Burning permits in Langley

In Langley you can only burn yard debris in the Township, only during two short seasons a year (spring and fall), only on a half-acre or larger lot in a rural area, and only with a $30 permit bought online. In Langley City you can’t burn at all. Bonfires and backyard wood fires aren’t allowed on either side, in any season.

Township of Langley

The Township’s Incidental Outdoor Burning Permit is for clearing branches, leaves, plants, tree trimmings and weeds from your own property. It’s sold online during the burning seasons, and you need it on hand, printed or on your phone, while you burn.

• The property test is what rules most people out. The lot must be at least 0.2 hectare, and the lots around it must be the same size or bigger. A half-acre lot that backs onto a subdivision doesn’t qualify.
• Pile limits: up to 1.2 m high and 2 m long or wide, at least 15 m from any building and from property lines.
• Never on the pile: garbage, furniture or other finished goods, old buildings and sheds, plastics, tires, insulation.
• Not covered: campfires, fire pits and bonfires. The Township says outdoor bonfires aren’t allowed on private property at any time. Cooking fires have to use charcoal, natural gas or propane.

Questions go to the Township Fire Department at [email protected].

Metro Vancouver’s rules apply too

The Township permit isn’t the only approval. Under Metro Vancouver’s open burning bylaw, a pile bigger than a campfire (60 cm high by 75 cm wide) also needs Metro Vancouver registration or authorization, with its own fee. You can also only burn when Metro Vancouver’s ventilation index for zone 2 (Langley) says smoke will clear: “good” today and tomorrow. Check the index the morning you plan to burn.

Langley City

The City of Langley doesn’t issue burning permits. Its Fire Protection and Safety Bylaw bans open air burning in the City, apart from approved gas, propane and charcoal appliances. Yard waste goes in the green cart or to a depot.

Easier than burning

For a few loads of prunings, the green cart and extra bundles at the curb are less work than the paperwork. For a truckload, Metro Vancouver’s Langley Recycling and Waste Centre at 1070 272 Street takes yard trimmings by weight.

For the full rundown, with every Metro Vancouver distance and fee, the green-waste bundle rules and the depot’s hours, read our explainer: Burning yard debris this fall? Six questions before you light the pile. Also see City vs Township: who does what and the garbage and recycling schedules.

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