Allowing more residents in North Cowichan to have chickens in their backyards is being looked at favourably by all members of the municipality’s council.
A delegation at the council meeting on Oct. 1 presented a petition with hundreds of names asking council to ease the restrictions that allow only large properties that are more than 0.4 acres (17,424 sq. ft.) in size to have backyard chickens.
The delegation, led by Feona Lim, Shawna Martsen, Becky Klasen and Adrienne Richards, said this restriction prevents many residents from accessing a sustainable, affordable food source amid rising food costs and growing food security concerns in Canada.
They said backyard hens provide fresh eggs, reduce household expenses, and promote self sufficiency.
For instance, they said, a small flock of six hens can produce up to 18 eggs per week, potentially saving families between $200 to $300 annually on groceries.
“The City of Duncan sets a strong precedent, allowing up to six hens on any residential property without a licence, with the option to apply for more under clear guidelines,” the delegation said.
“This model balances community needs with responsible regulations. We believe all North Cowichan residents, regardless of lot size, should have the right to keep a small number of hens, up to six for example, under reasonable rules, such as setback requirements and noise control, to ensure neighbourhood harmony.“
Klasen added that the current bylaw, which she pointed out is in effect but not currently enforced, risks sudden enforcement if a new council comes in after the municipal election in 2026.
Coun. Christopher Justice, chair of North Cowichan’s agricultural advisory committee, said that in 2019, there was great interest in the municipality to update the backyard chicken bylaw, but because North Cowichan was heading into a review of its official community plan and zoning bylaws, it seemed redundant to do it and a decision was made to wait until those reviews were over.
“But, as a stop-gap measure, council also said we wouldn’t enforce it,” Justice said. “As [the delegation] pointed out, so many years have gone by and there’s maybe some loss of institutional memory and there’s been some mistakes made, but it does seem that the OCP supports chickens and the sort of bylaw amendment that [the delegation] is suggesting.”
Justice said the agricultural committee is helping the municipality develop its agricultural food security plan, and committee members have expressed an interest in looking at the chicken bylaw and provide council with some guidance on the issue.
“Just in terms of timing, I would suggest that if a motion was brought to council, there is a meeting of the committee in late October and that motion could be looked at by then and we could get some feedback from them before the motion came for debate [by council] in early November,” he said.
But after all council members expressed support of allowing more people to have backyard chickens, Tricia Mayea, North Cowichan’s manager of legislative services, pointed out that while the council procedure bylaw says that council doesn’t like to do motions at the same meeting as a delegation is heard, there’s nothing that says council can’t “as long as they don’t make a habit of it”.
“It seems to me that council seems to be very much on the same page about this, so I don’t see any harm in you referring it to the agricultural advisory committee right now,” Mayea said.
Council voted unanimously to send the issue to the committee right away.
