Vancouver residential permit parking: who can park, permits and visitor passes

What a permit zone is

The City uses residential parking rules to manage parking pressure on busy residential streets and to make it easier for residents to park close to home. Permit zones are usually signed with a mix of two signs:

• “No Parking Except with Permit”: only the vehicles listed below can park there.
• “Time Limited Except with Permit”: permit holders aren’t bound by the time limit, and everyone else can park up to the posted limit.

The City says the signs also let parking officers recognize vehicles without a permit on sight and with licence-plate-recognition cameras. A permit lets you park in your zone, but it doesn’t guarantee a space in front of your home.

Who can park there

Under section 23 of the Street and Traffic By-law, resident permit parking (RPP) and resident parking only (RPO) zones are for:

• vehicles owned by residents of that area, whose ICBC insurance matches the address, with a permit for that zone;
• car-share vehicles, such as Evo and Modo;
• vehicles displaying a valid SPARC disability placard, for no longer than 3 hours, in any permit zone; and
• vehicles displaying a valid commercial vehicle decal that have paid for parking with the PayByPhone app.

Anyone else needs a short-term permit, a time-limited block, a meter or off-street parking. On a “Time Limited Except with Permit” block, staying past the posted limit without a permit is a $90 ticket; parking without a permit where the sign doesn’t allow it is a $150 ticket. Either drops by 30% if paid within 14 days ($63 and $105).

Who can buy a permit

You must live in the permit zone to buy a permit for it; the City says there are no exceptions. You can buy online or by phone if you:

• live in the permit zone;
• are the registered owner or lessee of the vehicle;
• are the declared principal operator, with valid ICBC insurance showing your current address on both page 1 and page 2; and
• have a valid email address and a credit card.

Otherwise you’ll need to apply in person with extra documents. That covers driving someone else’s vehicle or a company car, being a dual resident, a permit for a homecare provider’s vehicle, being a student from outside B.C. or a new resident from another province, and insurance that shows a different mailing address on page 1. The City verifies applications with ICBC, and you have to apply yourself, not through a representative.

• Household limit. Some high-density zones allow at most 2 permits per household (see the table below). A household is a self-contained unit with its own kitchen and bathroom; roommates and family members in the same unit count as one household.
• Vehicles that can’t get a permit. Commercial vehicles (including cube vans), large motor homes, most Sprinter vans, trailers, and vehicles longer than 6.4 m (21 ft) or higher than 2.2 m (about 7 ft 3 in).

What a permit costs in 2026

Most permit fees rose by $23 to $55 before GST on January 1, 2026: the standard annual fee went from $72.29 to $100, and West End market rates rose 4.5%. Each zone’s permits expire on the last day of a set month, and fees are pro-rated by the day, so a permit bought partway through the year costs less.

Fees include GST. “Expires” is the month on whose last day the zone’s permits run out. Zone names link to the City’s maps (PDF). The City says its permit zone map is a guide only and subject to change; its permit page has an address check. Source: City of Vancouver, Buy an annual or a short-term residential parking permit; 2026 Engineering Fees report.

How to buy, renew and display a permit

1. Buy online or by phone. Use the City’s online permit application, entering your name exactly as it appears on your ICBC insurance, or call 3-1-1 (7 AM–7 PM weekdays, 8 AM–5 PM weekends and holidays).
2. Or in person. Revenue Services, ground floor of City Hall, 453 West 12th Avenue, 8:30 AM–5 PM weekdays. For Davie-Beach, Denman West, West End Plateau and Robson North, the West End Community Centre parking counter at 870 Denman Street, weekdays 9 AM–1 PM and 2–5 PM. Bring every document, or you’ll be turned away. In person you can pay by credit card, debit, cash or cheque, but not with a credit card cheque.
3. Wait 3 hours. After buying online or by phone, you can park in the zone 3 hours after applying. A ticket received before then stands. If your application is denied, the City emails you, refunds your card, and gives you until noon the next day to move the car.
4. Put the decal on. Decals are mailed, not picked up. If yours hasn’t arrived within 10 business days, tell the City on Van311. Stick it on the inside lower-left corner of the driver’s side windshield, on the left front fork of a motorcycle, or under the front of the seat on a scooter. A decal attached with tape or plastic can get the vehicle ticketed and towed, and a car without its decal displayed will be ticketed.
5. Renew yearly. Buy next year’s permit from the first day of the month your current one expires.

A permit is valid only in the zone your address is in, for the licence plate printed on the decal, while the decal is on the windshield. It stops being valid if you move or change your vehicle or plate, and it can’t be transferred to another driver.

Visitors, rentals and contractors

The City’s permit page says short-term permits are bought in person, up to 2 weeks in advance, and last up to 3 months where that applies. Each needs documents showing that you live in the zone, usually 2 pieces of ID with one dated in the last 3 months.

Weekly permits are $27.69 instead of $17.33 in Davie-Beach, Denman West, West End Plateau and Robson North. Prices include GST. Source: City of Vancouver, Buy an annual or a short-term residential parking permit.

Moving, a new car, refunds

• Moving, or a new vehicle or plate. Return your decal in person with page 1 and 2 of your updated ICBC insurance, then buy a new permit.
• Refunds. If more than 30 days are left on a permit, you can get a pro-rated refund, minus a $6.52 administrative fee, in person at City Hall or the West End Community Centre counter. Bring the decal, or ICBC paperwork showing the vehicle was sold or written off. Short-term dash permits aren’t refunded.
• Replacement decals. Available at the same two counters if the decal is lost, peeling, or on a windshield that’s been replaced.

The West End

Since May 2025, the West End has been split into three permit zones: Davie-Beach, Denman West and West End Plateau. Each has its own decal, and a decal is only valid in its own zone. The City made the split because permit holders were driving across the West End to park at busy shopping areas, beaches and business districts.

• Market rate: $497.73 a year in 2026.
• Non-market rate: $210 a year, for current holders who bought a West End permit before September 1, 2017 and haven’t let it lapse for more than 90 days, and for low-income households. Those include households enrolled in the Park Board’s Leisure Access Program, the BC Bus Pass Program, the Guaranteed Income Supplement or BC Housing’s Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters, or receiving provincial income assistance, as well as households under the City’s income limits.
• A non-market permit that lapses for more than 90 days goes to the market rate, with no exceptions, and an additional vehicle always pays the market rate.

Robson North, next to the West End, is $210 a year.

Enforcement and tickets by mail

Since May 14, 2026, the City has been piloting licence-plate-recognition cameras that mail tickets instead of leaving them on the windshield. The pilot covers four permit zones near transit: Commercial–Broadway Station, Joyce Station, Oakridge and Commercial Drive. Tickets go to the registered owner’s address on file with ICBC, so keep it current. The parking tickets guide covers paying and disputing a ticket.

Getting a permit zone on your block

1. Request it. A resident of the block can ask for a new zone or changes on Van311. Permit parking can’t be requested for temporary problems such as construction workers, or for businesses. In September 2026 the City put the wait at 16 to 18 months or longer.
2. Survey. The City sends the block’s residents a link to an online survey. If more than 50% of households are in favour, it designs restrictions around the needs residents describe; otherwise the request ends.
3. Signs. Signs are installed, timing depending on the season, and residents can then buy annual permits.

Old “Resident Parking Only” blocks. The RPO program ended in 2010, and the City no longer installs or adjusts RPO signs. It is reviewing the remaining RPO blocks and asking residents whether to upgrade to permit parking or remove the restriction. Until then, the same section 23 rules apply to them.