This site covers BC building permits, trades training, and jobs that need a licence or certificate, with links to the official sources.
New to permits? Start with Do I need a permit? or the fee estimator. Or grab the free downloads: a permit survival guide, a reno budget estimator, contractor paperwork and an apprentice hour tracker.
Building permits in British Columbia are issued by your local government, not the Province. The rules, fee formulas and forms change from one city to the next. Trades training runs through SkilledTradesBC, and the Red Seal exam is set nationally. This site gathers the practical parts of both into plain-language guides. Each guide links back to the city, SkilledTradesBC, Red Seal or provincial page that has the final word.
Start with Do I need a permit?, which walks through 22 common jobs, from decks and sheds to suites and re-roofing. Next, confirm which government your address falls under. A Duncan mailing address, for example, can be City of Duncan, North Cowichan or the Cowichan Valley Regional District. Then open your city's guide. These cover what needs a permit, the documents to prepare, how fees are worked out and who to call:
The fee estimator applies each city's published formula to give a rough planning figure. The BC permit wait-times page records what each city officially publishes about processing times. The 30-second permit quiz and the deck and shed rules by city table compare 14 places. The how-to guides cover decks, secondary suites and preparing drawings.
Most BC trades are learned through apprenticeship: paid work under a sponsor, plus blocks of technical training. Registering your apprenticeship explains the SkilledTradesBC Portal step by step. If you already have years in a trade without the ticket, challenging the Red Seal covers the Trade Qualifier route, and the exam readiness checklist covers booking and preparing for the exam. For pay and training length by trade, see BC trade wages (Job Bank figures) and becoming an electrician, one of BC's compulsory trades.
Everything here is general information, not legal or professional advice. Fees and rules change, so confirm with the official authority before you apply or spend money. Spotted something out of date? Tell us, and see how pages are researched and reviewed.