6 neighborhoods to discover

Burnaby

City Snapshot

Metro population

250K city · 2.6M Metro Vancouver (2023)

Average commute

30 min (2021)

Climate

Mild wet winters · Warm dry summers · ~165 rainy days/yr

Cost of living (NYC = 100)

Top industries

Tech & film (Burnaby studios) · Health (Burnaby Hospital) · Post-secondary (SFU · BCIT) · Retail & logistics · Clean energy

Currency

CAD

Time zone

PT (UTC−8 / −7 DST)

Languages

English · ~50% speak another language at home (Mandarin · Cantonese · Korean · Tagalog · Punjabi)

Best move season

Jun–Sep

Sources

StatCan 2021 Census + 2023 estimates — Burnaby is Metro Vancouver's third-largest city, built around four SkyTrain town centres
CMHC Rental Market Survey 2025 — Vancouver CMA / Burnaby survey zones
Zumper Burnaby rent report May 2026 (1BR ~$2,120 · 2BR ~$2,650) + liv.rent Metrotown neighbourhood data
Numbeo Cost of Living index, Q1 2026 (Burnaby runs just below the City of Vancouver)
Environment Canada climate normals 1991–2020 (Vancouver / Burnaby)
Fraser Institute 2024 elementary & secondary report cards — Burnaby School District (SD41)

Pacific Relocation's take

Three town centres, one SkyTrain spine.

Burnaby placements are commute math: Metrotown, Brentwood, and Lougheed each stack new towers on a SkyTrain station, so we match by office location first. The Heights and Deer Lake offer the house-and-yard alternative. Strata buildings here are newer than Vancouver proper — pet and rental rules tend to be saner, but verify per building.