North Burnaby is a general name for a large neighbourhood in the City of Burnaby  that includes a number of smaller ones. It stretches from Boundary Road in the west to Burnaby Mountain

Burnaby Mountain

Burnaby Mountain, elev. , is a low, forested mountain in the city of Burnaby, British Columbia, overlooking the upper arms of Burrard Inlet. It is the location of Simon Fraser University, the Discovery Park research community, and the System Control Tower of BC Hydro and a new complex of...

 with Simon Fraser University

Simon Fraser University

Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...

 in the east and bounded by Burrard Inlet

Burrard Inlet

Burrard Inlet is a relatively shallow-sided coastal fjord in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the low-lying Burrard Peninsula from the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, home to the communities of West...

 to the north and the Lougheed Highway to the south. It is a desirable place to live for many local and immigrant families which is reflected by real-estate prices that keep climbing and have almost doubled in the last 15 years.

Important roads

A number of major arteries run through this neighbourhood, primarily the high-traffic Hastings Street

Hastings Street (Vancouver)

Hastings Street is one of the most important east-west traffic corridors in the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, and used to be a part of the decommissioned Highway 7A...

 connecting North Burnaby with Downtown Vancouver and Port Moody, Willingdon Avenue linking it to Kingsway and Metrotown, and Kensington Ave going south to Canada Way and New Westminster. West Coast Express

West Coast Express

West Coast Express is the interregional commuter railway in British Columbia, Canada. Opened in 1995, it links Mission, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, and Port Moody with Waterfront Station in Downtown Vancouver, where it interchanges with SkyTrain rapid transit, SeaBus and...

, a commuter train connecting eastern suburbs with Downtown Vancouver, runs through North Burnaby along the south shore of the Inlet.

Shopping and amenities

The Heights commercial district between Boundary Rd and Gamma Ave is a popular and vibrant North Burnaby shopping mecca with quite a few Italian, Portuguese and Chinese restaurants, delis, bakeries and barbershops. Brentwood Town Centre

Brentwood Town Centre

Brentwood Town Centre is a shopping mall in Burnaby, British Columbia. It is located in North Burnaby, at the intersection of Willingdon Avenue and the Lougheed Highway, approximately 1.5 kilometres from Vancouver city limits. It is also very close to the British Columbia Institute of Technology ...

 is a popular shopping centre located near the intersection of Willingdon Ave and Lougheed Highway. Madison Centre at Lougheed and Rosser, steps from Brentwood Town Centre, offers a number of shops and services, including Save-On-Foods and Winners stores. There are two Safeway stores along Hastings Street — a recently rebuilt store at Hastings and Willingdon and a smaller Kensington store further east.

Parks, scenic walks and activities

The historic Heights

Burnaby Heights

Burnaby Heights, officially known as Vancouver Heights and commonly referred to as The Heights, is a quiet, prestigious residential neighbourhood in North Burnaby between Boundary Road to the west, Gamma Avenue to the east and bounded by Hastings Street to the south...

 area north of Hastings still has a number of beautiful old homes representing the 1900s–1920s residential architecture and is well worth a stroll. There are several parks in North Burnaby — Confederation Park just west of Capitol Hill

Capitol Hill (Burnaby)

Capitol Hill elev. 203m, is a hill in the city of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, and also is the name of the neighbourhood spanning the summit of the hill...

, Montrose Park on the shore of the Inlet noted for its birdwatching

Birdwatching

Birdwatching or birding is the observation of birds as a recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds. Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are...

 possibilities, Willingdon Heights Park off Douglas Road and Kensington Park

Kensington Park (Burnaby)

Kensington Park is a large urban park in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. It is located between major roads running along its perimeter - Hastings Street, Curtis Street, Kensington Avenue and Holdom Avenue....

 with its ice skating arena and public golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

 facilities (pitch and putt). Just off Inlet Drive, as you leave the area heading towards Port Moody, there is a wonderful seashore park called Barnet Marine Park with a beach and great views of Belcarra Regional Park

Belcarra Regional Park

Belcarra Regional Park is a regional park located in metropolitan Vancouver, British Columbia. It is northeast of the meeting of Burrard Inlet with Indian Arm, beginning near Belcarra Bay and extending to Sasamat Lake. Sasamat is one of the warmest lakes in Greater Vancouver, is located in...

across the narrow passage.