What is BC's TOD Areas Act?

Direct answer

Bill 47 forces BC municipalities to allow apartment density near rapid transit whatever the local zoning says, and the province sets the heights itself. It requires each municipality to map a Transit-Oriented Area within 800 m of a designated rapid-transit station and within 400 m of a designated bus exchange, and to permit higher-density housing inside it. The bylaws were due by June 30, 2024. Within a TOA, minimum allowable density falls away in tiers as you move further from the hub. Measured from a SkyTrain station: tier 1 is within 200m — minimum 5.0 floor-area-ratio (FAR) and 20-storey allowable height; tier 2 is 200-400m — 4.0 FAR / 12 storeys; tier 3 is 400-800m — 3.0 FAR / 8 storeys. Around a designated bus exchange the ladder starts one rung lower and stops sooner: within 200m and again from 200-400m, with no third tier. The regulation numbers these bands tier 4 and tier 5, and unlike the SkyTrain ladder the bus-side minimums are set per jurisdiction — Metro Vancouver, the rest of BC and smaller municipalities each get different figures — so check the ones that apply to the municipality rather than assuming the station numbers. Municipalities cannot impose minimum off-street parking requirements within designated TOAs. The Act overrides local zoning where municipal bylaws are more restrictive than the provincial minimums. For BC: the Act sets provincial minimums that municipalities cannot zone below, which is a departure from leaving density to local plans. For buyers/investors: a single-family lot near a SkyTrain station that was zoned RS-1 in 2023 may now be required to permit up to a 20-storey residential building. The Act is conceptually paired with Bill 44, the Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing (SSMUH) Act, which densifies the rest of the residential land base.