Uncovering Burnaby: The city’s century-long effort to be the ‘hub’ of the region

While Burnaby has typically been viewed from the outside as the sleepy suburb of Vancouver, the city has, for over a century, tried to forge an identity for itself as a potential hub for the Metro Vancouver region.

The 2017 Metrotown downtown plan, for instance, aspires to see the town centre transition “from a suburban centre to a downtown” not only of citywide significance, but of regional significance. And it seeks to promote the area “as both a citywide and regional destination.”

But that’s just one example in a longstanding tradition of promoting Burnaby as the geographical centre of the region.

As an Aug. 25, 1916 Vancouver Province article noted, the municipality—then just a district rather than a city—warranted the title of regional hub, given its “commanding situation.”

“Extending from Burrard Inlet on the north to the north arm of the Fraser River on the south, Burnaby is the guardian at the gateway to Vancouver,” the article reads.

“Every line of railway seeking entrance to the terminal city must, of necessity, cross the district. Holding as it does the key situation to the great economic development, which is gradually extending its activities and is making Vancouver a commercial, industrial, and distribution centre, Burnaby has some enormously valuable resources, which will entitle her to a large share in the prosperous expansion of Vancouver.”

And a May 28, 1936 Vancouver Sun article suggested Burnaby could be an industrial hub for the region, describing the district as being in “an enviable position.”

By the 1930s, Burnaby had already overtaken New Westminster’s population, but the district was much less densely populated, and it was still dependent on the smaller city, as well as Vancouver, for economic activity.

As the Sun article noted, “Burnaby’s destiny is wrapped up in the development and progress of the cities and ports of Vancouver and New Westminster.”

But its situation between those two ports provided Burnaby with an advantage.

Then the commissioner of the district, Hugh M. Fraser declared that Burnaby would “one day be the hub of Vancouver.”

Fraser bragged at the time that there was “no way of getting into Vancouver by land from Eastern Canada other than through Burnaby,” noting five arterial east-west highways, three inter-urban rail lines, and two transcontinental railways running through the district.

Fraser had long bragged of Burnaby’s situation within the region.

The 1916 Province article began with Fraser—at this time the municipal reeve—describing Burnaby as the “hub of the Lower Mainland.” (Fraser was elected reeve of the city in the 1910s and was brought back to the city as a provincially appointed commissioner after it went into receivership in the 1930s.)

In the 1916 article, the district was offering “big inducements” to move here.

Already located in Burnaby were a large sawmill plant owned by the North Pacific Lumber Company, a large shingle mill, and a manufacturing plant owned by the Nichols Chemical Company, and Shell had just bought the land for its refinery, which was completed in 1932.

The shingle mill, whose owners hailed from Everett, Wash., had chosen Burnaby for its “superior advantages for their business, both for shipping their product and for getting in their timber,” the Province article noted.

That latter point was helped by the city’s access to a steady supply of lumber coming down the Fraser River.

The Province article also pointed to Burnaby’s attractive residential districts with “incomparable homesites” that had “broad plateaus overlooking the Fraser and the lower delta lands to the south and the inlet and the majestic coast range to the north.”

“A drive through this district is enough to speak for Burnaby,” the article noted.

Being situated between New West and Vancouver, the article suggested Burnaby was an attractive place to live for people whose employment was at one port city or the other. But it suggested that residents could support expanding industry in Burnaby itself.

“When Burnaby comes to get more industries to locate within her borders, this attraction for employees will have a strong influence.”

What do you think? Do you see Burnaby as a potential hub for Metro Vancouver or does Burnaby lack the necessary ingredients? Alternatively, is it already a hub for the region? Let us know your thoughts: [email protected]