This guide does not replace official documents and the City disclaims any liability from its use.

July 2017

Guide: Secondary Suite and Duplex Utility Billing

Utility Billing for Secondary Suites

All properties in Single Detached Dwelling Districts containing one or more secondary suites, whether legal or illegal, are subject to a single Secondary Suite Utility Charge for water, and sewer. Payment of Secondary Suite Utility Charges does not mean a suite is legal. However, a property is eligible to be exempted from the Secondary Suite Utility Charges under the following circumstances:

1. There is only one secondary suite in the house; and,

2. The suite is not being occupied as a separate and independent housing unit. This usually means the suite is either:• vacant;• being used by the people

occupying the principal unit (i.e. the main part of the house); or,

• is occupied by a family member who has

significant interaction with the people occupying the principal unit (usually this involves eating meals together, providing child care, or regular passage back and forth between the suite area and the rest of the house).

If the property is eligible to be exempted from the Secondary Suite Utility Charges the owner should contact the Planning Division regarding the following:

1. Arrange an inspection to confirm the suite is not occu-pied as a separate housing unit (it is not necessary to remove any appliances).

2. Sign a a type of affidavit called Statutory Declaration (Stat Dec) which is brought to the inspection by City staff.The “Stat Dec” requires the property owner to swear under oath that the suite is not occupied at the present time as a separate unit, and should it become occupied as a separate unit in the future the owner will advise the

City of this in writing, and also be aware that the City will start to bill the property for Secondary Suite Utility Charges at that time.

3. If the suite has not been occupied separately prior to this inspection and the property owner wishes to receive a billing exemption for that period, the owner must write a letter to the Planning Division describing the occupancy of the suite, as well as the dates of the occu-pancy. No billing exemptions will be granted for periods further back than the begin-ning of the previous calendar year (i.e., if an exemption is requested in September 2017 and the owner writes a letter stating that the suite has not been occupied for the past three years, the City will only authorize a refund for the period back to January 1, 2016). Planning Division

604-527-4532

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Planning Division604-527-4532

Duplex Properties and Utility Billing

If a building was erected as a duplex with a Building Permit or it is stratified as a duplex then it is billed for two Single Detached Dwelling charges, regardless of what the property is zoned.

If:a) the building is a house with

a suite, andb) the property is zoned (RT-1)

or (RT-1A) Duplex, andc) the property is large enough

to contain a duplex (i.e. it has an area of

d) 6,000 sq. ft./557 sq. m. or larger), and

e) the suite was not created with a Building Permit (i.e. it is an illegal suite)

Then: the property will be billed as a duplex (i.e. two Single Detached Dwelling charges).

If, on the other hand:• a, b, and c above are true, but• the suite was created with

a Building Permit (i.e. it is a legal suite)

Then: the property will be billed as a house with a suite (i.e. one

Single Detached Dwelling charge and one Secondary Suite charge).

If:

the building is a house with a suite, anda) the property is zoned (RT-1)

or (RT-1A) Duplex, andb) the property is not large

enough to contain a duplex (i.e. it has an area of less than 6,000 sq. ft./557 sq. m.),

Then: the property will be billed as a house with a suite (i.e. one Single Detached Dwelling charge and one Secondary Suite charge).