Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, is the city immediately east of Vancouver. It is the third-largest city in British Columbia by population, surpassed only by nearby Surrey and Vancouver itself.

It was incorporated in 1892 and achieved City status in 1992, one hundred years after incorporation. It is the current seat of the Metro Vancouver government.

History

In the first 30 to 40 years after its incorporation, the growth of Burnaby was influenced by its location between expanding urban centres of Vancouver and New Westminster. It first served as a rural agricultural area supplying nearby markets. Later, it served as an important transportation corridor between Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the interior of the Province, as well as one of the first-tier bedroom community suburbs of Vancouver itself, along with North Vancouver and Richmond.

At incorporation, the municipality's citizens unanimously chose to name it after legislator, speaker, Freemason and explorer, Robert Burnaby, who had been private secretary to Colonel Richard Moody, British Columbia's land commissioner in the mid-1800s. In 1859, Mr. Burnaby had surveyed the freshwater lake near what is now the city's geographical centre; Moody chose to name it Burnaby Lake.

Metrotown and central Burnaby, looking north toward Burrard Inlet and the North Shore.

Geography and land use

Burnaby occupies 98.60 square kilometers (38.07 sq mi) and is located at the geographical centre of the Metro Vancouver area. Situated between the City of Vancouver on the west and Port Moody, Coquitlam, and New Westminster on the east, the City is further bounded by Burrard Inlet and the Fraser River on the North and South respectively. Burnaby, Vancouver and New Westminster collectively occupy the major portion of the Burrard Peninsula. The elevation of Burnaby ranges from sea level to a maximum of 370 metres (1,200 ft) atop Burnaby Mountain. Overall, the physical landscape of Burnaby is one of hills, ridges, valleys and an alluvial plain. The land features and their relative locations have had an influence on the location, type and form of development in the City.

Burnaby is a maturing, increasingly integrated community, which is centrally located within a rapidly growing metropolitan area. Burnaby's characteristic has shifted from rural to suburban to largely urban. Still, Burnaby's ratio of park land to residents is one of the highest in North America, and it maintains some agricultural land, particularly along the Fraser foreshore flats in the Big Bend neighbourhood along its southern perimeter.

Burnaby parks and lakes

Major parklands and waterways in Burnaby include Burnaby Lake, Still Creek, the Brunette River, Central Park, Deer Lake, Squint Lake, Robert Burnaby Park, Kensington Park, and Burnaby Mountain Park.

Transportation

The Brentwood neighbourhood, with Capitol Hill in the distance

Major north-south streets crossing the City include Boundary Road, Willingdon Avenue, Royal Oak Avenue, Kensington Avenue, Sperling Avenue, Gaglardi Way, Cariboo Road, and North Road. East-west routes linking Burnaby's neighbouring cities to each other include East Hastings Street, Barnet Highway, the Lougheed Highway, Kingsway (which follows the old horse trail between Vancouver and New Westminster), Canada Way and Marine Drive/Marine Way. Douglas Road, which used to cross the city from northwest to southeast, has largely been absorbed by the Trans-Canada Highway and Canada Way. Since the 1990s, Burnaby has developed a network of cycling trails. It is also well served by Greater Vancouver's bus system, run by the Coast Mountain Bus Company, a division of TransLink.

Demographics

Capitol Hill, looking north-east toward the Coast Mountains and the snow-capped peaks of Golden Ears Provincial Park.

Religious profile

• 35.3% No religious affiliation
• 21.3% Roman Catholic
• 19.9% Protestant
• 6.1% Christian, not included elsewhere
• 4.9% Buddhist
• 4.8% Muslim
• 2.9% Sikh
• 2.3% Christian Orthodox
• 1.5% Hindu
• 0.4% Eastern religions, not included elsewhere
• 0.3% other religions, not included elsewhere
• 0.3% Jewish

Source Data: Burnaby Community Profile from 2001 Census at Statistics Canada

People and politics

Metrotown at sunset as seen from Lochdale

Politically, Burnaby has maintained a centre-left city council (which recently completely eliminated the city's debt) and school board for many years, while sometimes electing more conservative legislators provincially (for the Social Credit and BC Liberal parties) and federally (for the Reform, Alliance, and Conservative parties). Its longest-serving politician had been Svend Robinson of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Canada's first openly homosexual member of Parliament, but after 25 years and seven elections he resigned his post in early 2004 after stealing and then returning an expensive ring. Burnaby voters endorsed his assistant, Bill Siksay, as his replacement in the spring 2004 Canadian federal election. In the May 2005 provincial election, residents of the city sent a mix of BC Liberal and NDP representatives to the British Columbia legislature.

Industry and economy

Major technology firms such as Electronic Arts, Creo (now part of Eastman Kodak), Ballard Power Systems, and Telus base their operations in Burnaby; heavy industry includes Chevron Corporation and Petro-Canada petroleum refineries on the shores of Burrard Inlet. Other companies such as eBay have significant facilities in Burnaby as well. The City features high density residential areas, major commercial town centres, rapid transit, high technology research and business parks, movie and TV studio facilities, comprehensive industrial estates, and major post-secondary institutions, including Simon Fraser University and the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Education

School District 41 is responsible for the public schools in Burnaby. It also has a Community and Adult Education Department, and also an International Students' Programme.

Notable residents

• Michael J. Fox, actor
• Don S. Davis, actor (deceased)
• Cliff Ronning, hockey player
• Svend Robinson, politician
• Joe Sakic, hockey player
• Jason LaBarbera, hockey player

Symbols

Burnaby's official flower is the rhododendron.

Sister cities

Burnaby has three sister cities (or "twin towns"):

• Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
• Kushiro, Japan
• Mesa, Arizona, United States.

Surrounding Municipalities

References

• Adapted from http://burnaby.ca

See also

• Burnaby Public Library

External links

• City of Burnaby
• Tourism Burnaby
• Burnaby Public Library

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