On R1 lots fronting a street the City classes Arterial Primary or Arterial Secondary (list below): a 6-storey building with one exit stair. The ground floor holds parking under the podium, fed from the rear lane where one exists, plus an entry lobby. Five floors of homes sit above, capped at 4 homes per floor per stair by the BC Building Code single-egress rules in force since August 27, 2024. Side setbacks of 0.91 m and a 2.0 m front setback. Every lot gets one stair core, whatever its width, so the cap is 20 homes on any arterial lot.
Everywhere else in the R1 district: a 4-storey building where today's bylaw allows 3 storeys and 10 m. Setbacks can be tested as they are today (Standard: 4.0 m street yard, 1.2 m sides, 1.5 m lane yard, 40% coverage) or closer to the property lines (Relaxed). Parking is surface stalls from the lane or driveway, as fits. Lots with any part inside a Frequent Transit Network Area or a Transit-Oriented Development Area have no parking minimum under provincial law; everywhere else Part 7 of the bylaw requires 1.0 stall per home plus 0.05 visitor stalls, which the parking slider tests.
The required-parking setting of zero stalls for the arterial building is the policy being tested, and is under current bylaw only true inside the Transit-Oriented Development Areas around the eleven SkyTrain stations and the Frequent Transit Network Areas. Land prices follow the model's pricing rule: the 2026 BC Assessment value, replaced by the asking price when a property is listed for sale (enter it in the lot panel). Home counts are the maximum the model reaches and are subject to single-stair code-fit: at most 4 homes and 24 people per floor, 25 m travel distance, and 6 m from a suite door to the exit.
A project can look good to the person who owns the land and thin to the bank lending against it, so the map scores every lot both ways and paints both answers. The fill colour is the measure the lens switch selects; the outline is the other one.
They sit on different scales on purpose. At the default settings 8,494 of the 28,566 scored lots clear both measures, and on 6,675 the owner's measure reads viable or strong while profit on cost sits below the 15% screening minimum. Both threshold sets can be edited in the filters panel.
Counts of lots that clear both measures at once, from a run of the engine over the full R1 set on September 28, 2026, at 100% buildout intensity. Every other setting stays at its default in each row.
| Setting | Lots clearing both measures | Share of 28,566 scored |
|---|---|---|
| Defaults: Altus cost basis, full City DCC and ACC, standard setbacks | 8,494 | 29.7% |
| City DCC and ACC waived | 15,759 | 55.2% |
| Relaxed setbacks (3.0 m street yard, 0.9 m sides, 60% coverage) | 23,791 | 83.3% |
| VanPlex $400 all-in cost basis | 1,990 | 7.0% |
The gap between the Altus and VanPlex rows is the model's main message for Burnaby: at the observed all-in cost, land assessed at a median of $2,013,100 per R1 lot leaves 1,990 of 28,566 lots clearing both measures, against 8,494 on the Altus basis. Setback relief moves more lots than fee relief does.
Rates checked September 22, 2026 against the City of Burnaby Development Funding Program page, DCC Bylaw 14645, ACC Bylaw 14646, Consolidated Fees and Charges Bylaw 14485 (with Amendment No. 6, 2026), Metro Vancouver's development cost charge page after the July 24, 2026 rollback, TransLink Bylaw 159-2025 and the provincial School Site Acquisition Charge Regulation. "Bylaw rate", "City rate" and "Regional rate" rows are published rates; "Estimate" rows should be confirmed with the City before any figure is treated as final.
| Item | Rate | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| City DCC per added home, High Density Residential (apartment) | $25,360 | Bylaw rate | DCC Bylaw 14645, in effect July 1, 2024. Transportation $6,994, water $1,370, drainage $2,227, sanitary $1,745, parks $10,316, fire $2,708. |
| City ACC per added home, High Density Residential (apartment) | $13,481 | Bylaw rate | ACC Bylaw 14646, in effect July 1, 2024, amended July 28, 2026. Both bylaws define High Density as a building with multiple homes off a common corridor, which both scenarios are. |
| Metro Vancouver liquid waste DCC per added home, Fraser Sewerage Area | $7,302 | Regional rate | GVS&DD apartment rate, 2025 schedule restored by the July 24, 2026 rollback. Most of Burnaby drains to the Fraser Sewerage Area. |
| Metro Vancouver liquid waste DCC per added home, Vancouver Sewerage Area | $6,298 | Regional rate | Same schedule. The west side of Burnaby drains to the Vancouver Sewerage Area; each lot uses the area in Metro Vancouver’s catchment layer. |
| Metro Vancouver water DCC per added home | $6,791 | Regional rate | GVWD apartment rate, same schedule, one rate for the whole region. |
| Metro Vancouver parkland acquisition DCC per added home | $303 | Regional rate | MVRD apartment rate, same schedule. |
| TransLink DCC per added home | $1,774 | Regional rate | Apartment dwelling unit rate under TransLink Bylaw 159-2025, in force for 2026. |
| School Site Acquisition Charge per added home | $600 to $1,000 | Estimate | The provincial regulation’s maximum by density band (over 200 homes/ha $600, up to 21 homes/ha $1,000). School District 41’s own rate is not published on the City site; confirm with the City. |
| Rezoning application, low density (1 to 11 storeys) | $5,190 + $1.04/m² of site | Bylaw rate | Consolidated Fees and Charges Bylaw 14485, Section 4.2. Both building forms need a rezoning from R1. |
| Form & Character development permit | $3.20 per $1,000 of construction value | Bylaw rate | Bylaw 14485, Section 5.1, applications from July 1, 2026. |
| Engineering servicing initial application | $5,000 | Bylaw rate | Bylaw 14485, Schedule C16 (Works and Services Bylaw 14831, in effect July 1, 2026), low density. |
| Building permit | $3,323 + $13.70 per $1,000 over $200,000 | Bylaw rate | Bylaw 14485, building permit Section 14(1), in effect January 1, 2026. |
| Sanitary service connection | $13,822 | City rate | Bylaw 14485, Schedule C7. The published single and two-family rate; a multi-family connection is charged at actual cost. |
| Storm service connection | $13,822 | City rate | Same schedule and the same caveat. |
| Water service connection with 2-inch meter | $18,165 | City rate | Bylaw 14485 water schedule: 2-inch connection $10,900 plus meter, setter, box, installation and excavation $7,265. Multi-family is charged at actual cost. |
| BC Hydro electrical service | $20,000 | Estimate | Utility design and service extension for a multi-unit building. |
| Frontage works, local street | $3,000/m | Estimate | Developer-built to City standard under the Works and Services Bylaw; there is no flat-rate program. |
| Frontage works, collector street | $3,500/m | Estimate | Same basis. |
| Frontage works, arterial street | $4,500/m | Estimate | Same basis. |
| Lane improvement | $400/m | Estimate | Applied when the lot has a rear lane. |
Arterial designations are the City's own Street Classification layer (Arterial Primary and Arterial Secondary), read September 22, 2026. On the map, R1 lots whose own street is classed arterial are tested as the 6-storey type; 676 of the 28,586 R1 lots qualify, and the other 27,910 are tested as the 4-storey type. Most arterial frontage in Burnaby is already zoned for apartments or commercial use and sits outside the map's R1 scope, which is why the count is small. Any lot can be switched to the other form inside its panel.
| Road | City class | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Hastings St | Arterial Primary | Burnaby Heights; most frontage is commercial, R1 lots sit on the side-street corners. |
| Kingsway | Arterial Primary | Metrotown to Edmonds; largely apartment and commercial zoned already. |
| Lougheed Hwy | Arterial Primary | Brentwood to Lougheed Town Centre. |
| Boundary Rd | Arterial Primary | Western city limit, R1 frontage through the Heights and Central Park areas. |
| Willingdon Ave | Arterial Primary / Secondary | Heights to Metrotown; the longest run of R1 arterial frontage. |
| Imperial St | Arterial Primary | South Slope and Metrotown edge. |
| Sperling Ave | Arterial Primary | Burnaby Lake to Lougheed. |
| Kensington Ave | Arterial Primary | Deer Lake to Burnaby Mountain. |
| Sprott St | Arterial Primary / Secondary | Deer Lake and Central Valley. |
| 10th Ave | Arterial Primary | East Burnaby, shared with New Westminster. |
| Marine Way | Arterial Primary | Big Bend; little R1 frontage. |
| Canada Way | Arterial Secondary | Burnaby Hospital to Cariboo; long R1 frontage. |
| Royal Oak Ave | Arterial Secondary | Deer Lake to Royal Oak station. |
| Gilmore Ave | Arterial Secondary | Heights to Brentwood. |
| Douglas Rd | Arterial Secondary | Burnaby Lake and Brentwood. |
| Griffiths Dr | Arterial Secondary | Edmonds. |
| Norland Ave | Arterial Secondary | Central Valley. |
| Grange St, Dover St, Laurel St, Schou St | Arterial Secondary | Short arterial links near Metrotown and Burnaby Hospital. |
Every non-strata legal parcel in Burnaby zoned R1, the Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing District (28,586 lots), coloured by whether a redevelopment pencils under the settings you choose. Two building types are tested: a 6-storey single-stair building on the 676 lots that front a street the City classes as an arterial, and a 4-storey building on the other 27,910, where today's R1 limit is 3 storeys and 10 m.
Because a project can look good to an owner and thin to a lender at the same time, and the map refuses to pick one. PlexRank ROE is profit divided by the property cost, which is what the owner earns on the money tied up in the land. Profit on cost is profit divided by the whole project cost, land plus construction, soft costs, fees and financing, which is the number a lender underwrites. The fill colour is whichever measure the lens switch selects and the outline is the other one. At the default settings 8,494 of the 28,566 scored lots clear both measures, and on 6,675 the owner reads viable or strong while profit on cost sits below the 15% screening minimum.
The two measures use different scales. PlexRank ROE runs on four bands: under 15% is non-viable (red), 15 to 35% marginal (amber), 35 to 70% viable (green), and 70% or more strong (dark green). Profit on cost runs on three: under 15% is below the screening minimum (red), 15 to 20% meets the minimum with limited buffer (amber), and 20% or more meets the preferred target (dark green). Both sets are editable in the filters panel, and the legend rebuilds itself from whatever you type.
Since August 27, 2024, the BC Building Code allows apartment buildings up to 6 storeys with one exit stair, at up to 4 homes per floor per stair, with sprinklers. One stair instead of two makes small-lot mid-rise buildings possible, because a second stair often does not fit on a 15 m wide lot. Every scenario on this map is a single-stair building on one stair core, on lots of every width.
Under Zoning Bylaw 2026, in effect July 1, 2026, an R1 lot holds 3, 4 or 6 homes depending on lot area and whether any part of it sits inside a Frequent Transit Network Area, in buildings of up to 3 storeys and 10 m, at 40% lot coverage for 3 to 4 homes and 45% for 5 to 6. Each lot panel shows the City’s own unit cap for that lot. Both forms on this map need a rezoning, and the rezoning fee is in the budget.
Per added home: the City DCC ($25,360) and ACC ($13,481) at the High Density Residential rate, Metro Vancouver liquid waste ($7,302 in the Fraser Sewerage Area or $6,298 in the Vancouver Sewerage Area), water ($6,791) and parkland ($303) charges, the TransLink DCC ($1,774), and a school site acquisition charge at the provincial maximum for the density band. Per project: the rezoning application, Form and Character development permit, engineering servicing application and building permit fees from Bylaw 14485, plus service connections and frontage works. The City DCC and ACC toggle tests relief on the two City charges only.
Because one stair caps the building at 4 homes per floor no matter how wide the lot is. On a wide arterial lot the 6-storey envelope holds far more floor area than 20 homes can absorb, and the model charges construction on all of it, so the full envelope loses money. The lot panel flags the unsold area when this happens. Lower the buildout intensity until the building is sized to the homes it can sell. At 100% intensity 158 of the 675 scored arterial lots model a loss.
Each lot uses its 2026 BC Assessment total value as the land price, from the City of Burnaby parcel attributes. You can type a different price for any lot, for example an asking price, and the numbers recalculate.
The City of Burnaby records a lot width and depth for 28,356 of the 28,586 R1 lots, and the map uses those. The other 230 are measured from the City’s parcel polygon and labeled as derived. On 1,256 lots width times depth misses the parcel area by more than 10%, which on an irregular lot usually means the recorded width is the street frontage; those are flagged in the Data confidence view and can be corrected by hand in the lot panel.
New-build prices of $971 per sq ft for the 6-storey form and $921 for the 4-storey form, measured from the MLS® feed on September 22, 2026: closed sales of homes in Burnaby buildings of 3 to 6 storeys built in 2024 or later, closed between September 18, 2025 and August 20, 2026 (11 sales, $812 to $1,222 per sq ft), and the 4-storey subset of 7 sales. Both prices are editable in the filters panel because the sample is small.
The Altus 2026 Cost Guide range for Vancouver wood-frame buildings up to 6 storeys is $255 to $360 per sq ft hard cost; the model uses the $308 midpoint plus 15% soft costs and 5% contingency as the optimistic bound. The VanPlex figure of $400 per sq ft all-in is the Burnaby default in the VanPlex proforma, taken from built projects, and is the conservative bound. Real projects usually land between the two, which is why the toggle exists.
No. It is a planning-level screening tool built to show which policy levers move projects into a viable range. Items marked as estimates should be confirmed with the City of Burnaby before any figure is treated as final, and every result depends on a rezoning the City has not granted.
This map runs a full development budget on every R1 lot in Burnaby: land at its 2026 assessed value, construction, City and regional charges, application fees, financing, and sale revenue. Move the sliders and the whole map recolors. Every lot carries two colours, one for each measure: green means the project clears that measure's threshold, red means it does not. Click any lot for its full numbers.
The building, parking, financing and profitability math is the VanPlex Kelowna Densification Scenario Model (Rev 1.8, September 2, 2026) with Burnaby's fee stack, zoning setbacks, land values and sale prices in place of Kelowna's. The Kelowna version lives at the Kelowna densification map. For what an R1 lot allows today, see the Burnaby R1 guide and the Burnaby missing middle housing page.
This is a planning-level screening tool prepared by VanPlex (David Babakaiff and Dr. Mehdi Aghaei). It is neither an appraisal, an engineering estimate, nor a code compliance opinion. Every scenario assumes a rezoning from R1 that the City of Burnaby has not granted. Items marked Estimate should be confirmed with the City before any figure is presented as final. Construction costs are shown as a range between the Altus 2026 Cost Guide basis and the VanPlex observed all-in cost; reality likely sits between the two.