Filming in Langley: how it works

Somebody slid a letter under your door with a production company’s name on it, and now there are orange cones along the curb. Here’s what that letter means, who signed off on it, and what you can do about it.

How much filming actually happens here?

A lot. The Township says film and TV productions put more than $40 million a year into the local economy, and it markets itself as Hollywood North. The most detailed count we could find is from 2018, when the Township’s economic development manager told the Langley Advance Times it had logged more than 1,700 film days, 135 productions and 720 permits, and that it had passed 1,000 film days every year since 2014. A “film day” counts each production separately, so two shoots on the same day are two film days.

More recent numbers are thinner. In December 2025 the Aldergrove Star reported Township estimates of about $290,000 in permit and property-use fees so far that year, and about 2,500 Township residents working in the industry. We couldn’t find a published permit count for the City.

Who issues the permit, the Township or the City?

Whichever one the street is in. They’re separate municipalities with separate rules (our City vs. Township explainer has the map).

• Township of Langley: the Filming Department. Any shoot on municipal land, roads or buildings needs a Township permit, and even a shoot entirely on private property needs a Township endorsement and a business licence.
• City of Langley: the Engineering Department, under the City’s filming policy (CO-58, approved in 2016). Productions need a film permit, a highway use permit if they touch the street, and a business licence, and every City shoot must hire a Film Site Liaison.
• Fort Langley National Historic Site is federal. Commercial filming there goes through Parks Canada, not the Township.

What am I supposed to get as a neighbour?

A letter. In the Township, every production must deliver a Township-approved notification letter to affected residents; the guidelines say by hand, at least two business days before filming. The Township’s template asks for the dates and times, what’s happening, any temporary no-stopping zones, traffic impacts, where crew will park, and a mobile number for the location manager and the on-site contact. In the City, the letters go out at least 48 hours ahead and must include the location manager’s name and phone and Creative BC’s number.

A say, sometimes. If a shoot wants to run outside normal hours, both municipalities make the production poll the neighbours first. The Township wants a clear majority in favour and is piloting online polling. The City’s policy sets the bar at 80% support, and also requires polling for multi-day shoots, special effects, road closures and filming downtown. Under the City’s “reverse polling” option, only a no counts against the production, so if you object, send the form back.

Signs and limits. Parking spots a production has permitted must be signed. Only essential vehicles go on the street; the rest of the crew parks elsewhere. Traffic holds are capped at three minutes (the Township adds: in any 15). Businesses fronted by a shoot get a sign saying they’re open. And in Fort Langley’s business core, the Township doesn’t allow filming in December or on statutory holidays; downtown Langley City is off limits from December 24 to January 1.

Can a neighbourhood say “enough”?

In the Township, yes, in a way. Its guidelines let staff label an area Film-Sensitive if three or more productions or more than 20 film days have landed there in 90 days, or after a run of legitimate complaints. From then on, every extra shoot needs favourable polling. If complaints keep coming, Council can make it a Film Hotspot: filming stops and there’s a six-month break. The City’s policy has its own version: polling is required in designated hot spots, and a majority petition from the people affected can limit filming there. (The Township’s guidelines date from 2013, updated 2018, so check with the film office before you lean on a detail.)

How do I find out what’s filming?

• Your letter. It’s the only source that tells you exact streets and times.
• Creative BC’s In Production list, updated weekly. It shows who’s shooting in BC, not where. Creative BC also suggests it to check a production is real before you agree to anything.
• Hollywood North Buzz, the site that yvrshoots.com now redirects to, posts what’s filming around Metro Vancouver.
• The Langley Advance Times and Aldergrove Star, which reported, for instance, that Amazon’s Runaway sent notices to Fort Langley residents and shops before filming there in September 2026.

Neither municipality publishes a public calendar of shoots that we could find.

A shoot is bothering me. Who do I call?

In this order:

1. The location manager, at the number on your letter. Creative BC calls them the first contact for any concern, and they’re the person who can actually move a truck.
2. The municipality. In the Township, the Filming Department (604-533-6151) handles questions, and Bylaw Enforcement (604-532-7551) takes reports of non-compliant filming; the Township logs legitimate complaints, which is what feeds a Film-Sensitive designation. In the City, call Engineering at 604-514-2929 or email [email protected]. City policy makes the production fix residents’ issues, and repeat problems can cost it the permit.
3. Creative BC’s community affairs team, [email protected] or 604-736-7997, mainly for a production that left a mess or damage after it wrapped.

Creative BC also publishes a Filming Toolkit for Residents on its Filming on Location page.

Can I rent my house or farm to a production?

Yes. The Township points owners to Creative BC’s Location Library, a password-protected database location scouts search. You submit your property online with 20 to 40 landscape photos, inside and out, including the driveway, the yard and the street both ways. You have to own it or have the right to lease it for filming, and it can’t be for sale or under renovation. We saw no listing fee.

If a scout calls, you negotiate the fee yourself; the Township stays out of it. Creative BC says there’s no standard rate, that it depends on the property, the disruption and the number of days, and that a homeowner’s policy is usually enough because the production carries its own insurance. Be ready for schedules to change.

What about being an extra?

Background performers are booked through casting, not the municipalities. The BC performers’ union, UBCP/ACTRA, explains its three routes to membership and runs a What’s Shooting list.

And if I just want to watch?

Fine, from where the crew asks you to stand. The industry’s code of conduct tells crews to stay inside the permitted area, keep the noise down, never block driveways or hydrants without permission and leave the location as they found it. Do the same for them: don’t walk onto a closed set and don’t park in the signed spots.

Our Fort Langley film location walk covers the places you can visit, and the TV shows filmed in Langley page lists what’s been shot where.