Home / Cities / British Columbia / Mission

Mission, BC suite & ADU rules

Permission first. Construction second.

Mission’s current planning framework includes secondary suites and zoning provisions for additional housing forms. The City’s secondary-suite program also requires new suites to proceed through the building-permit process.

Main home

Secondary / ADU

One property · more than one approval layer

Interactive property lookup

Enter your address and see what your property may allow.

Select a B.C. property to check the parcel, available zoning and suite-planning data.

Before relying on this result, verify the property details.

The automated checker cannot confirm all zoning amendments, overlays, lot restrictions, servicing or building permits. Free human property-review requests are currently paused.

See the official verification steps →

Can’t find your address?

Use the manual property check below.

Start with the municipality and parcel area. The manual check stays open here, but the questions are split into 4 short steps so you do not have to scroll through everything at once.

Manual property check

Check the lot using what you know.

Four short steps. Answer what you know and choose “Not sure” for anything you have not checked.

Step 1 of 4Property basics

Municipality

Parcel area

m² ft²

Use the parcel area from your property record, assessment or municipal mapping tool.

What are you planning? optional

This does not change the provincial unit-count math. It only tailors the next-step checklist in your result.

Does local zoning allow residential use on this property?

If you do not know the zoning, choose Not sure.

Is this property inside the municipality’s urban boundary?

What does this mean?

If you have never checked this on a municipal map or plan, choose Not sure.

Is this a regular low-density residential zone?

Why are we asking?

Think houses, duplexes or small multiplexes. If you only know the zone code, choose Not sure.

Does this property have both city water and city sewer?

Does zoning require newly created lots to be about 1 acre or larger?

This is about subdivision rules, not the size of your current lot. Choose Not sure unless you know.

Is this property inside an official Transit-Oriented Area (TOA)?

A TOA is a special mapped area around major transit. If you have never checked the map, choose Not sure.

Is this property officially heritage protected?

Has the municipality specifically confirmed a hazard exemption for this property?

Choose Yes only if the municipality has specifically confirmed it. Otherwise choose Not sure.

Has an official map confirmed this property is within 400 m of a qualifying frequent bus stop?

If you have not checked an official map, choose Not sure.

Private by default: the calculation runs in your browser. No name, phone number or email is required.

Calculator loading…

Municipal rules · reviewed September 28, 2026

Mission: the local rules that change the property answer

Mission distinguishes an internal secondary suite from a detached secondary dwelling. Internal suites are broadly listed across many residential/rural zones, while detached secondary dwellings can require a specific “s” zone or other zone-specific permission.

1. Internal secondary suite

The current Zoning Bylaw lists “Secondary Suite” as a permitted use in a broad set of agricultural, residential, rural, suburban and urban zones. Mission defines the suite as self-contained living space within a single-family home.
The City says suites are not the same as coach homes or garden cottages and are not permitted in townhouses or rowhomes under the secondary-suite program.

2. Registration and building permit

Mission’s registration window for legacy suites is closed. A new or recommissioned suite now requires registration and a Building Division application so the work can be checked against the Building Code and City bylaws.
A suite being known to the City is not the same thing as a certified/code-compliant suite; the page should keep that distinction.

3. Detached secondary dwelling is zone-specific

Do not infer detached-dwelling permission from the internal-suite rule. Current Mission rezoning notices continue to show rural parcels being rezoned from RR/RU zones into corresponding “Secondary Dwelling” zones to permit detached secondary units.
That is direct evidence that detached units remain a property/zone-specific question in parts of Mission.

4. Parking and servicing

Certified suites must comply with City bylaws including off-street parking. Rural or septic-served properties can have different servicing constraints from urban serviced lots.
Use the current zoning schedule and permit referral requirements for the actual parcel rather than a citywide parking or servicing assumption.

Mission property-check FAQ

Is a Mission garden cottage the same as a secondary suite?

No. Mission treats an internal secondary suite and a detached secondary dwelling/coach-home or garden-cottage form separately.

Can an existing unregistered suite simply be registered now?

No. The initial registration period is closed; new or recommissioned suites must use the current building-permit/registration process.

How this guide was verified

Guide verification: Official-source research summary. This guide provides linked municipal research; a complete enacted-bylaw, zoning-map and amendment cross-check has not been documented for this municipality.

Property confidence: Not assessed. City-wide guidance does not confirm permission for a particular parcel. Check official zoning, overlays and permits. How verification works →

Official Mission sources

Rule sources used for this municipal guide.

Mission — Secondary Suites Program ↗Mission Zoning Bylaw No. 5949, 2020 — consolidated ↗Mission — Building permits ↗B.C. SSMUH framework ↗

Reviewed September 28, 2026. These links are the planning starting point; current parcel zoning, title constraints, servicing and permit requirements can still change the answer.

V69.61 targeted primary-source review · October 12, 2026: The City says fully serviced former single-family/duplex lots under 280 m² may have 3 units and those above 280 m² may have 4, subject to bylaw, lot configuration and permits. Rural secondary detached units may require specific secondary-dwelling zoning. Official municipal record ↗ Not yet verified: Check current amendments, separate urban/secondary-dwelling districts, covenants, servicing and current site plan; no automatic retroactive suite legalization. No comprehensive current-by-law signoff or parcel approval is claimed.