BC SPCA seeks permit for 77,000-square-foot Vancouver animal facility

The BC SPCA has submitted a development permit application to replace its 1965 facility at 1205 East 7th Ave. in Vancouver. The 32,000-square-foot site, near VCC-Clark Station, would be redeveloped as a purpose-built complex combining an animal hospital, shelter, adoption services, rehabilitation and training areas, public education programs and the organization’s provincial offices.

The proposed building would total about 77,000 square feet and rise to 95 feet. Hospital and shelter functions would occupy the first three floors, with office space on the third. The building would be largest along Great Northern Way and step down toward nearby low-rise homes to the south and east. Plans include a two-storey glass atrium facing Keith Drive, a landscaped south-side outdoor area, separated pedestrian, vehicle and animal routes, and measures intended to reduce noise and odours.

Zacharko Yustin Architects is leading the design. The provincial government committed $7 million to the project in 2023, and Vancouver City Council amended an industrial zoning definition for the site in February 2025 to accommodate the redevelopment.

The proposal is separate from the City of Vancouver’s planned 14,000-square-foot municipal animal shelter at 1210 Glen Dr., whose development permit was approved in May 2026. In its 2025 annual report, the BC SPCA said it helped adopt 4,363 animals across its Lower Mainland service area and carried out 3,635 spay and neuter surgeries.