--- title: Highlands backyard chickens, bees and livestock rules question: "Can I keep chickens, bees, or other livestock in Highlands?" place: Highlands, British Columbia, Canada place_path: ca/bc/highlands category: Pets, animals and wildlife owner: municipal owner_body: District of Highlands sources_read: 2026-11-08 review: machine_checked canonical: "https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/highlands/backyard-chickens/" json: "https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/highlands/backyard-chickens.json" --- # Highlands backyard chickens, bees and livestock rules **Question:** Can I keep chickens, bees, or other livestock in Highlands? **Short answer:** Highlands has no rule on backyard hens that we found: no number, rooster, coop or permit rule. Keeping livestock counts as "Agriculture", a permitted use in many rural zones. Beekeeping is allowed where Agriculture is permitted. Check your zone with the District. **Who handles it:** Municipal (District of Highlands, https://www.highlands.ca) **Cost:** No permit or fee for hens is mentioned in the bylaws or on the District's pages. **How long:** Not applicable. **Where:** - Phone: District of Highlands Municipal Hall, 250-474-1773 - Email: Municipal Planner, lbeckett@highlands.ca ## Key facts - **Hens allowed:** Not confirmed. Not found in the official sources that were read. - **Most hens:** None set. Neither the Zoning Bylaw nor the animal bylaw sets rules on this for backyard hens. - **Roosters:** None set. Neither the Zoning Bylaw nor the animal bylaw sets rules on this for backyard hens. - **Coop rules:** None set. Neither the Zoning Bylaw nor the animal bylaw sets rules on this for backyard hens. - **Permit or registration:** None set. Neither the Zoning Bylaw nor the animal bylaw sets rules on this for backyard hens. - **Bees:** Beekeeping is allowed where Agriculture is a permitted use: the animal bylaw's list of banned wild or exotic animals excludes bees kept for beekeeping in those zones. No hive limits found. - Source: [Animal Regulation and Impounding By-law No. 1, 1986 (CRD Bylaw 1465), Schedule G, item 26](https://www.highlands.ca/media/1434) - Official wording: "venomous or poisonous spiders, insects, fish and scorpions; excludes bees for the purpose of" … "beekeeping where agriculture is a permitted use;" - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-08 - **Other livestock:** Keeping livestock is part of 'Agriculture', which is a permitted use in the Rural Residential zones (RR1 to RR5, RR15, RR16) and Rural zones (R1 to R3D, R5 to R7), among others. Check your zone. In Rural 1, a building used for agriculture must be at least 30 m from the front lot line and 15 m from side and rear lot lines. - Source: [Zoning Bylaw No. 100, 1998 (consolidated June 2026), s. 1 'Agriculture'; s. 6.1.1; s. 7.1.3](https://www.highlands.ca/media/1622) - Official wording: "AGRICULTURE means a use providing for growing, harvesting and sales of agricultural products and the" … "keeping and breeding of livestock" … "c) Agriculture" … "no building used for Agriculture shall be sited within 15 metres of a side lot line" - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-08 - **Bylaw:** Highlands Zoning Bylaw No. 100, 1998 (consolidated); Animal Regulation and Impounding By-law No. 1, 1986 (CRD Bylaw No. 1465). - Source: [Zoning Bylaw No. 100, 1998 (consolidated June 2026), footer](https://www.highlands.ca/media/1622) - Official wording: "Highlands Zoning Bylaw No. 100, 1998 (consolidated)" - Source: [Animal Regulation and Impounding By-law No. 1, 1986 (CRD Bylaw 1465), title page](https://www.highlands.ca/media/1434) - Official wording: "CRD Bylaw - 1465 Animal Regulation and Impounding Bylaw Page 15 CAPITAL REGIONAL DISTRICT ANIMAL REGULATION AND IMPOUNDING BY-LAW NO. 1465, 1986 SCHEDULE "E" 1. AYLARD FARM BEACH The sandy beach at the Capital Regional" - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-08 ## How it works Neither the [Zoning Bylaw No. 100](https://www.highlands.ca/media/1622) nor the animal bylaw sets rules for backyard hens. They do not say how many, whether roosters are allowed, what a coop must look like, or whether a permit is needed. Keeping and breeding livestock is part of "Agriculture". Agriculture is a permitted use in the Rural Residential zones (RR1 to RR5, RR15, RR16) and Rural zones (R1 to R3D, R5 to R7), among others. Check your zone. ## Good to know - In Rural 1, a building used for agriculture must be at least 30 m from the front lot line and 15 m from side and rear lot lines. - Beekeeping is allowed where Agriculture is a permitted use. The animal bylaw's list of banned wild or exotic animals excludes bees kept for beekeeping in those zones. No hive limits were found. - The animal bylaw's ban on animals that disturb the neighbourhood does not apply in an agricultural zone. - Intensive Agriculture (confining poultry, livestock or fur-bearing animals as a commercial enterprise) is prohibited except as a home-based business. - Ask the District at 250-474-1773 before getting hens. ## Official forms and pages - [Zoning Bylaw No. 100, 1998 (consolidated) (PDF)](https://www.highlands.ca/media/1622) - [Animal Regulation and Impounding By-law No. 1, 1986 (CRD Bylaw 1465) (PDF)](https://www.highlands.ca/media/1434) ## Related questions - [How many dogs or cats you can keep in Highlands](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/highlands/how-many-pets.md) - [Highlands zoning: find your zone and what it allows](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/highlands/zoning-lookup.md) - [Highlands noise bylaw: quiet hours, construction hours and fines](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/highlands/noise-rules.md) ## The same question elsewhere - [Backyard chicken rules in British Columbia, by municipality](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/backyard-chickens.md) - [Langford](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/langford/backyard-chickens.md) - [View Royal](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/view-royal/backyard-chickens.md) - [Central Saanich](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/central-saanich/backyard-chickens.md) - [Colwood](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/colwood/backyard-chickens.md) - [Esquimalt](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/esquimalt/backyard-chickens.md) - [Saanich](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/saanich/backyard-chickens.md) ## Sources - [Zoning Bylaw No. 100, 1998 (consolidated June 2026) (PDF)](https://www.highlands.ca/media/1622) (read 2026-11-08) - [Animal Regulation and Impounding By-law No. 1, 1986 (CRD Bylaw 1465) (PDF)](https://www.highlands.ca/media/1434) (read 2026-11-08) - [Find a Bylaw, District of Highlands](https://www.highlands.ca/local-government/bylaw/find-bylaw) (read 2026-11-08) _Checked by script, not yet by a person: the official wording behind 3 of 8 facts was matched to the official text; 4 are recorded as not set; 1 could not be confirmed. Gov Handbook is an independent guide, not affiliated with District of Highlands. How answers are checked: https://govhandbook.com/methods/ · Canonical page: https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/highlands/backyard-chickens/_