City of Surrey, BC: Complete City Guide

Surrey is the second-largest city in British Columbia and one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada, with nearly 600,000 people and on track to become the province's largest city within the next decade. Stretching from the Fraser River to the US border, Surrey packs a booming downtown, six distinct town centres, working farms, ocean beaches and some of the best Punjabi food outside India into one huge city. It is a city of young families and newcomers, home to one of the largest South Asian communities in North America, and the place where Metro Vancouver's future is being built.

Surrey sits on the traditional and unceded territories of the Semiahmoo, Katzie, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, Qayqayt and Tsawwassen First Nations.

Surrey at a Glance: Quick Facts

Statistics Canada counted the population again in May 2026, but city-level results are not expected until 2027. Figures on this page use the 2021 census unless stated.

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History of Surrey

Before the city

The rivers, bays and forests of what is now Surrey have been home to Coast Salish peoples for thousands of years. The Semiahmoo people lived around Semiahmoo Bay and still have a reserve in South Surrey beside White Rock. The Kwantlen, Katzie and other Stó:lō communities fished the Fraser River and travelled the Serpentine and Nicomekl rivers, which were important canoe routes between Boundary Bay and the Fraser.

The Hudson's Bay Company built Fort Langley upriver in 1827, and the founding of New Westminster across the Fraser in 1859 brought the first settlers. One of them is said to have looked south across the river and been reminded of the county of Surrey across the Thames from London, giving the area its name.

Farming district

Surrey was incorporated as a district municipality on November 10, 1879, with a few hundred settlers spread across farms and logging camps. Early communities grew up at Cloverdale, Port Kells, Hall's Prairie, Sullivan, Newton and Crescent Beach. Dikes turned the flood-prone lowlands along the Serpentine and Nicomekl rivers into rich farmland.

Transport shaped Surrey's growth. The Great Northern Railway arrived in the 1890s, the BC Electric interurban line through Cloverdale opened in 1910, and the Pattullo Bridge connected Surrey to New Westminster in 1937. King George Highway was named after King George VI's 1939 royal visit, and a gas station owner named Harry Whalley gave his name to "Whalley's Corner," today's Whalley.

Suburban boom

After the Second World War, and especially after the Port Mann Bridge opened in 1964, Surrey became Metro Vancouver's fastest-growing suburb. Its population doubled and doubled again as families looked for affordable homes. The Expo Line SkyTrain crossed the Fraser in 1990 and reached Surrey Central and King George stations in 1994. Surrey officially became a city in 1993.

From the 1980s on, immigration transformed the city, especially from Punjab in India, along with the Philippines, China, Korea, Africa and the Middle East. Newton and Strawberry Hill became the heart of one of the largest Punjabi communities outside India.

A new downtown

In the 2000s the city set out to build a true downtown in Whalley. Central City and SFU Surrey opened in 2003, followed by the City Centre Library in 2011 and the new City Hall at Surrey Civic Plaza in 2014. Recent years have been dominated by the long political fight over policing: the Surrey Police Service took over from the RCMP as the city's police force in November 2024, the largest police transition in Canadian history.

In June 2023, the killing of Sikh community leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Surrey gurdwara led to a major diplomatic dispute between Canada and India. Infrastructure is now catching up with growth: the new stal̕əw̓asəm (Riverview) Bridge replaced the Pattullo Bridge in February 2026, and the SkyTrain extension to Langley is under construction.

Key dates in Surrey history

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Geography of Surrey

Surrey covers a large, mostly flat area south of the Fraser River. The Fraser forms its northern edge, Delta lies to the west, the Township and City of Langley to the east, and the Canada–US border with Washington State to the south. The small City of White Rock sits on the shore of Semiahmoo Bay, almost surrounded by South Surrey.

Three rivers, the Serpentine, Nicomekl and Little Campbell, wind southwest across the city into Boundary Bay and Semiahmoo Bay, where tidal flats and salt marshes attract huge numbers of migrating birds. Gentle uplands such as Panorama Ridge, Fleetwood and Grandview Heights separate the river valleys. About a third of Surrey is protected farmland in the Agricultural Land Reserve, mostly in Cloverdale, Hazelmere and along the river lowlands.

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Surrey Neighbourhoods

The six town centres

All Surrey neighbourhoods

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Surrey Climate and Weather

Surrey has a mild oceanic climate like the rest of Metro Vancouver, with wet winters and dry, sunny summers. Being farther inland and farther from the North Shore mountains, it is usually a little warmer in summer, slightly cooler on winter nights, and a bit less rainy than Vancouver, especially in South Surrey near the ocean.

Figures are approximate, based on Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for the area.

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Urban Planning in Surrey

Surrey is planning for close to a million people by the 2040s. Its main strategy is to turn City Centre into a true second downtown for the region, with offices, a university district, a hospital and health-tech precinct, and dense residential towers around SkyTrain, while new neighbourhoods are planned in Clayton, Grandview Heights and along the Fraser Highway SkyTrain corridor in Fleetwood.

The biggest planning challenges are keeping roads, schools, parks and transit in step with rapid growth, protecting farmland from development pressure, and building enough rental and affordable housing. The City's proposed City Centre Entertainment District, anchored by a new 10,000-seat arena, has become a major election issue. A new hospital and cancer centre is under construction in Cloverdale, and Simon Fraser University is establishing a new School of Medicine in Surrey.

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Surrey Architecture and Landmark Buildings

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Surrey Demographics and Population

The 2021 census counted 568,322 people in Surrey, up almost 10% from 2016, adding more residents than any other city in BC. Surrey is younger than the regional average, with many children and young families, and has one of the highest shares of multi-generational households in Canada. About 45% of residents were born outside Canada, and close to two-thirds belong to a visible minority group.

Most households own their homes, but basement suites and coach houses are common, and renters are concentrated in City Centre, Newton and Guildford.

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Ethnicity and Cultural Diversity

Surrey has the largest South Asian community of any city in British Columbia. The table shows approximate shares from the 2021 census.

Figures are rounded from the Statistics Canada 2021 Census Profile. Newton and Strawberry Hill are full of Punjabi sweet shops, jewellers and restaurants; Guildford and Fleetwood have growing Korean and Chinese communities; and City Centre is home to many recent immigrants and refugees from Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

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Languages Spoken in Surrey

English is the shared language, but Punjabi is spoken at home by roughly one in five residents, making Surrey one of the largest Punjabi-speaking cities outside South Asia. Other common languages include Hindi, Tagalog, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Arabic, Urdu, Vietnamese and Spanish. Signs, media and many services in Surrey are available in Punjabi as well as English.

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Religion in Surrey

Surrey is one of the most religiously diverse cities in Canada. Sikhs make up roughly a quarter of the population, among the highest shares of any city in the world outside India. Christians are about a third and about a third report no religion, with sizeable Muslim and Hindu communities and smaller Buddhist and Jewish ones.

Major places of worship include Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar, which hosts Surrey's huge Vaisakhi parade; Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara; many churches, including large Catholic, Evangelical and Korean congregations; several mosques; and Hindu temples such as the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir.

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LGBTQ2S+ Surrey: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Surrey's LGBTQ2S+ community has grown more visible in recent years, with Surrey Pride celebrations, rainbow crosswalks and local groups such as the Surrey Pride Society. Surrey Libraries and community centres run 2SLGBTQIA+ youth groups and events. Much of the region's queer nightlife is still in Vancouver's Davie Village, a 40-minute SkyTrain ride from Surrey Central. Debates over SOGI school resources and library materials have featured in local politics.

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Homelessness in Surrey

Surrey has the second-highest number of people experiencing homelessness in Metro Vancouver after Vancouver. The 2023 Homeless Count found 1,060 people experiencing homelessness in Surrey, a 65% increase from 644 in 2020. On the days of the count, 301 people were unsheltered, about 700 were in shelters, and 61 had no fixed address.

Homelessness is most visible in City Centre along the King George Boulevard corridor, including the area around the former 135A Street encampment, where many shelters and services are located. The City's plan, A Pathway to Home: Surrey Homelessness Prevention and Response Plan (2024), estimates Surrey needs more than 2,300 new shelter spaces and non-market homes by 2030, and the City has said Surrey has only about a third of the regional average of non-market housing per person.

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Surrey Economy and Major Employers

Surrey's economy has grown alongside its population, shifting from farming and sawmills to health care, education, logistics, manufacturing, technology and retail. It is also one of the busiest trade gateways in Canada.

Health and life sciences. Fraser Health is Surrey's largest employer. Surrey Memorial Hospital, one of the busiest hospitals in the province, anchors a growing Health and Technology District in City Centre, and a second hospital and cancer centre are being built in Cloverdale.

Education. The Surrey School District is the largest in BC, and Kwantlen Polytechnic University and SFU Surrey are major employers and economic drivers.

Trade and logistics. Surrey has two of the busiest Canada–US border crossings in the west, Peace Arch (Douglas) and Pacific Highway, along with the Fraser Surrey Docks marine terminal and large warehouse and distribution parks in Campbell Heights, Port Kells and Bridgeview.

Agriculture. About a third of Surrey is farmland. Blueberries, cranberries, vegetables, nurseries and greenhouses make Surrey one of BC's most important farming cities, and the City has an Agritech strategy to attract food-technology companies.

Business and finance. Coast Capital Savings, one of Canada's largest credit unions, is headquartered in City Centre. Retail hubs include Guildford Town Centre, Central City, Morgan Crossing, Grandview Corners and Newton's busy commercial strips.

Film. Surrey has a City film office, and Cloverdale's historic main street is a favourite small-town set; it famously doubled as Smallville in the TV series Smallville.

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City Government, Mayor and Council

Surrey is governed by a mayor and eight councillors, all elected city-wide for four-year terms. Voters also elect six of the seven trustees on the Surrey Board of Education (School District 36); the seventh represents White Rock. City Hall is at 13450 104 Avenue in City Centre. The city manager is Rob Costanzo.

Mayor and city councillors (term 2022–2026)

The next civic election is Saturday, October 17, 2026. Seven candidates are running for mayor, including incumbent Brenda Locke (Surrey Connect), former mayor Doug McCallum (Safe Surrey Coalition), Councillor Linda Annis (Surrey First), former MLA Mike Starchuk (Imagine Surrey), Honveer Singh Randhawa (Conservative Electors Association) and Troy Van Vliet (Surrey Now). Sixty-five candidates are running for council. Key issues include public safety and extortion, property taxes, transportation, the proposed City Centre arena and Surrey's relationship with Metro Vancouver.

Other levels of government

Surrey is divided among several federal ridings, including Surrey Centre, Surrey Newton, Fleetwood–Port Kells, Cloverdale–Langley City and South Surrey–White Rock, and about ten provincial ridings. Regional services such as drinking water, sewage treatment and regional parks are provided by Metro Vancouver, and TransLink runs transit.

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Policing and Crime in Surrey

The Surrey Police Service (SPS) became Surrey's police of jurisdiction on November 29, 2024, replacing the Surrey RCMP detachment, which had policed the city for decades and was the largest RCMP detachment in Canada. The transition was ordered by the provincial government over the objections of Mayor Locke's council and remains politically controversial. Chief Constable Norm Lipinski left the service in June 2026. The RCMP's E Division headquarters for British Columbia is also located in Surrey, at Green Timbers.

Surrey has long had a reputation for crime that many residents feel is out of date; crime rates have fallen in many categories over the past decade, and most neighbourhoods are safe. Ongoing concerns include property crime, gang violence linked to the drug trade, and a wave of extortion threats and shootings targeting South Asian business owners in 2025 and 2026, which has become a top public safety issue.

For emergencies call 9-1-1. For non-emergency police matters call 604-599-0502.

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Military in Surrey

Surrey has no Canadian Armed Forces base, though it is home to several cadet units and many veterans. Remembrance Day ceremonies are held each November 11 at cenotaphs across the city, with large gatherings in several town centres.

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Surrey Sister Cities

Surrey has also signed friendship city agreements with Ningbo and Taicang in China, Dongjak in South Korea, and Jalandhar and Ludhiana in Punjab, India.

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Public Transport and Getting Around Surrey

Surrey is more car-dependent than Vancouver or Burnaby, but transit is improving fast. Fares, Compass Cards and tap-to-pay work the same way as across Metro Vancouver.

Driving and bridges

Surrey is crossed by Highway 1 (via the Port Mann Bridge), Highway 99 to the Peace Arch border crossing, Highway 15 (176 Street) to the Pacific Highway crossing, Highway 17 (South Fraser Perimeter Road) and Highway 10. Major roads include King George Boulevard, Fraser Highway, Scott Road and 152 Street. The new four-lane stal̕əw̓asəm (Riverview) Bridge, which fully opened in February 2026, replaced the 1937 Pattullo Bridge between Surrey and New Westminster.

Cycling and walking

Popular routes include the Semiahmoo Trail, the Serpentine Greenway, the trails in Green Timbers Urban Forest and Bear Creek Park, and the Crescent Beach and Mud Bay dike trails. The SkyTrain extension includes about 14 km of new walking and cycling paths along Fraser Highway.

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Schools, Universities and Colleges in Surrey

The Surrey School District (School District 36) is the largest school district in British Columbia, with more than 80,000 students in over 100 elementary schools and about 20 secondary schools across Surrey and White Rock. It offers French immersion, International Baccalaureate, career and trades programs, and many schools run portables because of fast enrolment growth.

Public secondary schools

Notable independent schools include Southridge School, Holy Cross Regional Secondary, Pacific Academy, Khalsa School, Surrey Christian School and St. John Paul II Academy.

Universities and colleges

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Surrey Libraries

Surrey Libraries runs about ten branches, including the flagship City Centre Library, Cloverdale, Clayton, Fleetwood, Guildford, Newton, Ocean Park, Port Kells, Semiahmoo and Strawberry Hill. Membership is free for residents and includes e-books, streaming, language learning, a large Punjabi and multilingual collection, and makerspaces.

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Arts and Culture in Surrey

Museums and galleries

Theatre and performing arts

Filming locations in Surrey

Cloverdale's 176 Street became the fictional town of Smallville for the TV series Smallville, and the area continues to appear in films and series that need a classic small-town main street. Crescent Beach, the Cloverdale Fairgrounds, local farms and Surrey's newer City Centre towers are also used regularly by productions.

Media

• Local news: Surrey Now-Leader, Peace Arch News, Cloverdale Reporter, Surrey Citizen
• South Asian media: Many Punjabi-language newspapers, radio stations and TV programs are based in Surrey, including RED FM 93.1 and the Indo-Canadian Voice
• Regional: CBC, CTV, Global BC and CityNews cover Surrey from Vancouver and Burnaby

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Surrey Nightlife

Surrey's evenings revolve around food and family. Newton and Strawberry Hill are packed with late-night Punjabi restaurants, sweet shops and chai spots, and Guildford and Fleetwood have Korean barbecue, Chinese restaurants and dessert cafes. South Surrey and Crescent Beach have relaxed pubs, patios and seafood spots, and Cloverdale's main street has a growing craft beer and restaurant scene. For clubs and big concerts, many people head to Vancouver, though Surrey Civic Plaza and the Cloverdale Fairgrounds host large outdoor events.

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Parks and Gardens in Surrey

Surrey has more than 200 parks and some of the largest urban forests in the region.

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Surrey Beaches and Natural Attractions

Surrey's coast is quieter than Vancouver's but beautiful. Crescent Beach is a charming seaside village with a sandy beach, pier views, cafes and sunsets over Boundary Bay. Blackie Spit at Crescent Beach is one of the region's best spots for bird-watching. Next door, White Rock (a separate city) has its famous pier, promenade and the giant white rock on the beach.

Inland, Serpentine Fen and Mud Bay Park offer wetland trails full of herons, eagles and migrating shorebirds. Surrey's "jungle" is its urban forests: Green Timbers, Crescent Park, Sunnyside Acres and Redwood Park, with its towering redwoods. The Peace Arch Park at the border and day trips to Fort Langley, Tsawwassen beaches and Washington State are all within easy reach.

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Things to Do in Surrey: Top Attractions

Top 10 places to visit in Surrey

1. Crescent Beach and Blackie Spit: seaside walks, ice cream and sunsets.
2. Bear Creek Park: gardens, the miniature train and the Surrey Art Gallery.
3. Cloverdale's historic main street: antique shops, cafes and the Smallville filming location.
4. Redwood Park: giant trees and a treehouse in the forest.
5. Museum of Surrey: free regional history museum in Cloverdale.
6. Surrey Civic Plaza and City Centre: Surrey's new downtown, City Centre Library and events.
7. Green Timbers Urban Forest: a lake and forest trails in the middle of the city.
8. Newton food crawl: Punjabi sweets, butter chicken and chai.
9. Historic Stewart Farm: a step back to 1890s farm life.
10. White Rock Pier and Promenade: just across the border from South Surrey.

Full list of Surrey attractions

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Sports Teams and Recreation in Surrey

Teams

Surrey is a hotbed of grassroots sport, especially soccer, cricket, field hockey, wrestling and kabaddi, and it has produced many Olympic and professional athletes. A proposed 10,000-seat arena in City Centre could one day host a professional team.

Recreation facilities

Surrey runs dozens of recreation and community centres, including the Surrey Sport and Leisure Complex in Fleetwood, Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre (with a 50-metre Olympic-size pool), Guildford Recreation Centre, Newton Recreation Centre, Cloverdale Recreation Centre, the Clayton Community Centre and South Surrey Recreation Centre. The city also has many ice rinks, outdoor pools, spray parks, golf courses, skate parks, cricket pitches and hundreds of sports fields.

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Annual Events and Festivals in Surrey

Dates change from year to year, so check with organizers before you go.

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Sustainability and Green City Goals

Surrey's Climate Change Action Strategy aims to cut community greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience to flooding and heat. The city protects large urban forests and runs one of the region's biggest tree-planting programs. Its Sustainable Energy Utility, Surrey City Energy, provides low-carbon district heating to buildings in City Centre. Sea-level rise is a major long-term risk for Surrey's coastal lowlands, so the City's Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy plans dike upgrades and other protection for Crescent Beach, Mud Bay and the river valleys. Protecting farmland in the Agricultural Land Reserve is also part of the City's sustainability plans.

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City Services and Amenities

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Surrey FAQ

Is Surrey part of Vancouver?

No. Surrey is its own city with its own mayor, council and police service. It is part of the wider Metro Vancouver region.

Will Surrey become bigger than Vancouver?

Yes, most projections show Surrey overtaking the City of Vancouver as BC's most populous city within the next decade.

How long does it take to get from Surrey to downtown Vancouver?

About 40 minutes by SkyTrain from Surrey Central to Waterfront Station, or 35 to 60 minutes by car depending on traffic.

Is Surrey safe?

Most of Surrey is safe for residents and visitors. Like any large city, it has areas with more property crime and some gang-related violence, so normal city precautions apply.

What is Surrey known for?

Its rapid growth, large South Asian community, Vaisakhi parade, Cloverdale Rodeo, Crescent Beach, farmland and a fast-rising downtown in City Centre.

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Sources

• City of Surrey: 2026 Municipal Election
• City of Surrey: 2023 Metro Vancouver Homeless Count results
• City of Surrey: Homelessness Prevention and Response Plan
• City of Surrey: Sister City Relationships report
• Province of BC: Surrey Langley SkyTrain monthly status report
• Province of BC: stal̕əw̓asəm Bridge project
• Statistics Canada: Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population

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