Moorage in BC

 While some of our remote access listings can be reached by vehicle, the majority of them are water access. While the occasional buyer may have a float plane, for most people water access means arriving by boat.

So where does the boat park? Unlike a driveway which generally is on the owned property, docks and other moorage options are in the water, which is not owned privately. 

Docks must be granted permission by the government. In the past this meant a license of occupation, or a special permission document. Since 2017 many of the oceanfront properties in BC are covered under general permission, which does not require direct application to the government but does require adherence to certain rules.

Information on moorage in BC can be found here. This provides details on General Permission as well as when actual documentation and application is required (for instance if you do not own the upland directly in front of where you want to place the moorage).

Once the rules for moorage are understood, then begins the assessment for what type of moorage. Although most common, not all properties are candidates for docks due to location, weather conditions, extreme local tides, local boat traffic, etc. Mooring buoys, pulley/anchor systems and in some cases a local public dock are all options to be considered when a dock isn't the right solution.

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