Business Centres
In addition to the City's four Town Centres for high density mixed use residential, office and retail development, the City has designated 16 Business Centres for high technology, office, research and development and specialized manufacturing uses. These centres are strategically located throughout the City and vary by size, character and local amenities.
Burnaby’s 16 high amenity business centres are geared to corporate headquarter facilities and businesses involving combinations of research, sales and service, light manufacturing and administration. Several of these have locational advantages heightened by linkages to stations on our two SkyTrain lines. The Big Bend area in south Burnaby also accommodates comprehensive business centre areas with a more industrial character.
Burnaby Business Centres
The City of Burnaby’s zoning bylaw has been amended to accommodate these second generation business centre uses which tend to be intensive, knowledge-based and more structurally diverse. This type of use is attractive to high tech, corporate, specialized manufacturing, post-secondary education, television, film and entertainment sectors.
Many of the users of our business centres are attracted to these areas by their central location in the regional and good access – both by transit and by road. You do not have to cross any bridges to reach Vancouver destinations, and only one bridge is involved in trips to the airport or desirable executive housing on the North Shore if for some unimaginable reason they don’t choose to live in Burnaby.
But today, transportation means a lot more than roads and bridges. It means telecommunications. Burnaby has an excellent grid of high speed fibre optic communication services throughout the community is an important ingredient as to why Burnaby has been so well received by many new businesses. Burnaby is a “Smart City”, with one of the most comprehensive fibre optic networks in North America. We continue to work with Telus and other service providers in helping to expand the coverage of their networks.
These business centres offer a host of amenities including green space, rivers, parks and urban trails. Some of these locations are so attractive local residents visit them by walking or biking on weekends for recreation.
The Lake City Business Centre (shown as centre No. 11 on the middle-right of the map) is a good example of the transition that Burnaby has been promoting, from relatively low density, low employment uses to more intensive ones.
For more information on Business Centres in Burnaby, please click on the links below or contact the Burnaby Planning Department at 604-294-7400 or by email at planning@burnaby.ca.
