{"title":"Prince Rupert backyard chickens, bees and livestock rules","question":"Can I keep chickens or other livestock?","slug":"backyard-chickens","place":{"path":"ca/bc/prince-rupert","name":"Prince Rupert","region":{"code":"bc","name":"British Columbia"},"country":{"code":"ca","name":"Canada"}},"category":{"slug":"pets-and-wildlife","name":"Pets, animals and wildlife"},"owner":"municipal","owner_label":"Municipal","owner_body":{"name":"City of Prince Rupert","url":"https://www.princerupert.ca"},"short_answer":"Unclear in Prince Rupert. Livestock Prohibition Bylaw 2987 bans livestock, including poultry, rabbits and farm animals, outside areas zoned \"M7-Special Industrial\" in an old zoning bylaw. The current zoning bylaw mentions keeping hens but lists no zone for it. Ask the City before buying birds.","aliases":["can I have chickens","backyard hens prince rupert","keep rabbits","goats pigs horses","urban chickens"],"cost":"Court fine up to $2,000, plus up to the same amount for each further day. Municipal ticket (MTI Bylaw 2783 schedule): $100 for keeping livestock.","how_long":null,"where":[{"type":"phone","label":"Bylaw Department","value":"250-624-6852"},{"type":"email","label":"Bylaw Department","value":"bylaw@princerupert.ca"}],"documents":[],"forms":[{"title":"Livestock Prohibition Bylaw 2987, 1996 (PDF)","url":"https://www.princerupert.ca/media/627"},{"title":"Zoning Bylaw 3462, 2021 (PDF)","url":"https://www.princerupert.ca/sites/7/files/2024-07/USE_THIS_Consolidated%20Zoning%20Bylaw_Draft07152024.pdf"}],"related":[{"slug":"how-many-pets","title":"How many dogs or cats you can keep in Prince Rupert","url":"https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/prince-rupert/how-many-pets/"},{"slug":"noise-rules","title":"Prince Rupert noise bylaw: quiet hours, construction hours and fines","url":"https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/prince-rupert/noise-rules/"},{"slug":"unsightly-property","title":"Prince Rupert unsightly property rules and how to report","url":"https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/prince-rupert/unsightly-property/"}],"nearby":[{"place":"ca/bc/port-edward","name":"Port Edward","url":"https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/port-edward/backyard-chickens/"},{"place":"ca/bc/kitimat","name":"Kitimat","url":"https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/kitimat/backyard-chickens/"},{"place":"ca/bc/terrace","name":"Terrace","url":"https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/terrace/backyard-chickens/"},{"place":"ca/bc/port-clements","name":"Port Clements","url":"https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/port-clements/backyard-chickens/"},{"place":"ca/bc/daajing-giids","name":"Daajing Giids","url":"https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/daajing-giids/backyard-chickens/"},{"place":"ca/bc/stewart","name":"Stewart","url":"https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/stewart/backyard-chickens/"}],"topic":{"title":"Backyard chicken rules in British Columbia, by municipality","url":"https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/backyard-chickens/"},"facts":{"hens_allowed":{"label":"Hens allowed","value":"Unclear. Livestock Prohibition Bylaw 2987 (1996) makes keeping livestock, including poultry, unlawful except in areas designated \"M7-Special Industrial\" in the 1980 zoning bylaw. Zoning Bylaw 3462 defines urban agriculture to include keeping hens and bees, but no zone's permitted uses lists it.","short":"Unclear; livestock bylaw conflicts with zoning","status":"stated","sources":[{"url":"https://www.princerupert.ca/media/627","title":"Livestock Prohibition Bylaw No. 2987, 1996 (PDF), City of Prince Rupert","section":"s. 1, 2","quotes":["shall include rabbits, poultry, pigeons and doves","It shall be unlawful for any person to keep any livestock within any area of the City of Prince Rupert"]},{"url":"https://www.princerupert.ca/sites/7/files/2024-07/USE_THIS_Consolidated%20Zoning%20Bylaw_Draft07152024.pdf","title":"Zoning Bylaw No. 3462, 2021 (consolidated PDF), City of Prince Rupert","section":"s. 1 \"Urban Agriculture\"","quotes":["URBAN AGRICULTURE means the act of growing food on a lot.","the keeping of hens and/or bees, and agricultural retail sales."]}],"check":{"result":"matched","text_date":"2026-11-06"}},"max_hens":{"label":"Most hens","value":null,"status":"none","note":"Prince Rupert's bylaws set no number of hens, rooster rule, coop rules or hen permit.","sources":[]},"roosters":{"label":"Roosters","value":null,"status":"none","note":"Prince Rupert's bylaws set no number of hens, rooster rule, coop rules or hen permit.","sources":[]},"coop_rules":{"label":"Coop rules","value":null,"status":"none","note":"Prince Rupert's bylaws set no number of hens, rooster rule, coop rules or hen permit.","sources":[]},"registration":{"label":"Permit or registration","value":null,"status":"none","note":"Prince Rupert's bylaws set no number of hens, rooster rule, coop rules or hen permit.","sources":[]},"bees":{"label":"Bees","value":null,"status":"unknown","reason":"not_found","sources":[]},"other_livestock":{"label":"Other livestock","value":"Horses, mules, asses, swine, sheep, goats, cows and other bovines, plus rabbits, pigeons and doves, are also banned everywhere in the City except areas designated \"M7-SPECIAL INDUSTRIAL\".","status":"stated","sources":[{"url":"https://www.princerupert.ca/media/627","title":"Livestock Prohibition Bylaw No. 2987, 1996 (PDF), City of Prince Rupert","section":"s. 1, 2","quotes":["any horse, mule, ass, swine, sheep, goat, cow, or any other animal of the bovine species","except those areas designated \"M7-SPECIAL INDUSTRIAL\""]}],"check":{"result":"matched","text_date":"2026-11-06"}},"bylaw":{"label":"Bylaw","value":"Livestock Prohibition Bylaw No. 2987, 1996","status":"stated","sources":[{"url":"https://www.princerupert.ca/media/627","title":"Livestock Prohibition Bylaw No. 2987, 1996 (PDF), City of Prince Rupert","section":"s. 5","quotes":["LIVESTOCK PROHIBITION BYLAW NO. 2987, 1996"]}],"check":{"result":"matched","text_date":"2026-11-06"}}},"facts_summary":{"total":8,"stated":3,"matched":3,"none":4,"unknown":1},"body_markdown":"## How it works\n\n[Livestock Prohibition Bylaw 2987](https://www.princerupert.ca/media/627) makes it unlawful to keep livestock anywhere in Prince Rupert except in areas designated \"M7-SPECIAL INDUSTRIAL\" in the 1980 zoning bylaw. Livestock means horses, mules, asses, swine, sheep, goats, cows and other bovines and, for this bylaw, rabbits, poultry, pigeons and doves.\n\nWhether that exception applies today is unclear. The 1980 zoning bylaw has been replaced by the [current Zoning Bylaw 3462](https://www.princerupert.ca/sites/7/files/2024-07/USE_THIS_Consolidated%20Zoning%20Bylaw_Draft07152024.pdf), which has no \"M7\" zone. That bylaw defines \"urban agriculture\" to include keeping hens or bees, but no zone lists it as a permitted use. The City's website has no page about backyard hens.\n\n## Good to know\n\n- The bylaws set no number of hens, no rooster rule, no coop rules and no hen permit or registration. None was found.\n- No beekeeping rule was found either.\n- Ducks are not named; they may count as poultry, but the bylaw does not say.\n- Penalty: a court fine up to $2,000, plus up to the same amount for each further day. The municipal ticket schedule (MTI Bylaw 2783) lists $100 for keeping livestock.\n- Ask the Bylaw Department (250-624-6852, bylaw@princerupert.ca) before buying birds or rabbits.","sources":[{"url":"https://www.princerupert.ca/media/627","title":"Livestock Prohibition Bylaw No. 2987, 1996 (PDF), City of Prince Rupert","accessed":"2026-11-05"},{"url":"https://www.princerupert.ca/sites/7/files/2024-07/USE_THIS_Consolidated%20Zoning%20Bylaw_Draft07152024.pdf","title":"Zoning Bylaw No. 3462, 2021 (consolidated PDF), City of Prince Rupert","accessed":"2026-11-05"},{"url":"https://www.princerupert.ca/media/664","title":"Ticket Information Bylaw No. 2783 (consolidated to 2000) (PDF), City of Prince Rupert","accessed":"2026-11-05"},{"url":"https://www.princerupert.ca/city-hall/contact-city-department","title":"Contact a City Department, City of Prince Rupert","accessed":"2026-11-05"}],"sources_read":"2026-11-05","review":{"status":"machine_checked","badge":"Checked against official text","label":"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."},"urls":{"html":"https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/prince-rupert/backyard-chickens/","markdown":"https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/prince-rupert/backyard-chickens.md","json":"https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/prince-rupert/backyard-chickens.json"}}