Full list of 104 transit hubs under BC's transit-oriented development legislation

Construction next to a transit hub. (TransLink)

The Government of British Columbia is providing municipal governments until the end of June 2024 to change their bylaws and policies for their provincially designated transit-oriented development (TOD) areas.

This follows the recent final approval of the provincial government’s transit-oriented development legislation, which requires the residential densification of select public transit hubs across the region.

On Thursday, the provincial government released the full list of 104 major public transit hubs — a rail rapid transit station or a bus exchange — with a surrounding TOD area. A total of 31 municipalities have at least one provincially designated TOD area within their jurisdiction, including 14 municipalities in Metro Vancouver and 17 elsewhere in BC.

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As can be expected, the vast majority of the TOD areas are located within Metro Vancouver — emanating around a hub for a TransLink service. This entails 64 SkyTrain stations, including 50 existing stations, five future stations on the Millennium Line extension reaching Arbutus, all eight future stations on the Expo Line extension reaching Langley, and the Canada Line’s future Capstan Station in Richmond.

Many of these SkyTrain station areas already have high-density, tower-based transit-oriented developments or existing municipal community/area plans that are in alignment with the TOD legislation.

As TransLink’s largest bus exchanges are largely co-located with SkyTrain stations, only 10 standalone bus exchanges in Metro Vancouver are classified as TOD areas by the provincial government. Major bus exchanges such as Carvolth in Langley Township and Ladner in Delta are noticeably absent from the list.

One major addition made by the provincial government since the TOD legislation was first announced early this fall is the inclusion of West Coast Express commuter rail stations as a type of TOD area. Five of the suburban stations on the TransLink-operated commuter rail are included in the list.

The remaining 25 TOD areas are for BC Transit bus exchanges located across the province outside Metro Vancouver, including two bus exchanges in the Fraser Valley and even one in Whistler — the Gondola bus exchange. The city outside Metro Vancouver with the most TOD areas is Kelowna, where four bus exchanges have received the designation.

For municipal jurisdictions within Metro Vancouver, the provincial government stipulates TOD areas around SkyTrain stations extend from an 800 metre radius around the transit hub.

For areas within a 200-metre radius from the SkyTrain station, the minimum required allowances are up to 20 storeys in height and a minimum allowable floor area ratio (FAR) density of a floor area that is up to five time larger than the size of the lot. For areas within a radius of between 200 metres and 400 metres from a SkyTrain station, the minimum allowances are up to 12 storeys and up to 4.0 FAR. For areas within a radius between 400 metres and 800 metres from a SkyTrain station, the minimum allowances are up to eight storeys and up to 3.0 FAR.

skytrain renfrew station transit-oriented development area

Example of the transit-oriented development area surrounding SkyTrain Renfrew Station in East Vancouver. (Government of BC)

The TOD areas around Metro Vancouver bus exchanges and West Coast Express stations have a radius of 400 metres, with the inner area within 200 metres prescribed with minimum allowances of up to 10 storeys and up to 3.5 FAR, and the outer area between 200 metres and 400 metres prescribed with minimum allowances of up to six storeys and up to 2.5 FAR.

For BC cities outside Metro Vancouver that have a bus exchange carrying the TOD area designation, the radius also extends 400 metres, but the minimum requirements are lower, with the provincial government prescribing minimum allowances of up to 10 storeys and up to 3.5 FAR for areas within 200 metres, and up to six storeys and up to 2.5 FAR for areas between 200 metres and 400 metres. The smaller jurisdictions of Whistler, Penticton, and Lantzville have separate policies for their TOD areas around bus exchanges, with the provincial government requiring up to six storeys and up to 2.5 FAR within 200 metres, and up to four storeys and up to 1.5 FAR between 200 metres and 400 metres.

While these are the minimum densities required for TOD areas, the provincial government makes it clear that municipal governments can prescribe greater densities and heights for such areas surrounding the designated public transit hubs.

It is also noted in the provincial regulations that building height considerations are superior to FAR density. For example, if a proposed building has an FAR density that reaches the provincial maximum FAR, but the proposed height exceeds the provincial maximum height, the municipal government would be able to limit the building’s height to the provincial maximum height. But the municipality cannot restrict the maximum FAR.

Another major policy applicable to the TOD areas is the elimination of the ability for municipal governments to apply minimum vehicle parking standards for new residential uses. This will help increase transit ridership, speed up housing projects, and reduce project costs, especially with such parking typically accomplished through deeper excavations for underground parkades. But minimum vehicle parking standards for visitors, accessibility purposes, and commercial uses will remain.

Under the legislation, municipalities will have the continued authority to apply development cost levies, community amenity contributions, and density bonuses on the projects within TOD areas.

The policies requiring greater heights and densities within designated TOD areas are only applicable to zoning where residential use is permitted, including residential-only zoning and mixed-use zoning with residential uses. Some exceptions include zonings for industrial and agricultural uses, federal considerations for building heights impacting airport flight paths, federal crown lands, heritage buildings and sites, and challenging ground conditions, such as flood plains, hazardous areas, riparian areas, and other environmentally sensitive areas.

The provincial government anticipates the TOD legislation could catalyze as many as over 100,00 new additional homes around major public transit hubs across BC by 2034.

Here is the full list of 104 transit-oriented development areas as required by provincial legislation:

Metro Vancouver: SkyTrain stations
- Vancouver:
  1. 29th Avenue Station
  2. Broadway-City Hall Station
  3. Joyce-Collingwood Station
  4. King Edward Station
  5. Langara-49th Avenue Station
  6. Marine Drive Station
  7. Nanaimo Station
  8. Oakridge-41st Avenue Station
  9. Olympic Village Station
  10. Renfrew Station
  11. Rupert Station
  12. Stadium-Chinatown Station
  13. VCC-Clark Station
  14. Waterfront Station
  15. Burrard Station
  16. Commercial-Broadway Station
  17. Granville Station
  18. Main Street-Science World Station
  19. Vancouver City Centre Station
  20. Yaletown-Roundhouse Station
  21. Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station (new)
  22. Mount Pleasant Station (new)
  23. Oak-VGH Station (new)
  24. South Granville Station (new)
  25. Arbutus Station (new)
- Burnaby:
  1. Brentwood Town Centre Station
  2. Lougheed Town Centre Station
  3. Metrotown Station
  4. Patterson Station
  5. Sperling-Burnaby Lake Station
  6. Edmonds Station
  7. Gilmore Station
  8. Holdom Station
  9. Lake City Way Station
  10. Production Way-University Station
  11. Royal Oak Station
- Surrey:
  1. Scott Road Station
  2. Gateway Station
  3. Surrey Central Station
  4. King George Station
  5. Green Timbers Station (new)
  6. 152 Street Station (new)
  7. Fleetwood Station (new)
  8. Bakerview-166 Street Station (new)
  9. Hillcrest-184 Street Station (new)
  10. Clayton Station (new)
- Richmond:
  1. Aberdeen Station
  2. Bridgeport Station
  3. Lansdowne Station
  4. Richmond-Brighouse Station
  5. Capstan Station (new)
- New Westminster Station
  1. Columbia Station
  2. New Westminster Station
  3. 22nd Street Station
  4. Braid Station
  5. Sapperton Station
- Coquitlam:
  1. Burquitlam Station
  2. Coquitlam Central Station
  3. Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station
  4. Lincoln Station
- Port Moody:
  1. Moody Centre Station
  2. Inlet Centre Station
- Langley (Township):
  1. Willowbrook Station (new)
- Langley (City):
  1. Langley City Centre Station (new)
Metro Vancouver: Major bus exchanges
- Vancouver:
  1. Dunbar Loop Exchange
  2. Kootenay Loop Exchange
- Surrey:
  1. Guildford Mall Exchange
  2. Newton Exchange
  3. Scottsdale Exchange
- North Vancouver (District):
  1. Phibbs Exchange
  2. Capilano University Exchange
- North Vancouver (City):
  1. Lonsdale Quay Exchange and SeaBus terminal
- Maple Ridge:
  1. Haney Place Exchange
- Langley (City):
  1. Langley Centre Exchange
Metro Vancouver/Fraser Valley: West Coast Express commuter rail stations
- Mission:
  1. Mission City Station
- Maple Ridge:
  1. Port Haney Station
  2. Maple Meadows Station
- Pitt Meadows:
  1. Pitt Meadows Station
- Port Coquitlam:
  1. Port Coquitlam Station
Other major bus exchanges in BC outside Metro Vancouver
- Abbotsford:
  1. Bourquin Exchange
- Chilliwack:
  1. Downtown Chilliwack Exchange
- Whistler:
  1. Gondola Exchange
- Kamloops:
  1. Lansdowne Exchange
- Victoria:
  1. Legislature Exchange
- Nanaimo:
  1. Country Club Exchange
  2. Vancouver Island University Exchange
  3. Woodgrove Exchange
- Kamloops:
  1. North Shore Exchange
  2. TRU Exchange
- Kelowna:
  1. Okanagan College Exchange
  2. Rutland Exchange
  3. Hospital Exchange
  4. Orchard Park Exchange
- Saanich:
  1. Uptown Exchange
  2. Royal Oak Exchange
  3. University of Victoria Exchange
- Colwood:
  1. Colwood Exchange
- Langford:
  1. Langford Exchange
- View Royal:
  1. VGH Exchange
- Vernon:
  1. Downtown Exchange
  2. Village Green Centre Exchange
- Penticton:
  1. Peachtree Square Exchange
  2. Penticton Plaza Exchange
- Prince George:
  1. UNBC Exchange

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