Field guide - British Columbia

The legal
landscape for
sauna hosts

A plain-language guide to setting up your home sauna business in British Columbia. Built for hosts who want to do it right - and want to feel good doing it.

So you want to host

First - thanks for being here. Hosting a sauna at your home is one of the most generous things you can do for your community. You're sharing heat, you're creating gathering, you're building a little ritual that people will come back to. It matters.

Second - there's some paperwork. The province of British Columbia, your municipality, and your insurance company all have a say in how you set this up. The good news is that none of it is mysterious - it's just a series of conversations and a few forms.

This guide walks you through it in plain language. Each chapter covers one piece of the puzzle, tells you who to call, and explains what to expect. By the end you'll have a clear list of next steps and a good feel for what kind of host setup you're building.

Every neighbourhood in BC is zoned - meaning your municipality has decided what kinds of things can happen on each piece of land. Houses in residential zones, shops on commercial streets, factories in industrial areas. When you start hosting paying guests at your house, you're adding a small commercial activity to a residential property, and zoning is where that question gets answered.

Most BC municipalities allow what's called a "home-based business" - things like a hairstylist working out of their basement, or a yoga teacher giving private lessons. But each city has its own rules about what counts and what doesn't. Some places will be totally fine with a backyard sauna for paying guests. Others will say it's commercial activity that belongs in a different zone.

Common rules in BC home-business bylaws

• -Your home has to stay primarily a home. The business is secondary.
• -Limited or no non-resident employees. Vancouver caps it at two helpers.
• -No big signs out front announcing it's a business.
• -Reasonable limits on guest traffic, parking, and noise.
• -You have to actually live at the property.

The honest reality

Here's the part to know going in: in some BC municipalities, sauna hosting on residential property is in a grey area. Vancouver updated its bylaws in late 2025 to officially allow outdoor saunas and cold plunges, primarily in commercial and industrial zones, though a handful of mixed-use residential zones were also included. Other cities are still figuring it out. The question "can I run a small sauna business at my house?" might not have a clear yes-or-no answer in your community yet.

This doesn't mean you can't host. It means it's worth a five-minute call to your municipality before you start taking bookings. They'll tell you what's possible and what hoops you'll need to jump through.

This is the chapter that surprises the most hosts, so we're putting it early. If you have any kind of cold plunge, ice bath, or shared water feature alongside your sauna, there's a provincial regulation that almost certainly applies to you - and it's worth understanding before you open to guests.

There are two ways to handle this, and both are totally workable:

Option A: Drain and refill between every guest

If you fully drain and clean the plunge tub between each guest, you fall under the Section 2(1)(c) exemption and the Pool Regulation doesn't apply. This works well for smaller setups with longer slots between bookings. It uses more water and takes longer to turn the space around, but the paperwork is simpler.

Option B: Get a pool operating permit

If you want shared water - multiple guests using the plunge during a session, or back-to-back bookings - you'll apply for an operating permit through your regional health authority. They'll walk you through water testing, sanitation, signage, and inspection requirements. It's more involved, but it's a known process and thousands of pools and hot tubs across BC operate under it.

A simpler path: an outdoor cold shower

It's worth knowing this isn't a choice between a full cold plunge and nothing at all. A cold outdoor shower gives guests genuine cold exposure and a way to rinse off between rounds - the hot-cold contrast most people are really after - without the standing, shared water that brings the BC Pool Regulation into play. It's cheaper to install, simpler to maintain, and sidesteps the permitting question. For a lot of hosts it's the easiest way to round out the experience while you decide whether a plunge is worth the extra steps.

Once you've talked to your municipality about zoning, getting a business licence is the next step. Almost every BC city requires one for any commercial activity, including home-based businesses. It's usually inexpensive (often under $200 per year), and it puts you on the right side of municipal rules.

The application may trigger an inspection. This is actually helpful: it's a chance for the municipality to confirm everything is set up properly and to flag anything you should address. Treat it as a free consultation rather than something to be nervous about.

What you'll typically need

• -A completed application form (online in most municipalities)
• -A floor plan or site sketch showing where the sauna is located
• -Government-issued photo ID
• -Proof you live at the property
• -The application fee - varies by city, usually under $200

Mobile saunas

If you ever plan to take your sauna on the road - to a different city, a friend's property, or an event - look into BC's Intermunicipal Business Licence (IMBL) program. It was designed primarily for trades contractors, so mobile saunas may not be eligible in every region, but some partnerships cover a broader range of businesses. Not every city participates - check with your local partnership to see if it applies to you.

Insurance is the chapter that everyone skims and shouldn't. It's also the easiest one to get right - one good conversation with a broker handles almost everything. Here's the lay of the land.

Coverage you'll want

There are three pieces to a solid sauna host insurance setup. A good broker can quote you all three at once.

Commercial General Liability (CGL)

This is the big one. It covers you if a guest gets injured on your property - a slip, a burn, dizziness from the heat, anything. Most wellness businesses carry $2M to $5M in coverage. Starting from a few hundred dollars a year, depending on your setup.

Home-business endorsement

This is added to your existing home policy and lets your insurer know you're running a business from home. Some insurers offer it directly; others will steer you toward a separate commercial policy. Either way, the goal is the same: making sure your home coverage stays valid.

Property coverage for the sauna itself

If your sauna is a permanent structure, you'll want it covered as a business asset. This protects you if something happens to it - fire, vandalism, weather damage.

If guests sleep over

If you're ever combining sauna access with an overnight stay - sauna plus a guest room, sauna plus a cabin - you'll need short-term rental coverage on top of the above. This is a separate insurance product, and it's also where BC's Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act kicks in (more on that in Chapter 6).

If you've already built your sauna, you may have run into building permit questions. If you haven't built yet, this is the chapter to read before you start. Either way, the rules are manageable - just worth knowing.

Do you need a building permit?

The BC Building Code exempts small backyard structures under 10 square metres from building permits - but only if they don't create a hazard. Whether a sauna qualifies as a hazard is decided case by case by your local building authority. Some municipalities may require permits for even a small sauna; others may not. A BC Building Code Appeal Board ruling found that a standard residential electric sauna under 10 square metres did not create a hazard - but your municipality may see it differently. It's worth asking before you build.

Permits you may need

• -Building permit from your municipality - for the structure itself.
• -Electrical permit - if your heater is electric. This needs to be pulled by a licensed electrician.
• -Solid-fuel appliance permit - if your heater is wood-fired, with proper clearances from anything that can burn.
• -Final inspection before you start hosting guests.

Commercial use adds another layer

Using your sauna commercially - hosting paying guests - can trigger stricter building code provisions than private personal use. Things like emergency exits, signage, occupancy limits, and ventilation can come into play. A structure that was permitted for personal use may need small modifications before it can legally host guests. Your building department will tell you what applies.

Tax basics every host should know

• -Once your taxable revenue exceeds $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters - or in any single quarter - you must register for GST/HST collection. Track your numbers from day one so you know when you're approaching it.
• -You can deduct a portion of your home expenses - utilities, property tax, mortgage interest, insurance - based on the percentage of your home used for business. Your accountant will calculate this.
• -If you claim depreciation (Capital Cost Allowance) on the business portion of your home, it can affect your principal residence exemption when you sell. Ordinary deductions like utilities and insurance won't. Your accountant can walk you through the distinction.
• -BC Assessment can split-classify your property if your sauna business meets their "high visibility" criteria - things like regular customer traffic, signage, or structural changes. A small-scale home sauna operation is unlikely to trigger reclassification, but it's worth monitoring as the business scales.

Day-use vs overnight stays

Day-use sauna bookings - a guest comes for a couple of hours and leaves - are not short-term rentals. They're a commercial wellness service. BC's Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act doesn't apply.

But if you bundle your sauna with an overnight stay - guest sleeps on your property - you cross into short-term rental territory. Since May 2024, BC law limits short-term rentals (less than 90 days) to your principal residence, plus one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit on the same property, in municipalities with 10,000 or more people, plus smaller neighbouring communities within 15 kilometres.

Where to start

Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Don't be. Here's the order to tackle things in. Each step builds on the one before it, and you'll have momentum by step three. Most hosts complete this whole list in four to eight weeks.

1. 01
   Call your municipality's planning department.This is your starting point. Confirm what your zoning allows. Get the answer in writing if you can. Everything else follows from this conversation.
2. 02
   Contact your regional health authority if you have a cold plunge.Ask whether your setup triggers the BC Pool Regulation, and what permitting looks like. If you don't have a water feature, skip this step.
3. 03
   Apply for your business licence.This makes you official and triggers a quick inspection that often surfaces anything else you need.
4. 04
   Sort out building and electrical permits.If your sauna is already built, pull retroactive permits now. If you're still planning, get permits before you build.
5. 05
   Talk to an insurance broker.Get a quote for Commercial General Liability plus a home-business endorsement. Be upfront about everything - that's what makes the coverage real.
6. 06
   Register your business with BC Registries if using a trade name.If you'll operate under a name other than your own legal name, register it as a sole proprietorship ($70). Your accountant can advise on whether to incorporate down the road.
7. 07
   Set up your bookkeeping.Even before you hit the GST threshold, track everything from the start. Future you will be grateful.

You've got this

If this guide felt like a lot, that's fair - it is. But here's what to remember: every host who's ever opened a sauna to the public has gone through this same process. Thousands of small wellness businesses across BC are operating right now, doing the work, making the calls, filing the paperwork. You're joining a community.

And we're here to help. SaunaScout isn't just a listing platform - we're hosts ourselves, navigating the same questions, sharing what we learn. If you get stuck on any of this, reach out. We may not have every answer, but we've usually got a phone number for someone who does.

Now go pour some water on those rocks.

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