---
title: Nelson backyard chickens, bees and livestock rules
question: "Can I keep chickens, bees, or other livestock?"
place: Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
place_path: ca/bc/nelson
category: Pets, animals and wildlife
owner: municipal
owner_body: City of Nelson
sources_read: 2026-11-05
review: machine_checked
canonical: "https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/nelson/backyard-chickens/"
json: "https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/nelson/backyard-chickens.json"
---

# Nelson backyard chickens, bees and livestock rules

**Question:** Can I keep chickens, bees, or other livestock?

**Short answer:** No. In the City of Nelson, Animal Regulation and Control Bylaw 2333 bans keeping any animal or poultry other than a dog or cat. That covers chickens (hens and roosters), rabbits and other livestock, and the bylaw also bans beehives. The bylaw notice is $100.

**Who handles it:** Municipal (City of Nelson, https://www.nelson.ca)  
**Cost:** Bylaw notice $100 ($75 if paid within 14 days) for keeping a prohibited animal.  
**Where:**
- Phone: Bylaw Enforcement, 250-505-5666

## Key facts

- **Hens allowed:** No. No animal or poultry other than a dog or cat may be kept in the city, and 'poultry' includes chickens.
  - Source: [Animal Regulation and Control Bylaw 2333, s. 1, 12](https://nelson.civicweb.net/document/1025)
  - Official wording: "No animal or poultry, except for a dog or cat, shall be kept or harboured within the Municipality." … "means chickens, pigeons, turkeys, geese, ducks, pheasant, partridge, quail and includes both the male and the female species."
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06
- **Most hens:** None; no poultry may be kept.
  - Source: [Animal Regulation and Control Bylaw 2333, s. 12](https://nelson.civicweb.net/document/1025)
  - Official wording: "No animal or poultry, except for a dog or cat, shall be kept or harboured within the Municipality."
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06
- **Roosters:** Not allowed. The ban on poultry covers both male and female birds.
  - Source: [Animal Regulation and Control Bylaw 2333, s. 1 definition of Poultry](https://nelson.civicweb.net/document/1025)
  - Official wording: "means chickens, pigeons, turkeys, geese, ducks, pheasant, partridge, quail and includes both the male and the female species."
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06
- **Coop rules:** None set. No permit, licence or registration for hens exists in Nelson, so there are no coop or run rules.
- **Permit or registration:** None set. No permit, licence or registration for hens exists in Nelson, so there are no coop or run rules.
- **Bees:** No. No person shall set up, establish, construct or operate an apiary in the city.
  - Source: [Animal Regulation and Control Bylaw 2333, s. 30](https://nelson.civicweb.net/document/1025)
  - Official wording: "No person shall set up, establish, construct or operate an apiary within the boundaries of the Municipality."
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06
- **Other livestock:** Not allowed. 'Animal' includes cattle (horses, mules, swine, sheep, goats, cows), poultry and rabbits, and s. 12 bans any animal or poultry other than a dog or cat.
  - Source: [Animal Regulation and Control Bylaw 2333, s. 1, 12](https://nelson.civicweb.net/document/1025)
  - Official wording: ""Animal" means domestic animal and includes dogs, cats, cattle, poultry and rabbits." … "includes horse, mule, swine, sheep, goat, cow or other animal of the bovine or equine species." … "No animal or poultry, except for a dog or cat, shall be kept or harboured within the Municipality."
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06
- **Bylaw:** Animal Regulation and Control Bylaw No. 2333, 1989 (sections 1, 12 and 30).
  - Source: [Animal Regulation and Control Bylaw 2333, s. 39](https://nelson.civicweb.net/document/1025)
  - Official wording: "Animal Regulation and Control Bylaw No. 2333, 1989"
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06

## How it works

Under the [Animal Regulation and Control Bylaw 2333](https://nelson.civicweb.net/document/1025), no animal or poultry other than a dog or cat may be kept or harboured in Nelson (section 12). "Animal" includes cattle (horses, mules, swine, sheep, goats, cows), poultry and rabbits. "Poultry" includes chickens, and the ban covers both male and female birds. No permit, licence or registration for hens exists, so there are no coop or run rules.

Bees are banned too: section 30 says no person may set up, establish, construct or operate an apiary, meaning any structure, stand, bee house or place where a colony of bees is kept.

## Good to know

- A bylaw notice for keeping a prohibited animal is $100 ($75 if paid within 14 days). The bylaw notice schedule lists no amount for the beehive ban.
- Nelson uses bylaw notices only; no municipal ticket was found.
- The bylaw copy on the City's site was revised in 2016. Ask Bylaw Services at 250-505-5666 whether anything has changed.

## Official forms and pages

- [Animal Regulation and Control Bylaw 2333 (PDF)](https://nelson.civicweb.net/document/1025)

## Related questions

- [How many dogs or cats you can keep in Nelson](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/nelson/how-many-pets.md)

## The same question elsewhere

- [Backyard chicken rules in British Columbia, by municipality](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/backyard-chickens.md)
- [Castlegar](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/castlegar/backyard-chickens.md)
- [Salmo](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/salmo/backyard-chickens.md)
- [Fruitvale](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/fruitvale/backyard-chickens.md)
- [Trail](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/trail/backyard-chickens.md)
- [Warfield](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/warfield/backyard-chickens.md)
- [Rossland](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/rossland/backyard-chickens.md)

## Sources

- [Animal Regulation and Control Bylaw 2333 (PDF)](https://nelson.civicweb.net/document/1025) (read 2026-11-05)
- [Bylaw Notice Enforcement Bylaw 3195, Schedule A (PDF)](https://nelson.civicweb.net/document/38996) (read 2026-11-05)
- [Bylaw Services, City of Nelson](https://www.nelson.ca/198/Bylaw-Services) (read 2026-11-05)

_Checked by script, not yet by a person: the official wording behind 6 of 8 facts was matched to the official text; 2 are recorded as not set. Gov Handbook is an independent guide, not affiliated with City of Nelson. How answers are checked: https://govhandbook.com/methods/ · Canonical page: https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/nelson/backyard-chickens/_