Every new home in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam carries charges that are separate from the price of land and construction. The largest are development cost charges and amenity cost charges. The cities also collect charges for Metro Vancouver, TransLink and the school district. Then come permit fees and refundable deposits. Each is set by a bylaw, and each can change.
This chapter of the land and zoning guide lists the charges each city publishes, with the date each schedule was checked. Every figure below was read from the city's own page, bylaw or guideline on 30 September 2026. Where a city does not publish a figure, the chapter says so and names the place to ask. For the wider picture of buying costs, see the costs and taxes guide.
What the law allows each charge to pay for
Section 559 of the Local Government Act lets a local government impose development cost charges on anyone who gets a subdivision approval or a building permit. The money can help pay the capital cost of sewer, water, drainage, fire protection, police, highway, and solid waste and recycling facilities, and of providing and improving park land. Off-street parking facilities are excluded.
Section 570.2 of the same act allows a separate amenity cost charge. It helps pay the capital cost of amenities that serve the development and the added residents or workers it brings. Coquitlam's page describes these as community centres, recreation and athletic facilities, libraries, public squares, and cultural and community spaces.
The act also sets exemptions from development cost charges. Section 561 says no charge is payable for units of 29 square metres or less used only as homes, unless a bylaw changes that area. It says no charge is payable if a charge was already paid for the same development and no new cost burden arises. Section 561 (5) exempts a building permit for a building with fewer than four self-contained homes used only for housing, unless the city's development cost charge bylaw provides otherwise under section 561 (6). Ask the city whether its bylaw uses that option before you rely on the exemption.
Coquitlam's development cost charges
Coquitlam's development cost charge page lists the rates in Bylaw 5411, 2025, effective 23 June 2025, as checked on 30 September 2026.
| Coquitlam land use | Development cost charge |
|---|---|
| Single family | $64,396 per dwelling unit |
| Duplex, triplex, fourplex or multiplex | $43,483 per dwelling unit |
| Townhouse | $38,537 per dwelling unit |
| Apartment | $24,435 per dwelling unit |
The page says the charges are collected when a subdivision is approved or a building permit is issued, and an excavation or foundation permit counts as a building permit. During review, the file manager gives an estimate of the city charges and of charges collected for other authorities. Those include the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District, water and regional parkland charges, the TransLink charge and the school site acquisition charge.
An owner whose total city charge is $50,000 or more may pay in instalments. The first payment is 25 per cent, plus a financial administration fee, before subdivision approval or building permit issuance, with a letter of credit or surety bond for the rest. The remaining 75 per cent is due at the earlier of four years or 15 business days after the city gives notice of final occupancy.
The classification of a project decides the rate. Coquitlam's development cost charge guidelines, updated on 13 March 2026, define single-detached residential use to include a home in a building with one dwelling unit and no other principal use, which may include a secondary suite, carriage house or garden cottage. The guidelines also describe a credit for like-for-like redevelopment, such as residential for residential. They state that the bylaw itself is the only official source of the rates.
Coquitlam's amenity cost charges
Coquitlam's amenity cost charge page says Council adopted the program on 7 July 2025, and that it will largely replace the city's density bonus and community amenity contribution programs. The rates effective 7 July 2025, as checked on 30 September 2026, are $21,205 per dwelling unit for low-rise residential, $21.31 per square foot for mid-rise apartments up to 12 floors, $38.53 per square foot for high-rise apartments, and $0 for industrial, commercial and institutional space. Low-rise residential includes single-detached homes, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, multiplexes and townhomes.
The same $50,000 instalment option applies, with 25 per cent paid before building permit issuance and the rest within four years or at final occupancy. The journal article on Coquitlam multiplex city charges adds the two charges together for a fourplex.
Legacy programs in Coquitlam
Coquitlam's community amenity contribution page says that program is now a legacy program for applications received before 7 July 2025. Under it, rezonings paid $70.83 per square metre for multi-family floor area below the base density and $10,968.26 per net lot for new single-family lots created through subdivision and rezoning.
The density bonus page says that, effective 30 June 2026, an optional density bonus applies in high-density residential and mixed-use zones. In the page's words, developers can build up to 1.5 floor area ratio in exchange for purpose-built rental, including affordable housing. Section 482 (2.1) of the Local Government Act says a density bonus cannot require an amenity that an amenity cost charge already funds. On a house lot in the R-1 to R-4 zones, the charges that apply are the development cost charges, amenity cost charges and other agencies' charges.
Permit fees and deposits in Coquitlam
Coquitlam's Fees and Charges Bylaw No. 5484, 2025, in force from 1 January 2026, sets permit and application fees. Building permit fees are based on the estimated value of construction. With a registered professional, work valued from $50,001 to $500,000 costs $485.90 plus $13.20 per $1,000 of value, and work above $500,000 costs $1,175.00 plus $11.80 per $1,000. Without a registered professional, the same bands are $510.70 plus $13.70 and $1,150.00 plus $12.40. A new single or two family dwelling permit has a separate $679.70 fee. A pre-application review is $1,434.70 and a delegated development permit is $3,011.80.
Coquitlam's page on building small-scale housing lists refundable securities. A development permit security is 2.5 per cent of the estimated construction cost. A frontage works security, for owners in the Frontage Works Program, is 110 per cent of the engineer's estimate. An engineering damage deposit is also taken. The page says these are returned once staff are satisfied the work is complete and has held up for a set period.
Port Coquitlam's charges
Port Coquitlam's small-scale housing page publishes a charge table, checked on 30 September 2026. For a duplex or triplex, city transportation, water, drainage and sanitary sewer charges total $8,897 per dwelling unit, with water listed at $0. For a new subdivision lot, they total $15,762. The page adds regional water, liquid waste and parkland charges for a new subdivision lot, and city parks charges of $3,132 per unit for low density and $1,788 per unit for duplexes and triplexes in Area 1. The page states that these charges do not apply to new secondary suites or accessory buildings, and that the rates may change.
Port Coquitlam's development cost charge page says the city is updating its parks charge, last updated in 1999, and plans to merge its parks and utility bylaws. It lists proposed parks rates, and it says existing applications get 12 months of protection from rate increases when a new bylaw is adopted. Proposed rates are not in force, so ask the city which schedule applies on the date your permit is issued.
Port Coquitlam's Amenity Cost Charge Bylaw No. 4449 was adopted on 29 June 2026. Schedule A sets $15,358 per dwelling unit or lot for single family, $8,038 per dwelling unit for ground-oriented multi family, and $5,454 per dwelling unit for multi family. The bylaw's definition of a dwelling unit excludes a secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit. The city's amenity cost charge page says the program replaces negotiated community amenity contributions.
| Port Coquitlam charge, checked 30 September 2026 | Single family | Duplex or triplex |
|---|---|---|
| City utility and transportation charges | $15,762 per new lot | $8,897 per unit |
| City parks charges, Area 1 | $3,132 per unit | $1,788 per unit |
| Amenity cost charge, Bylaw 4449 | $15,358 per unit or lot | $8,038 per unit |
| School site charge, School District No. 43 | $3,330, low density category | Ask the city |
The school site acquisition charge
The provincial school site acquisition page describes a charge per dwelling unit paid by residential developers. The local government collects it and passes it to the school board to help pay for new school sites. Section 575 of the Local Government Act says the board sets the charge by bylaw, using a formula that divides a share of the land value of needed school sites by the number of expected new units.
Port Coquitlam's page lists $3,330 for School District No. 43 in the single-family low density category, under 21 units per gross hectare. Coquitlam's pages name the charge and collect it, and they did not state an amount when checked. Ask Coquitlam's Development Planning for the figure in force for your project.
Before you budget
Classify the project first: single family, a house with a suite or backyard unit, or a duplex, triplex or fourplex. Then apply each schedule and ask the city for a written estimate. Rates in both cities changed in 2025 and 2026, and they can change again before your permit is issued. The carriage houses and suites chapter and the small-scale housing chapter explain the project types behind each class.
This chapter lists published charges only. City staff calculate the charges for each application, and a builder or quantity surveyor can price construction.