British Columbia/Highway classification

This page describes the highway classification scheme used in British Columbia (BC) following the 2022 Canadian highway guidelines.

Guidelines

These tagging guidelines are tentative, and should be discussed with other BC mappers before applying to the map. The existing guidelines in the main provincial page still applies. Metro Vancouver is a special case.

highway=motorway - Freeways (or officially, schedule 1 highways, e.g. Trans-Canada between Vancouver and east of Chilliwack, Coquihalla Highway, part of BC 97C). Pedestrians, farm vehicles animals, bicycles and vehicles incapable of exceeding 60 km/h are prohibited, but some freeways allow bicycles especially in the Interior.
highway=trunk - NHS core routes that aren't freeway standard (e.g. Crowsnest Highway, Yellowhead Highway, Cariboo Highway, Alaska Highway), plus some additional routes listed below. In Metro Vancouver and Abbotsford-Mission, includes some expressways and connectors between the freeways (e.g. BC 10, BC 11, BC 15, non-freeway segments of BC 17, Lougheed Highway between Coquitlam and Mission)
highway=primary - Most provincial highways that aren't trunk or motorway, plus some large arterials in Metro Vancouver.
highway=secondary - Minor roads linking towns not served by the highways. Most arterial roads in urban areas.
highway=tertiary - other important rural roads, collector streets in urban areas
highway=unclassified - most rural roads, and streets outside residential areas
highway=residential - residential roads

expressway=yes will be used to indicate roads that are designed for high speed but are not completely controlled-access or are isolated freeway segments with only one interchange or is not long enough. In British Columbia, these are usually divided, with some grade separations. The classification of such roads follow those listed above.

Population centres

Population centres for determining trunk links include cities that are core of census metropolitan areas (CMAs) in the denser parts of the province such as the Lower Mainland and south Vancouver Island. For the sparser areas, population centres used are usually control cities designated by BC Ministry of Transportation.

Key BC population centres
Destination	Region	Estimated population of CMA/agglomeration/incorporated area	Note
Vancouver	Lower Mainland	2,640,000	Including Metro Vancouver (official definition)
Victoria	Vancouver Island	397,000	Including Capital Regional District
Kelowna	Okanagan	222,000
Abbotsford	Lower Mainland	196,000	Including Mission
Nanaimo	Vancouver Island	116,000
Kamloops	Thompson-Nicola	114,100
Chilliwack	Lower Mainland	114,000
Prince George	Northern BC	90,000
Campbell River	Vancouver Island	40,704
Cranbrook	Kootenays	27,000
Prince Rupert	Northern BC	13,000
Dawson Creek	Kootenays	12,000
Castlegar	Kootenays	8,000

Out-of-province and across the US border

Calgary, AB
Coeur d'Alene, ID
Edmonton, AB
Grande Prairie, AB
Kalispell, MT
Lethbridge, AB
Seattle, WA
Spokane, WA
Wenatchee, WA
Whitehorse, YT

Also of consideration for determining potential trunk routings are border crossings, especially to match any changes south of the border. Highways connecting with the busiest border crossings, which are also open 24 hours, will be tagged trunk except the crossing serving Point Roberts, Washington state. This should be coordinated with changes in Washington state, Idaho and Montana.

Douglas–Blaine (Peace Arch): BC 99/I-5
Blaine–Pacific Highway: BC 15/WA 543
Abbotsford-Huntingdon/Sumas: BC 11/WA 9
Osoyoos-Oroville: BC 97/US 97
Paterson-Frontier: BC 395/US 395
Kingsgate-Eastport: BC 95/US 95
Roosville: BC 93/US 93

Motorways

highway=motorway roads in British Columbia include all signed freeways (officially termed schedule 1 highways, indicated by signage prohibiting pedestrians, bicycles, farm vehicles and vehicles incapable of exceeding 60 km/h), mostly concentrated in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and the Okanagan. They do not form a separate network, but they are clearly signposted at their entry points (endpoints and on-ramps). That said, there are parts of the freeway network that allows bicycles, especially in the Interior (e.g. the Coquihalla between the Crowsnest and Merritt and the Okanagan Connector).

Highway	Cities served	Motorway status begins	Motorway status ends	Note
BC 1 (Trans-Canada Highway)	Victoria and Langford	Tillicum Road	West Shore Parkway
BC 1 (Trans-Canada Highway)	Vancouver → Abbotsford → Chilliwack → Kamloops (via the Coq)	Port of Horseshoe Bay	BC 3/5 at Hope
Coquihalla Highway	Vancouver and Abbotsford (via Highway 1) → Kamloops	BC 1 at Hope	BC 1 at Kamloops	Bypass of BC 1. Concurrent with BC 3 between Hope and exit 177.
Patricia Bay Highway	Victoria and Saanich	Saanich Fire Department access	Haliburton Road
Patricia Bay Highway	Sidney	McDonald Park Road	Swartz Bay ferry terminal
BC 17	Delta	56 Street	Tillbury Road	Connects with BC 99.
BC 17	New Westminster	BC 91C	Old Yale Road	Isolated freeway, indirectly connected to BC 91 via BC 91C. Endpoints being upgraded to freeway standard.
BC 17A	New Westminster	BC 17	Old Yale Road	Spur freeway connected to BC 17.
Inland Island Highway	Parksville and Qualicum	exit 46	exit 71	Bypass of the East Island Highway.
Inland Island Highway	Courtenay	exit 87	exit 127	Bypass of the East Island Highway.
BC 91	Metro Vancouver	BC 99 near Surrey	Okanagan Highway (BC 97)	Named Annacis Highway and East-West Connector. Alternate route of Highway 99 via New Westminster.
Okanagan Connector	Vancouver (via the Coq) → Kelowna	North Princeton Highway near Merritt	Okanagan Highway (BC 97)
BC 99	Seattle (via I-5) → US border → Vancouver	north of Peace Arch border crossing	exit 41B
Knight Street	Richmond and Vancouver	Westminster Highway	Southeast Marine Drive	Connects with BC 91. Not signed as freeway, but well-integrated with freeway network and built to freeway standard.

Edge cases

Highway	Cities served	Motorway status begins	Motorway status ends	Note
BC 1 (Trans-Canada Highway)	Kamloops	Holman Road	Frontage road access east of exit 399	Not signed as freeway but a fairly long enough disconnected freeway segment with multiple interchanges. Should this be a motorway or a trunk + expressway?

Trunks

Highway	NHS	Cities served/location	Trunk status begins	Trunk status ends	Note
BC 1 (Trans-Canada Highway)	Core	Victoria - Vancouver – Kamloops - Calgary (via Alberta Highway 1)	Saanich Road	Alberta boundary	Runs between Hope and Kamloops via Cache Creek. Some sections in Victoria, Lower Mainland and the Interior designated freeway.
BC 2	Core	Dawson Creek – Grande Prairie	Dawson Creek	Alberta Highway 43 at Alberta boundary	Entire route
Crowsnest Highway	Core	Vancouver (via BC 1) - Castlegar - Cranbrook - Lethbridge	Coquihalla Highway exit 177 near Hope	Alberta boundary	Entire route
South Yellowhead Highway	Core	Kamloops - Edmonton (via BC 16)	BC 1/Coquihalla Highway at Kamloops	BC 16 at Tête Jaune Cache
BC 10	No	Metro Vancouver	BC 91 at Delta	BC 1 at Langley Township	Entire route. Along with BC 17 around Surrey, connects BC 1 and BC 91/99 without passing through the denser parts of Metro Vancouver.
BC 11	Feeder	US border – Abbotsford	WA 9 at Sumas border station	BC 1 at Mission
176 Street	Core	US border – Vancouver (via BC 1)	WA 543 at Blaine-Pacific Highway border crossing	BC 1 at Surrey	Entire route.
BC 16 (Yellowhead Highway)	Core	Prince Rupert - Prince George – Edmonton (via Alberta Highway 16)	Port of Prince Rupert	Alberta boundary
BC 17	Core (Victoria-Sidney and Port of Delta-BC 99)	Victoria - Vancouver	Port of Victoria	BC 1 in Surrey	Named Patricia Bay Highway and South Fraser Perimeter Road. Some sections in Victoria, Delta and New Westminster freeway.
BC 19	Core (Nanaimo–Parksville) Feeder (Parksville–Campbell River), No (remainder)	Port of Duke Point – Nanaimo – Campbell River – Prince Rupert (via ferry through Port Hardy Bella Bella)	Port of Duke Point at Namaimo	Port Hardy	Entire route. Segments around Parksville and Courtenay freeway.
BC 49	No	Dawson Creek – Alberta boundary –	Dawson Creek	Alberta Highway 49 at Alberta boundary	Entire route. Also classified trunk to coordinate with Alberta proposed trunk network which includes Alberta Highway 49.
BC 93	No	Kalispell, MT (via US 93) – US border – Cranbrook	US 93 at Roosville	BC 3 near Elko
BC 95	No	Coeur d'Alene (via US 95) – US border – Cranbrook	US 95 at Roosville	BC 3 near Cranbrook	Upgraded to trunk 115534719 (achavi, OSMLab) along with US 95 across Idaho.
Okanagan Highway	Feeder (US border-Okanagan Connector), Core (Okanagan Connector and Vernon)	Wenatchee, WA (via US 97) – US border – Penticton - Kelowna – Vernon	US 97 at Osoyoos-Oroville border crossing	BC 97A near Vernon.	Section south of Osoyoos promoted in 438664748 (achavi, OSMLab) along with US 97 as part of Washington highway classification.
Cariboo Highway, John Hart Highway and Alaska Highway	Core	Kamloops – Prince George – Dawson Creen – – Whitehorse, YT	BC 1 at Cache Creek	Alaska Highway at Yukon boundary.	Include isolated segments of Alaska Highway at BC-Yukon boundary.
BC 97	Core	Vernon – Revelstoke (via BC 1)	Okanagan Highway (BC 97) at Vernon	BC 1 at Sicamous
BC 97B	Core	Vernon (via BC 97A) – Kamloops (via BC 1)	BC 97B near Enderby	BC 1 at Salmon Arm
Okanagan Connector	Core	Vancouver (via BC 5) – Kelowna (via BC 97)	Coquihalla Highway (BC 5) at Merritt	BC 97 near West Kelowna	Freeway between Princeton Highway and Okanagan Highway
BC 99	Core	Seattle, WA (via I-5) – Vancouver	I-5 at Peace Arch border crossing	Vancouver