Register your wood burning fireplaces

September 9, 2025

If you live in an urban area, register your wood-burning device by September 15, 2025 with Metro Vancouver or face fines up to $500. While it’s not a ban on fireplaces or wood stoves it is part of the plan to reduce emissions and to raise the profile of best burning practices. 

A bylaw passed in 2020 from Metro Vancouver for homeowners to voluntarily register their wood-burning appliances. The phased-in bylaw has the goal of reducing particulate matter from residential wood smoke. 

“Indoor residential wood burning is responsible for more than a quarter of the harmful fine particle emissions in the region – more than any other source. Since heating generally occurs in the fall and winter, wood smoke can contribute even more to the fine particles i​​n the air we breathe during those times of the year,” says Metro Vancouver.

The bylaw also includes a ban on a seasonal ban from May 15 - September 15. The goal is to reduce residential contributions to the already higher summertime ground-level ozone levels and increased particulate matter from wildfire smoke.

Lynn Valley Life

Particulate matter sources

Bylaw 1303

The current requirements of the bylaw are as follows: 

  1. Follow Best Burning Practices

    • Best burning practices include:

      • ​​Use only clean, seasoned wood

      • ​ Don't let your fire smoulder

      •  Don't burn garbage, plastic, or treated wood

      • Inspect and maintain your device

      •  ​Burn small and ​hot fires

      •  

  2. Seasonal Prohibition

    • A ban on using residential indoor wood-burning devices is in effect annually from May 15 to September 15, with some exceptions.

  3. Declaration Requirements

  4. Registration Requirements ​

    • Residents within Metro Vancouver’s Urban Containment Boundary must register their devices with Metro Vancouver.

    • To qualify for registration, devices must meet emissions standards.

  5. Operational Restrictions

    • From September 2025, unregistered devices will be prohibited from operation except during emergencies or if the device is the sole source of heat.​

Incentives

Residents have an opportunity to receive a rebate for switching to a more environmentally friendly device. If residents forego their old uncertified wood-burning device (fireplace, wood stove, furnace) for a new low-emission device (heat pump, electric insert, certified wood-burning device, etc.), through Metro Vancouver’s Community Wood Smoke Reduction Program.​​​​

This webpage provides a simplified summary of sections of the bylaw. If you are considering the switch the following appliances may be eligible for a rebate. 

  • A free-standing uncertified wood stove.

  • An uncertified fireplace insert, or tube-type heat exchanger with a face plate and door (like the 'Free Heat Machine' or 'Welenco') that is currently installed in an open hearth fireplace.

  • An open-hearth fireplace.

  • An uncertified "wood furnace" (ducted, forced air, home heating appliance) - may only be replaced by an EPA-certified wood furnace or pellet furnace or heat pump.

  • A "homemade" or "barrel" stove.

  • A wood-burning cook stove.

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