Vancouver pool permits: where 12 months of new pools are going

01 · The short version

Between October 5, 2025 and October 5, 2026, the City of Vancouver issued 19 building permits that PermitRadius matched to pool building and service. Eleven of those permits mention a pool in the permit itself. Four mention a hot tub, and four mention a deck or patio.

That is not a big number, and it is worth being plain about it. Vancouver is not a pool-every-other-lot city. What the permit data does show is where the pools that do get built are going, what kind of project they are attached to, and when the permits land. For a pool builder or a pool service company, that is the useful part.

All numbers here come from the city's open-data permit feed, counted by issue date. Declared values are what the applicant wrote on the permit, not the final cost of the job.

02 · Three west-side neighbourhoods carry most of it

Fifteen of the 19 permits are in three neighbourhoods:

• Shaughnessy: 6 permits
• Kerrisdale: 5 permits
• Dunbar-Southlands: 4 permits

The other four were spread across Arbutus Ridge, Marpole, Oakridge and West Point Grey, one each.

If you build or service pools in Vancouver, that tells you where to spend your time: driving those streets, building a name with the builders working there, and keeping your trucks visible on the west side. It also means a single relationship with a builder who works those neighbourhoods can matter more than a lot of scattered marketing. You can see the wider picture on the Vancouver building permits page.

03 · Most of these are whole-house projects

Of the 19 permits, 9 are new houses, 7 are additions or alterations, and 3 are pool or backyard permits on their own. Ten of the 19 carry a declared value over $1 million.

In practice, the pool is often one line inside a bigger build, with an architect, a general contractor and a long list of other decisions around it. The pool trade that gets in early, while the drawings are still being worked out, is in a better spot than the one that shows up after the framing is done.

The permits also mention other work that pool trades tend to care about: 9 include a garage, 4 a deck or patio, 3 a heat pump and 2 are flagged as passive house. Those details help you guess what the backyard will look like and who else is on site.

04 · Permits don't stop when the weather turns

Pools feel like a spring and summer business, but the permits don't follow that calendar. Five of the 19 permits were issued between late October 2025 and early January 2026. The weeks with more than one were in late May and late June, but the rest came in one at a time across the year.

In the last 90 days alone, Vancouver issued 6 permits matched to pool trades: 3 new houses and 3 additions or alterations, again in Shaughnessy, Kerrisdale and Dunbar-Southlands, two each.

A permit issued this fall is often a project that digs next spring. If you wait until April to start looking for work, many of those decisions have already been made. The fall and winter are a good time to find out which builders are working in your neighbourhoods and introduce yourself while the backyard is still a blank on the site plan.

05 · For pool service companies: the homes that already have one

New permits are only half the market. The PermitRadius Library holds every Vancouver pool permit on file back to 2017, and it currently lists 181 homes with a pool permit. It also lists 93 homes with a hot tub permit.

Those are homes that already have a pool or are likely to, which is the list a service, opening-and-closing or renovation company wants. Some of those pools are now several seasons old, and owners may be shopping for new equipment, resurfacing or a new service company.

The Library is Vancouver only. Our guide on how pool service companies use PermitRadius goes into how service crews work that list.

06 · How to work a small, concentrated market

With 19 pool-related permits in a year, every lead matters, and a generic approach wastes them. A few practical points:

• Know the builder, not just the address. Each PermitRadius lead shows the builder behind the permit. On a whole-house project, the builder or architect is often the person who brings in the pool trade.
• Watch the three neighbourhoods closely. Most of the year's permits were in Shaughnessy, Kerrisdale and Dunbar-Southlands. Set your service radius so they're covered.
• Use the quiet months. Fall and winter permits are next year's work. That's when you have time to follow up properly.
• Don't ignore the existing pools. For service work, the 181 homes in the Library are a much longer list than a year of new permits.

Our guide for pool builders covers how to approach a builder early in a project, and the pools trade page shows what a pool lead looks like.

07 · Try it

The live demo shows real permit leads with no sign-up needed, so you can see what a Vancouver pool lead looks like before you decide anything. When you're ready, pricing and the 14-day trial are here. Questions: hello@permitradius.ca.