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CITY OF SURREY
BY-LAW NO. 4200
A by-law to regulate or prohibit the sale or disposal of firecrackers
and fireworks, and to regulate the exploding of firecrackers and
fireworks, and to authorize the issuance of permits.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
As amended by By-law No. 7485, 02/28/83; 10852, 03/04/91; 11392, 07/27/92; 12268, 04/25/94;
12668, 07/31/95; 13867, 10/25/99; 14451, 07/16/01; 14531, 10/22/01; 15735, 05/30/05; 18362, 01/12/15 ; 18594,
12/14/15; 18986, 12/19/16; 19432, 12/18/17; 19721, 12/19/18; 19987, 12/16/19; 20224, 12/21/20; 20510, 12/24/21;
20877, 04/17/23; 21231, 05/06/2024; 21422, 10/21/2024; 21614, 04/28/2025; 21974, 04/13/2026
THIS IS A CONSOLIDATED BY-LAW PREPARED BY THE CITY OF SURREY FOR CONVENIENCE ONLY.
THE CITY DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS CONSOLIDATION IS
CURRENT. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PERSON USING THIS CONSOLIDATION TO ENSURE
THAT IT ACCURATELY REFLECTS CURRENT BY-LAW PROVISIONS.
WHEREAS pursuant to Section 8(3)(d) of the Community Charter, S.B.C. 2003, c. 26, as amended
(the "Community Charter"), Council may by by-law regulate, prohibit and impose requirements in
relation to the sale or disposal to any person of firecrackers and other fireworks of every nature or
kind;
AND WHEREAS pursuant to Section 8(3)(d) of the Community Charter Council may regulate,
prohibit and impose requirements in relation to the exploding of firecrackers or other fireworks;
AND WHEREAS it is deemed expedient to exercise the authority granted by the aforesaid sections
within the City in the manner and to the extent hereinafter provided.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Surrey, in open meeting assembled, ENACTS
AS FOLLOWS:
1.
This By-law may be cited for all purposes as "Surrey Fireworks Regulation By-law, 1974,
No. 4200".
2.
In the construction and for the purposes of this By-law, the following words and terms
shall have the meaning hereby assigned to them unless repugnant to the context hereof:
"Explosives Act" means the Explosives Act, R.S.C. 1992, c. E-17, as may be amended from
time to time, and includes all regulations thereunder.
"Fire Chief" means the Chief of the Fire Department of the City of Surrey as duly
appointed by the City Council.
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"Fireworks" means a substance that is made, manufactured or used to produce an
explosion or detonation or a pyrotechnic device and includes fireworks, composition and
manufactured fireworks as defined in the Explosives Act, and any substance defined as
fireworks under the Fireworks Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 146.
"Fireworks Supervisor" means a person who holds a valid fireworks supervisor certificate
from Natural Resources Canada - Explosives Regulatory Division.
3.
(1)
No person shall sell or dispose of any fireworks of any class or description to a
person who is under the age of eighteen years or to a person who appears to be
under the age of eighteen years.
(2)
No person under the age of 18 shall possess any fireworks in the City of Surrey.
(3)
For the purposes of this By-law "fireworks" does not include caps for toy guns.
(4)
No person shall sell, dispose of, give or otherwise distribute fireworks to another
person unless the person is a Fireworks Supervisor.
(5)
No person shall set off or explode any fireworks in the City unless the person is a
Fireworks Supervisor and the holder of a permit issued by the Fire Chief pursuant
to Section 6 of this By-law.
(6)
No person shall sell, dispose of, give or otherwise distribute fireworks of any class
or description without first obtaining and holding a valid and subsisting business
license to operate as a fireworks vendor under Business License By-law, 1999, No.
13680, as amended, and conforming to all regulations contained therein.
4.
Except as provided by Section 6 of this By-law, no person shall explode any fireworks on
any highway, street, park, playground school ground or any other public place within the
City.
5.
No person under the apparent age of eighteen (18) years shall explode any fireworks at any
time.
6.
(1)
A person or organization wishing to celebrate a special event or festival may apply
in writing to the Fire Chief for a permit to possess and explode firecrackers or
fireworks.
(2)
Every application for a permit shall be in the form provided by the City for that
purpose.
(3)
The Fire Chief shall consider each application for a permit and shall specify in
writing the terms and conditions under which a permit, if any, is issued. Every
permit issued under this By-law shall be in the form provided by the City for that
purpose and signed by the Fire Chief.
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(4)
The Fire Chief shall not issue a permit to hold a fireworks display on any property
unless the following conditions have been met:
(a)
the written consent of the property owner or an agent or representative of
the owner charged with the control and care of the property is provided to
the Fire Chief;
(b)
the sponsor of the fireworks display has deposited with the City of Surrey a
certificate of insurance indicating that third party liability insurance
coverage is available to protect the City in the event of bodily injury,
including death, and property damage liability that may result from or
arise out of the holding of the fireworks display and to indemnify the City
for damage to and destruction of City property that may occur by reason of
the fireworks display. The policy of insurance shall include the City as an
additional named insured and contain a cross-liability clause and shall be
in an amount and form acceptable to the Fire Chief;
(c)
the sponsor of the fireworks display must first appoint a supervisor who
will have complete authority over and be responsible for all fire safety
features at the fireworks display and the permit shall be issued in that
person's name;
(d)
no person shall be appointed a supervisor for a fireworks display unless
that person is a Fireworks Supervisor;
(e)
only the Fireworks Supervisor shall set off or explode the permitted
fireworks; and
(f)
the exploding of the permitted fireworks shall conform in every respect to
the issued permit and the Explosives Act.
(5)
The permit issued by the Fire Chief shall specify the day and hours on which and
the description of the property where the fireworks may be exploded and used.
(6)
A permit issued by the Fire Chief shall authorize the purchase by the holder of the
permit and the sale by the seller of the fireworks described in the permit to be
used by the holder for the purpose specified in the permit.
(7)
Every applicant for a permit shall pay a processing fee of $150.00 prior to review of
the permit application by the Fire Chief.
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7.
Every person who violates any of the provisions of this By-law or who suffers or permits
any act or thing to be done in contravention of this By-law, or who neglects to do or
refrains from doing any act or thing required to be done by this By-law shall be liable on
summary conviction to a minimum penalty of $400.00 and a maximum penalty of $50,000,
plus the costs of the prosecution. Where an offence under this By-law is committed or
continued on more than one day, it shall be deemed to be a separate offence for each day
on which it is committed or continued.
8.
"Surrey Regulation of Use and Sale of Fireworks By-law, 1964, No. 2253" and "Surrey
Regulation of Use and Sale of Fireworks By-law, 1964, No. 2253, Amendment By-law, 1965,
No. 2381" are hereby repealed.
PASSED by the City Council on the 27th day of February, 1974.
RECONSIDERED AND FINALLY ADOPTED, signed by the Mayor and Clerk, and sealed with the
Corporate Seal on the 4th day of March, 1974.
___"Wm. N. Vander Zalm" MAYOR
______"R.N. Chester"______CLERK