Off-Leash Dog Parks in Vancouver: Dog Beaches and Rules

Last checked: 22 October 2026. Every rule below links to the City of Vancouver, Park Board, Metro Vancouver or TransLink page or by-law it comes from. Hours and closures change, so read the sign at each off-leash area.

This guide covers the City of Vancouver. Metro Vancouver has 21 municipalities, each with its own council: in Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey or on the North Shore, check your council’s dog rules (that page links to each). In Toronto, see off-leash dog parks in Toronto.

The short answers

• Where can my dog be off leash? Only in a designated off-leash area. Dogs are welcome in every Vancouver park, but on a leash everywhere else, says the Park Board’s Dog off-leash areas page, which lists 42 off-leash areas with hours and maps.
• How long can the leash be? No longer than 2.5 metres, held in your hand: most retractable leashes are not allowed, and no tying your dog to a pole or bike rack (Responsible dog ownership; Animal Control By-law, s. 4.2).
• What’s the fine? A ticket for a dog off leash outside an off-leash area, or for a dog with no licence, is $250 (Ticket Offences By-law, Table 1). Officers can also just give a warning, and a court can fine up to $10,000 (Pet regulations and fines; Animal Control By-law, s. 10.4).
• Does my dog need a licence? Yes, every dog over 3 months: $68 a year (Dog licences and tags). More below.
• Which beaches allow dogs? Only five, and only inside their off-leash areas: Hadden Park, John Hendry (Trout Lake), New Brighton, Spanish Banks and Sunset Beach (Beaches). Details below.

The rules in every off-leash area

From the Park Board’s Dog off-leash areas page:

• Pick up your dog’s waste, and have a valid licence for it.
• Maximum 3 dogs per handler.
• Dogs must be on leash when entering and leaving.
• No persistent barking and no digging.
• Many areas say no dogs within 5 metres of a playground or on sports fields. Each listing says which.

Hours: many areas are open 6 am to 10 pm, but some only mornings and evenings, such as CRAB Park at Portside (6 to 10 am and 5 to 10 pm). The Park Board is phasing these limits out “through park renewals and upgrades” (memo, Aug 2023), so check the list.

Keep a female in heat at home: the by-law says she must be confined (Animal Control By-law, s. 4.7). A dog that has bitten or shown aggression without provocation must be muzzled in public (s. 1.2 and 4.3). With an aggressive dog licence, the City can also require a leash of 1 metre or less, or a muzzle in off-leash areas, or keep the dog out of them altogether (s. 4A.10). Skipping the muzzle means a fine of at least $500 (s. 10.6).

Where to go

Well-known areas, with what the Park Board’s list says:

• Coopers’ Park (1020 Marinaside Cres): 6 am to 10 pm. Fenced, with a separate small or shy dog area and drinking water for dogs.
• Emery Barnes Park (Davie and Richards St): 6 am to 10 pm. Fenced, pet-specific synthetic turf, a small or shy dog area and dog water.
• Stanley Park: a small fenced area beside the tennis courts off Lagoon Dr, 7 am to 9 pm. Everywhere else in the park, the seawall included, your dog stays on a leash, and in coyote denning season the Park Board may close busy trails (Park Board, Apr 2024).
• Queen Elizabeth Park (off E 37th Ave and Columbia St): 6 am to 10 pm. About 16,500 square metres of unfenced grass.
• Everett Crowley Park (8200 Kerr St): 6 am to 10 pm. The largest on the list, about 117,000 square metres of off-leash trails. No dogs near Avalon Pond.

Granville Park, Hinge Park and General Brock Park are also fenced, each with a small or shy dog space. The Nat Bailey Stadium area is temporarily closed for construction, and part of Killarney Park’s area is a sport field for now (same list).

Dog beaches, and where dogs can’t go

Dogs may be on a beach only inside these five off-leash areas (Beaches; hours from the off-leash list):

• Spanish Banks: two large unfenced areas near the entrance to Pacific Spirit Park, 6 am to 10 pm. No dogs in the ecologically sensitive creek area.
• Hadden Park (1905 Ogden Ave, Kitsilano, home of the Vancouver Maritime Museum, per its Park Finder page): October to April, 6 am to 10 pm; May to September, only 6 to 10 am and 5 to 10 pm.
• Sunset Beach: a small sandy area behind the Vancouver Aquatic Centre, 6 am to 10 pm, with dog water.
• New Brighton Park: the fenced grass area is open 5 am to 10 pm all year; the beach part only from October to April.
• John Hendry Park (Trout Lake): 6 am to 10 pm, on the lake’s north side (Parks Control By-law, Schedule 1). Trout Lake Beach, the swimming beach, is at the south end.

No dogs on any other City beach: English Bay, Kitsilano, Jericho, Locarno, and Second and Third beaches in Stanley Park. The Animal Control By-law bans dogs from bathing beaches and the water beside them, with a minimum fine of $125 on conviction (s. 4.4 and 10.6). In parks, dogs also may not go into ponds, lakes or streams except where off-leash rules allow (Parks Control By-law, s. 14(c)).

Pacific Spirit and other regional parks

Pacific Spirit is a Metro Vancouver regional park, so the regional bylaw applies (Regional Parks Regulation Bylaw No. 1420, 2025):

• Dogs stay on a leash no longer than 2.5 metres, except in posted “off-leash” areas or on “leash optional” trails (s. 44 and 47).
• There, keep your dog under control: within 10 metres and in sight, coming back when called, not running off the trail.
• Carry a leash and collar for each dog, and leash up near horses.

The park has leash-required, leash-optional and no-dogs trails, so check the signs (Pacific Spirit Regional Park). More than half its trails are leash-optional, and after a review Metro Vancouver says “no changes will be made to trail designations” for now (Dog Management Program Review). The park map marks seasonal rules: from Acadia Beach to Trail 6, no dogs from 1 March to 30 September, leash-optional from 1 October to 28 February. At Camosun Bog, stay on the boardwalk with your dog on a leash (park brochure). In every regional park, keep dogs out of streams, ponds, wetlands and shorelines (Dogs in regional parks).

Walking several dogs

In City off-leash areas the limit is three dogs per handler; we found no separate Park Board permit for commercial dog walkers. In regional parks, walking dogs as a business needs a Metro Vancouver permit, and commercial walkers may not use Pacific Spirit’s beach area at any time of year (park map). Pacific Spirit’s 2026 permits are full, and applications reopen on 2 November 2026 (Commercial dog walking permit).

The dog licence

• Who: “all dogs and service dogs over 3 months of age” (Dog licences and tags).
• Cost: $68 a year per dog in 2026. A City staff report proposes raising animal control fees by 5% from 1 January 2027, to $71 for a dog (Council report, July 2026), so check the licence page if you buy in the new year. Renew before it expires to avoid a $10 late penalty. The 2026 fee table has one rate for all dogs, with no lower fee for a spayed or neutered dog (Animal Control By-law, Schedule A).
• Free for a service dog with the Province of BC’s Guide Dog and Service Dog Certification. A dog whose family got an “Aggressive Dog” letter needs a $222 aggressive dog licence.
• How: online, by phoning 3-1-1, or at Vancouver Animal Services, 1280 Raymur Ave.
• The tag must be on your dog’s collar at all times (s. 3.5). No more than three dogs may live at one home (s. 4.6).
• On the Musqueam Indian Reserve or the University Endowment Lands, buy the licence in person or by phone (Dog licences and tags).
• Why it pays: the City says 97% of licensed lost dogs are returned (Responsible dog ownership), and the impound fee is $240 for an unlicensed dog, $123 for a licensed one (Schedule A).

SkyTrain, buses and SeaBus

TransLink’s rules for pets other than guide and service dogs:

• Pets ride in “small, hand-held, fully enclosed carriers that fit in your lap, with no part of the animal exposed”.
• One pet per passenger. No pet strollers, and no pets on HandyDART.
• Drivers may refuse a pet; TransLink suggests off-peak travel.
• SeaBus is different: TransLink lends pet kennels (about 61 x 57 x 81 cm) at each terminal, two per sailing, so a dog too big for a lap carrier may still cross.

So a dog too big for a lap carrier can’t ride the SkyTrain or the bus.

What to bring

• A leash no longer than 2.5 metres, even if you plan to let your dog off it.
• Poop bags: you must pick up everywhere, streets included (Animal Control By-law, s. 4.9). Bag it and use any garbage bin (City of Vancouver).
• Water, unless the area has dog water (the list says which do).

Puppies: wait until your vet says the vaccine course is done; see bringing home a puppy. Hot days: walk early or late, and know the signs of heatstroke. Ticks: the ticks that can carry Lyme disease are most common in southwestern BC, Greater Vancouver included; fewer than 1% tested in BC carry it, but dogs can catch it (BCCDC). After forest trails, check your dog for ticks. Coyotes: they start denning in January and pups are born in spring, so keep your dog leashed, especially from dusk to dawn. If a coyote approaches, don’t run: back away slowly, big and loud, and report it to the BC Conservation Officer Service at 1-877-952-7277 (Urban coyotes).

Off-leash manners

The Park Board asks everyone in an off-leash area to supervise children closely, limit open food, and not approach a dog without its person’s permission (Dog off-leash areas). For the rest, see dog park etiquette.

Know a good spot we missed? Tell us.

Dog parks in other Canadian cities: Toronto, Mississauga and Brampton, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton.

FAQs

Can dogs go on the SkyTrain? Only small pets, in a fully enclosed carrier small enough to fit on your lap (it can sit on the floor if it’s out of the way and not by the doors). Guide and service dogs are the exception (TransLink).

Can my dog go to Kits Beach? No. Kitsilano Beach is not one of the five beaches that allow dogs. Kitsilano’s dog beach is Hadden Park, with morning and evening hours only from May to September (Beaches; Dog off-leash areas).

Can my dog be off leash in Pacific Spirit? Only on trails signed leash-optional, and only if it stays within 10 metres, in sight, and comes back when called. Some trails are leash-required or no-dogs, some only in certain seasons (Bylaw No. 1420; park map).

What if my dog runs off? Call Vancouver Animal Services on 604-873-7000 (daily, 10 am to 6 pm), then report the lost or found dog free on FurFam: your report gets its own page to share. A licence lets Animal Services contact you right away (Dog licences and tags), and a licensed lost dog gets a free ride home once a calendar year (Responsible dog ownership).