Moving to Surrey or Burnaby: What to Know First

Researched and updated 24 October 2026. Monetary examples use Canadian dollars.

Choosing Surrey or Burnaby depends on your destinations, home requirements and complete budget. Neither municipality is one housing market or one commute: compare specific areas and equivalent homes.

Start with these different location choices

Location	Transport context	Best question to test
Burnaby Metrotown / Edmonds	Expo Line areas.	Does the actual station walk make the daily trip easier?
Burnaby Brentwood	Millennium Line area.	Where do you transfer for your destination?
Burnaby Lougheed	Expo/Millennium interchange area.	Which service and entrance does the home actually use?
Surrey Whalley / City Centre	Existing Expo Line access.	Does the unit offer a useful station connection?
Surrey Guildford / Newton / Fleetwood / Cloverdale / South Surrey	Different local destinations and bus or road journeys.	What is the current journey, without relying on future rail?

Compare equivalent units

Match bedroom count, home type, condition, parking and utility inclusions. A Surrey house suite and a new Burnaby station-area apartment may differ for reasons unrelated to the municipal boundary. Use dated suitable listings rather than a claim that one entire city is a fixed amount cheaper.

A total-cost example

Suppose one suitable home costs $2,300 rent plus $200 housing extras and $160 transport: $2,660 monthly. Another costs $2,100 rent plus $200 extras and $500 transport: $2,800. The lower-rent choice costs $140 more under these hypothetical assumptions. Reverse the actual transport costs and the conclusion may change; neither example is a city price estimate.

Visit around your routine

Test home-to-work or campus at the needed time and a late return.
Check grocery, care and family destinations separately.
Assess noise, walking gradients and accessibility inside the actual unit.
Confirm elevator, loading and large-furniture access before moving.

Choose with present-day facts

Burnaby identifies four town centres; Surrey identifies six communities. Use those as search filters, not guarantees of safety, school admission or price growth. Check the operating transit map. A future project may matter to your longer-term plans, but the household budget and commute should work before it opens.

Frequently asked questions

Is Surrey always cheaper than Burnaby?

No. Compare equivalent available homes and complete household costs.

Does every Burnaby station go directly downtown?

No. The line and destination matter; Millennium trips generally need an interchange for downtown Vancouver.