July 13th, 2026

The District of Squamish is proposing to update the zoning bylaw to include regulation around ‘co-living’ and introduce a new rate category in the DCC bylaw for co-living.  

Co-Living Dwelling Unit means a form of long-term residential accommodation similar to rooming or boarding house in which: 

• one or more persons reside in Private Sleeping Units; 
• all persons residing in the Private Sleeping Unit have access from the Private Sleeping Unit to common amenity spaces which may contain kitchen, dining, and/or living areas; 
• occupancy is intended for continuous residential use for periods of not less than 90 days; and, 
• the building is designed such that floor areas of all Private Sleeping Units plus all sanitary facilities comprise the majority of the residential floor area. 

Staff presented a proposed approach for co-living regulation at the March 14, 2026, Committee of the Whole Meeting. 

Bylaw 3246 (attached) propose a new DCC rate category for co-living developments based on the number of private sleeping units. To support this, Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. prepared the Development Cost Charges Background Study dated February 2025. The DCC Background Study includes analysis related to transportation, drainage, sewer, water, parks, solid waste, and recycling infrastructure using average persons-per-unit assumptions.  

Based on the analysis, the DCC rate is $11,603 per person. This rate can reasonably be applied to co-living developments based on the number of private sleeping units. A co-living dwelling containing 6 private sleeping units would result in a DCC of $69,618. In comparison a single unit dwelling would result in a DCC of $37,066 which is a difference of $32,552.   

District staff are targeting July 21, 2026 for Council’s consideration of the bylaw.