Greater Victoria, BC

Thirteen municipalities. Thirteen different fence laws.

An independent guide to the fence rules of all thirteen Greater Victoria municipalities, read from the bylaws themselves, so a homeowner knows what is legal on their own lot before anyone quotes them.

A fence that is legal in Victoria can be illegal across the street in Oak Bay. Two of the thirteen set no height limit at all. One measures a fence on a retaining wall from the high side so the wall costs you nothing; four count the wall against you. We read all thirteen bylaws — sixteen documents, about 2,600 pages — so you can find out what you may build before anyone quotes you.

Start with the question you actually have

• How tall can my fence be, and do I need a permit?How tall a fence can be in each of the thirteen Greater Victoria municipalities, with permits and how each one measures. Read from the bylaws themselves.
• Does my neighbour have to pay half for the fence?BC has no Fences Act, but that does not mean your neighbour never pays. What decides it is whether the fence sits on the property line.
• I have a retaining wall. How tall can the fence on top of it be?Whether the retaining wall counts against your fence height depends on the municipality. Victoria measures from the high side; four others count the wall.
• I am on a corner. How tall can my fence be near the intersection?Sight triangles for fences across thirteen municipalities: 0.5 m in North Saanich, an outright ban in Sooke, and two that use a line-of-sight test.
• How do I find the property line, and may I build the fence on it?Finding the boundary before you build a fence in BC: survey monuments, the land title record, and who must call BC 1 Call before the post holes are dug.
• How tall can a privacy fence be where I live?The tallest privacy fence you can legally build here ranges from 1.8 m to 2.5 m, and three municipalities allow more along a highway or the railway.
• What does my pool fence have to meet?Pool enclosure rules by municipality: minimum heights, gate latches, climbability, ground clearance, and the two municipalities whose rules reach beyond pools.
• Can I build a taller fence to keep deer out?Saanich and Esquimalt both allow 2.5 m deer fencing, but only in see-through material. Central Saanich and Sooke reach the same place another way.