Infill & Multiplex

Multiplex and Coach House Builder, North Vancouver

Two municipalities share the name and they have taken opposite positions. The City adopted the new housing rules. The District voted them down. If you own on the North Shore, which side of the boundary you are on now decides what you can build.

Ask about your lot →

Where things stand

The City of North Vancouver adopted its Provincial Legislation Alignment package, including a new Ground-Oriented zone, on 8 December 2025. The District of North Vancouver voted 4 to 3 on 13 April 2026 against making the changes Bill 25 requires, and the Province's 30 June 2026 compliance deadline has passed. West Vancouver refused in April as well, then reversed and has readings scheduled for 21 September 2026. The West Vancouver bylaw explained →

Three municipalities, three answers

People say "North Vancouver" as though it is one place. For zoning it is two, and neither of them is West Vancouver. Here is where each one actually sits.

Municipality	Position on the new rules	Key date	What that means for an owner
City of North Vancouver	Adopted	8 Dec 2025	In force now
District of North Vancouver	Voted against, 4 to 3	13 Apr 2026	Older rules still apply
West Vancouver	Refused, then reversed	Readings 21 Sep 2026	Proposed, not adopted

All three are working from the same provincial legislation. Bill 44 in 2023 and Bill 25 in 2025 amended the Local Government Act to require municipalities to permit small-scale multi-unit housing across most residential zones. The Province sets the minimums. What each council controls is how quickly it complies and how much friction sits in the process on the way through.

City of North Vancouver

The City did the work and finished it. Council gave final adoption on 8 December 2025 to an Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw package built specifically to meet the provincial requirements, including a new Ground-Oriented zone with its own development permit guidelines. Its small-scale multi-unit amendments went through earlier in 2025, and its Transit Oriented Area bylaw was already adopted in 2024.

The scale of what the City was solving for is worth knowing. Consultants found the Zoning Bylaw could accommodate about 43,766 units against a twenty-year need of 50,322, a gap of several thousand units that had to be closed in the bylaw rather than on paper. The City also modelled water, sewer and drainage capacity for its lower-density areas built out at six and eight units per lot, and flagged that buildings of five units or more trigger higher fire flow requirements and therefore water upgrades.

That last point matters more than the zoning for anyone actually building. Under current City rules, applications that add enough demand can be responsible for the servicing upgrades they trigger, and the City has said it is moving to a development cost charge approach so those costs become more predictable and proportional. Until that lands, servicing is the line item to check before you buy.

The specific unit counts, floor space ratios and heights for your lot depend on the zone the Ground-Oriented package assigned to it. Send us the address and we will confirm it against the current bylaw rather than a summary of it.

District of North Vancouver

The District went the other way. On 13 April 2026 council voted 4 to 3 against proceeding with the zoning changes Bill 25 requires. Mayor Mike Little and councillors Lisa Muri, Herman Mah and Betty Forbes voted to reject. Councillors Jordan Back, Catherine Pope and Jim Hanson were opposed. The reasons given were that a province-wide approach ignores years of local planning, that the infrastructure cost of infill everywhere had not been accounted for, and that the District's own consultants found small-scale units on single-family lots would not work financially.

The Province's compliance deadline was 30 June 2026. It has passed. What the District has today are the changes it made after the 2023 legislation, which allow a secondary suite and a coach house on most single-family lots. Staff had estimated the Bill 25 changes would add roughly 5,000 units of capacity on top of the 17,000 the first wave allowed.

The part that should worry you more than the vote

At that same April meeting, residents and builders spoke about what actually stops people building in the District, and it was not the zoning.

A coach house is already permitted on most single-family lots there, and has been since the 2023 changes. Despite that, one delegate told council roughly eight coach houses have been built in the District in the last ten years. Over the same kind of period Vancouver built well over seven thousand. Another delegate described a small backyard home in the District being treated like a large development project, requiring multiple consultants, complex servicing and drainage work, and in some cases responsibility for public infrastructure upgrades, adding around 25 per cent to total project cost.

That is the real North Vancouver District story. The permission has existed for years. Almost nobody has used it, because the process makes the numbers fail. Whether or not council ever adopts the Bill 25 rules, that is the problem an owner here has to solve, and it is a construction and process problem rather than a zoning one.

What happens next in the District

Nobody can tell you the date. What we can tell you is the precedent, and it is close to home.

West Vancouver refused the same provincial legislation in 2024, received an ultimatum, and passed the bylaws. Council refused again on 4 April 2026, and by June had directed staff to prepare the amendments that go to readings on 21 September. The Province has also overruled West Vancouver council directly on the Ambleside plan. On this legislation, councils that say no have so far ended up complying later rather than not at all.

So the sensible position for a District owner is not to wait for a council decision. It is to work out what your lot allows today, get the site issues understood, and be ready if and when the rules widen. The site work does not change either way. Slope, servicing, trees and access are the same problems under any zoning.

The City of North Vancouver finished in December 2025. West Vancouver refused, then reversed. The District voted against and the provincial deadline passed.

What North Shore sites do to a small building

The reason a backyard home costs what it does here has very little to do with the building and a great deal to do with what is under and around it.

Slope. Most of the North Shore falls away from the road. A rear yard that drops three metres across the footprint means retaining, deeper foundations and a geotechnical engineer before anything is drawn.
Access. Many blocks have no lane. Getting an excavator, concrete and materials past an existing house and down a steep driveway is a real line item, and sometimes it is the one that ends the project.
Servicing. Water, sewer and electrical sized for one house from the 1960s will not carry three or four homes. Fire flow requirements step up at five units. Upgrading is routinely underestimated and the applicant usually pays for it.
Drainage. Creeks, culverts and stormwater management are a bigger factor here than almost anywhere else in the region, and they drive both design and consultant count.
Trees. Tree bylaws govern removal and replacement, and mature trees frequently decide where a second building can physically sit.
Step code. Every new unit meets current energy and carbon requirements, which is a real cost on a small floor plate where envelope area is high relative to floor area.

None of that is an argument against building. It is an argument for finding out what your specific site costs before you commit, rather than after. Two lots that look identical from the street can differ by six figures once you have looked underneath them.

What it costs to build

Our construction cost for new multi-unit work on the North Shore currently runs $450 to $650 per square foot, driven by access, lot terrain, finishes and how many separate buildings the design needs. A coach house sits in the upper half of that range because it is a small floor plate with a lot of envelope, roof and foundation per square foot of living space, and it is usually the hardest part of the property to reach.

The range covers construction. It does not include land, municipal fees and development cost charges, design and consultants, geotechnical and arborist reports, survey, servicing upgrades or landscaping. On a District of North Vancouver coach house, the consultant and servicing side is the part that has historically broken the numbers, so we price it early rather than discovering it at permit stage.

It is a planning range for deciding whether to keep going. The number we stand behind is the fixed price we give once we have walked the lot and the design is complete.

How we work on the North Shore

Which municipality, and which zone. City or District, the exact zone, what it permits today, and whether anything in front of council would change it.
The site, honestly. Slope, access, trees, drainage, servicing capacity, development permit areas and what is on title. This is where North Shore projects are won or lost.
A number, early. A realistic construction range and a permit timeline before drawings, so the design is calibrated to the budget rather than the other way round.
Consultants managed as one package. The District's requirements are the reason most coach houses here never get built. We coordinate the geotechnical, arborist, survey and civil work rather than handing you six phone numbers.
Fixed price and build. Priced from a complete design, with $5M general liability, WorkSafeBC coverage and a written workmanship warranty.

Eurohouse has built on the North Shore since 2009, including strata and building-envelope work in North Vancouver. We know which blocks have lanes, where the rock starts and how long each municipality actually takes.

North Vancouver multi-unit housing: common questions

Can I build a fourplex in North Vancouver?

It depends which North Vancouver. The City of North Vancouver adopted its Provincial Legislation Alignment package, including a new Ground-Oriented zone, on 8 December 2025, so the newer rules are in force there. The District of North Vancouver voted 4 to 3 on 13 April 2026 against making the Bill 25 changes, so the District is still working from the rules it adopted after the 2023 legislation, which allow a secondary suite and a coach house on most single-family lots. Confirm your specific zone before assuming either.

Why did the District of North Vancouver vote against it?

Council's stated reasons were that a province-wide approach overrides years of local planning, that the infrastructure cost of infill spread across all neighbourhoods had not been accounted for, and that the District's own consultants concluded small-scale units on single-family lots would not be financially viable. The vote was 4 to 3 on 13 April 2026.

Can the Province force the District to comply?

The requirement sits in the Local Government Act, and the compliance deadline was 30 June 2026. The nearest precedent is next door: West Vancouver refused the same legislation in 2024, was given an ultimatum, and passed the bylaws, and the Province has since overruled West Vancouver council directly on another housing matter. Councils that have said no to this legislation have so far complied later rather than not at all, but no date has been set for the District.

Can I build a coach house in the District of North Vancouver today?

Yes. Coach houses have been permitted on most single-family lots there since the District's changes following the 2023 legislation. The obstacle has not been permission. At the April 2026 council meeting a delegate told council roughly eight coach houses had been built in the District in the last ten years, and another described District consultant, servicing and infrastructure requirements adding around 25 per cent to project cost. That is a process and cost problem, and it is the one we work on.

What does a coach house or multiplex cost to build in North Vancouver?

Our construction cost for new multi-unit work on the North Shore currently runs $450 to $650 per square foot, with a coach house in the upper half because it is a small floor plate with a lot of envelope. That excludes land, municipal fees and development cost charges, consultants, servicing upgrades and landscaping. Servicing and consultants are the North Shore variables that most often decide whether a project proceeds.

Should I wait for the District to change its rules?

Not if you are considering something already permitted. A suite and a coach house are allowed today, and the site work that governs cost, which is slope, access, servicing, drainage and trees, does not change with the zoning. Getting the site understood now means you are ready either way rather than starting from zero when the rules widen.

Is West Vancouver different?

Yes. West Vancouver has Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 5446 scheduled for first, second and third reading on 21 September 2026, which would permit four homes on most single-family lots and six near frequent transit. It is not adopted, and it still needs Ministry of Transportation and Transit approval afterwards.

Do you build in both the City and the District?

Yes, and in West Vancouver, Vancouver, Whistler, Lions Bay and Squamish. Eurohouse has been a licensed general contractor on the North Shore since 2009, working on fixed-price contracts with performance bonding available on qualifying projects.

Start with the address, not the drawings

Send us the address. We will confirm which municipality and zone you are in, what it permits right now, what the site is going to cost you, and a realistic permit timeline before anyone draws anything.

Ask about your lot → Infill & Multiplex →

Sources and status. District of North Vancouver council's 13 April 2026 vote, the voting record, the reasons given and the delegate submissions on coach house counts and cost are as reported by North Shore News on 27 April 2026. City of North Vancouver adoption dates and capacity figures are from the Urban Development Institute's record of the City's Provincial Legislation Alignment process. Provincial requirements are from the Province of British Columbia and the Local Government Act. Municipal rules change, and the District's position may change. This page is general information, not planning, legal or design advice. Confirm current requirements with the District of North Vancouver or the City of North Vancouver planning department before making decisions. Last updated 1 September 2026.