate × DSCR × cash-on-cash framework.
Read the guideThe full set
Every investing in bc real estate guide
Each one is sourced to a primary document and re-verified every quarter.
BC Transit-Oriented Development Areas (Bill 47)
Bill 47 (2023) TOD framework — 5.0 FAR / 20 storeys within 200m of designated SkyTrain → 4.0 / 12 storeys 200–400m → 3.0 / 8 storeys 400–800m, Lower Mainland designated hubs, the asymmetric buyer-vs-seller re-rating, and SSMUH / Foreign Buyer Ban interactions.
Brewery District (Sapperton, New Westminster) — Wesgroup Master Plan Buyer Guide
Wesgroup Properties' ~12-13-acre former Labatt Brewery site at Brunette + Columbia.
Brighouse Station (Canada Line) — Walkshed + TOD Buyer Guide
Canada Line southern terminus at No. 3 Road + Westminster Hwy.
Burquitlam Station (Millennium / Evergreen) — Walkshed + TOD Buyer Guide
The SkyTrain station you walk to determines which city government you are in: Burquitlam Station = Coquitlam (SD 43, Coquitlam mill rate, Coquitlam zoning, Zone 3); Lougheed Town Centre = Burnaby (SD 41, Burnaby mill rate, Burnaby zoning, Zone 2).
Buying ALR Acreage in the Fraser Valley
Plain-English reference on the Agricultural Land Reserve: what the ALC controls, the 2021 to 2025 additional-residence reforms (90 m² / 186 m² rules), BC Assessment "farm" classification, floodplain rules, and the parcel-level numbers that matter on Glen Valley, rural Fort Langley, and Aldergrove acreage.
Commercial-Broadway Station (Expo + Millennium) — Walkshed + TOD Buyer Guide
Busiest non-downtown SkyTrain station in Metro Vancouver per TransLink ridership data.
Fort Langley Lot Density Check — 3 or 4 Units?
The Province maps your parcel entitlement. This covers the four things it leaves out.
Houseplex Langley — How Many Units Bylaw 6020 Allows
Township of Langley tops out at four units, not six, and no provincial explainer says so.
Houseplex Surrey — How Many Units Bylaw 12000 Allows
Twenty Surrey zones became nine, and six units turns on a PRESCRIBED bus stop rather than any busy one.
How Many Units Can You Build on Your BC Lot?
Three on 280 m² or smaller, four above it, six only with frequent transit — and the exclusions that reach much of the Fraser Valley.
How Much Can Rent Go Up in BC?
The cap is the easy part — an increase is only enforceable if it also clears timing, notice and form.
Jericho Lands (West Point Grey, Vancouver) — Master Plan Buyer Guide
MST Development Partnership (Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh) + Canada Lands Co; 90-acre 2014 acquisition; landmark First Nations economic-reconciliation transaction.
King Edward Station (Canada Line) — Walkshed + TOD Buyer Guide
Canada Line at Cambie + W 25th Avenue, Vancouver.
Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station (Millennium) — Walkshed + TOD Buyer Guide
Millennium Line eastern terminus + Town Centre Park (62 ha, 150 acres — Aquatic Complex, Poirier Sports Complex, City Hall, Library, Lights at Lafarge winter festival).
Lonsdale Quay SeaBus Terminal — Walkshed + Commute Buyer Guide
Downtown Vancouver in the same effective travel time as an East Vancouver SkyTrain neighbourhood, by boat.
Lougheed Town Centre Station (Expo + Millennium) — Walkshed + TOD Buyer Guide
Expo + Millennium two-line transfer point on the Burnaby (SD 41 / Zone 2) side of the SkyTrain-station-determines-city distinction (vs Burquitlam = Coquitlam SD 43 / Zone 3).
Lower Mainland Housing Cycles, 1980–Present
46 years of Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver market history compressed into a cycle-by-cycle reference: every major inflection (the 1981 rate shock, the 1996 Asian crisis, the 2008 financial crisis, the 2016 foreign-buyer tax, the 2020 pandemic and the 2022 rate shock) with annual anchor data and policy context.
Oakridge Park (Vancouver) — Buyer + Investor Research Guide
Westbank + QuadReal mall-to-city redevelopment; the largest of its kind in Canadian history at approval; ~4.5M sq ft / 2,600+ units / 13 towers / 9-acre rooftop park.
Pearson Dogwood Lands (Vancouver) — Onni Master Plan Buyer Guide
Onni is rebuilding the 25-acre George Pearson Centre and Dogwood Lodge site as roughly 2,700 homes, with a replacement long-term care campus, supportive housing, childcare and a community centre.
River District (Vancouver) — Wesgroup Master Plan Buyer Guide
Wesgroup Properties' ~130-acre former East Fraser Lands site; the single largest greenfield-equivalent development inside Vancouver city limits over the past 20 years; ~7,000-8,000+ homes + ~25,000+ residents at full buildout; phased through 2030+.
Selling a presale assignment in BC
Assigning a presale contract before completion: the developer’s consent and fee, what it fetches, GST on the premium, income tax, the flipping taxes and the register.
Sen̓áḵw (Vancouver) — Squamish Nation Rental Development Guide
Largest Indigenous-led residential development in Canadian history; ~6,000+ rental units across 11 high-rise towers; 100% rental on Squamish Nation reserve land; not subject to Vancouver zoning bylaws (federal jurisdiction).
Surrey Central Station (Expo Line) — Walkshed + TOD Buyer Guide
The demand floor at Surrey Central is not the ride to Waterfront. It is SFU Surrey, Kwantlen Polytechnic and Surrey Memorial, all inside the walkshed and all still there in a downturn.
Surrey-Langley SkyTrain Corridor — Investor Pillar
8-station extension targeted late 2029.
The 200 Street corridor plan, Township of Langley
What council adopted on June 15, 2026: five rapid-bus stations on 200 Street, 12 storeys at the hubs, six in the next ring, and what is funded.
The Amazing Brentwood (Burnaby) — Buyer + Investor Research Guide
One developer, about 28 acres, roughly 11 towers and 6,000 units. That concentration keeps the resale pool inside the project crowded for years after buildout, which is the mirror image of Capitol Hill detached up the hill.
The BC Home Flipping Tax
The 20% rate on a sale within 365 days, the fade to zero by 730, and the life-event exemptions.
The City of Lougheed (Burnaby) — Shape Properties Master Plan Buyer Guide
Shape Properties' ~38-acre former Lougheed Town Centre Mall master plan.
