---
title: Oak Bay backyard fire and burning rules
question: "Can I have a backyard fire or burn yard waste in Oak Bay?"
place: Oak Bay, British Columbia, Canada
place_path: ca/bc/oak-bay
category: Bylaws, noise and complaints
owner: municipal
owner_body: District of Oak Bay
sources_read: 2026-11-06
review: machine_checked
canonical: "https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/oak-bay/backyard-fire/"
json: "https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/oak-bay/backyard-fire.json"
---

# Oak Bay backyard fire and burning rules

**Question:** Can I have a backyard fire or burn yard waste in Oak Bay?

**Short answer:** No. In Oak Bay, outdoor fires, including backyard burning and beach fires, are not permitted. Exceptions are CSA-certified propane or natural gas appliances on private property and charcoal briquette cooking fires. A ticket is $500 ($350 if paid within 30 days).

**Who handles it:** Municipal (District of Oak Bay, https://www.oakbay.ca)  
**Cost:** No permit for backyard burning. A municipal ticket is $500 ($350 if paid within 30 days) for burning prohibited materials, breaching the open burning rules or breaching a burning permit.  
**How long:** The ban applies all year.  
**Where:**
- Phone: Bylaw Enforcement (Municipal Hall), 250-598-3311
- Phone: Public Works Drop Off Depot (1771 Elgin Road), 250-598-4501

## Key facts

- **Backyard campfires:** Not allowed. Outdoor fires, including backyard burning and beach fires, are not permitted. Exceptions: CSA-certified propane or natural gas appliances on private property, and charcoal briquette fires for cooking in a structure made for that purpose.
  - Source: [Fire Prevention, Oak Bay Fire Department, Outdoor Fires](https://www.oakbay.ca/services/public-safety/oak-bay-fire/fire-prevention/)
  - Official wording: "Outdoor fires, including backyard burning and beach fires, are not permitted in Oak Bay."
  - Source: [Fire Prevention and Life Safety Bylaw No. 4919, 2025, ss. 47, 48, 50](https://www.oakbay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/4919-Fire-Prevention-Life-Safety-bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "no person shall light, ignite or maintain any fire, or permit or cause any fire to be lit, ignited or" … "outdoor burning appliances that use natural gas or" … "propane may be used on private property, provided that the appliance is Canadian Standards" … "a fire fuelled solely by charcoal briquettes, lit, ignited and maintained solely for the cooking of food"
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06
- **Burning yard waste:** Not allowed. No one may light or keep a fire in the open air, and burning of prohibited materials (including garbage, grass cuttings, plastics, treated lumber) is banned outright.
  - Source: [Fire Prevention and Life Safety Bylaw No. 4919, 2025, ss. 46, 47](https://www.oakbay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/4919-Fire-Prevention-Life-Safety-bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "No person shall burn any Prohibited Materials." … "no person shall light, ignite or maintain any fire, or permit or cause any fire to be lit, ignited or" … "grass cuttings, aromatic hydrocarbons"
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06
- **Permit:** No permit for backyard burning. Council may permit a fire for a not-for-profit community event or cultural celebration, with the Fire Chief approving a safety plan. No fee stated.
  - Source: [Fire Prevention and Life Safety Bylaw No. 4919, 2025, s. 49](https://www.oakbay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/4919-Fire-Prevention-Life-Safety-bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "in connection with a not-for-profit community event, and/or a cultural celebration and/or" … "the permission of Council has been applied for and obtained in advance;" … "a plan for the management, containment, size and location of the fire has been"
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06
- **Fire bans:** The Fire Chief may order that the exemption for propane, natural gas or charcoal cooking appliances on municipal property stops applying in all or part of Oak Bay because of fire hazard. Notice is posted on the District website and at the main offices.
  - Source: [Fire Prevention and Life Safety Bylaw No. 4919, 2025, s. 51](https://www.oakbay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/4919-Fire-Prevention-Life-Safety-bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "The Fire Chief may order that, because of the level of fire hazard within the Corporation or a portion" … "Notice of any such Order shall be posted on the Corporation’s website and posted publicly at the"
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06
- **Instead of burning:** Leaves and yard trimmings can go in the green organics tote (collected every two weeks), to the Drop Off Depot at 1771 Elgin Road, or in the fall leaf and spring garden waste collections.
  - Source: [Leaf and Garden Waste Collection, How to Dispose of Your Leaves](https://www.oakbay.ca/services/garbage-recycling/leaf-and-garden-waste-collection/)
  - Official wording: "Leaves are accepted in our green bin (organics) bi-weekly collection" … "Bring leaves to our Elgin Road Drop Off Depot during open hours (1771 Elgin Rd)"
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06
- **Fine:** Municipal ticket: $500 ($350 if paid within 30 days) for burning prohibited materials, breaching open burning rules, or breaching a burning permit.
  - Source: [Municipal Ticket Information Bylaw No. 4846, 2023 (consolidated), Sched. 11](https://www.oakbay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Bylaw-4846-Municipal-Ticket-Info-Consolidate.pdf)
  - Official wording: "Burning Prohibited Materials 46 $500 $350" … "Breaching any other open burning restriction 47, 48, 50 $500 $350" … "Breaching any permit for open burning 49 $500 $350"
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06
- **Bylaw:** Fire Prevention and Life Safety Bylaw No. 4919, 2025, ss. 46 to 51
  - Source: [Fire Prevention and Life Safety Bylaw No. 4919, 2025, s. 70](https://www.oakbay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/4919-Fire-Prevention-Life-Safety-bylaw.pdf)
  - Official wording: "This bylaw may be cited as the “Fire Prevention and Life Safety Bylaw No. 4919, 2025”"
  - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06

## How it works

The [Fire Prevention and Life Safety Bylaw](<https://www.oakbay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/4919-Fire-Prevention-Life-Safety-bylaw.pdf>) bans lighting or keeping a fire in the open air. Backyard burning and beach fires are not permitted. Burning prohibited materials (including garbage, grass cuttings, plastics and treated lumber) is banned outright. No exception for yard waste or brush piles was found. Because wood fires are not permitted, no fire pit size rule is stated.

Exceptions: CSA-certified propane or natural gas appliances on private property, and charcoal briquette fires for cooking in a structure made for that purpose.

## Steps

1. For leaves and trimmings, use the green organics tote (collected on the "bi-weekly" schedule), the Drop Off Depot at 1771 Elgin Road, or the fall leaf and spring garden waste collections. See the yard-waste answer.
2. For a community event or cultural celebration, ask Council. Council may permit a fire, and the Fire Chief approves a safety plan. No fee is stated.
3. To report illegal burning, call Bylaw Enforcement on 250-598-3311.

## Good to know

- The Fire Chief may order that the exemption for propane, natural gas or charcoal cooking appliances on municipal property stops applying in all or part of Oak Bay because of fire hazard. Notice is posted on the District website and at the main offices. Check oakbay.ca and the fire department page for current status.
- The Fire Chief may approve fire suppression training exercises.
- The District's older handout cites a repealed bylaw. Bylaw 4919 is followed here.
- The ticket is $500 ($350 if paid within 30 days), under [Bylaw No. 4846](<https://www.oakbay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Bylaw-4846-Municipal-Ticket-Info-Consolidate.pdf>).

## Official forms and pages

- [Fire Prevention and Life Safety Bylaw No. 4919, 2025 (PDF)](https://www.oakbay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/4919-Fire-Prevention-Life-Safety-bylaw.pdf)
- [Fire Prevention, Oak Bay Fire Department](https://www.oakbay.ca/services/public-safety/oak-bay-fire/fire-prevention/)

## Related questions

- [Oak Bay yard waste collection and drop-off](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/oak-bay/yard-waste.md)
- [Oak Bay fireworks rules](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/oak-bay/fireworks.md)
- [Oak Bay bylaw fines and how tickets work](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/oak-bay/bylaw-fines.md)
- [Oak Bay garbage collection: schedule, carts and limits](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/oak-bay/garbage-collection.md)

## The same question elsewhere

- [Backyard fire and burning rules in British Columbia, by municipality](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/backyard-fire.md)
- [Victoria](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/victoria/backyard-fire.md)
- [Saanich](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/saanich/backyard-fire.md)
- [Esquimalt](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/esquimalt/backyard-fire.md)
- [View Royal](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/view-royal/backyard-fire.md)
- [Colwood](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/colwood/backyard-fire.md)
- [Langford](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/langford/backyard-fire.md)

## Sources

- [Fire Prevention and Life Safety Bylaw No. 4919, 2025 (PDF)](https://www.oakbay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/4919-Fire-Prevention-Life-Safety-bylaw.pdf) (read 2026-11-06)
- [Fire Prevention, Oak Bay Fire Department](https://www.oakbay.ca/services/public-safety/oak-bay-fire/fire-prevention/) (read 2026-11-06)
- [Leaf and Garden Waste Collection, District of Oak Bay](https://www.oakbay.ca/services/garbage-recycling/leaf-and-garden-waste-collection/) (read 2026-11-06)
- [Municipal Ticket Information Bylaw No. 4846, 2023 (consolidated) (PDF)](https://www.oakbay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Bylaw-4846-Municipal-Ticket-Info-Consolidate.pdf) (read 2026-11-06)

_Checked by script, not yet by a person: the official wording behind 7 of 7 facts was matched to the official text. Gov Handbook is an independent guide, not affiliated with District of Oak Bay. How answers are checked: https://govhandbook.com/methods/ · Canonical page: https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/oak-bay/backyard-fire/_