East Vancouver Neighbourhoods: A Guide for Home Buyers

Vancouver's east side runs from Strathcona and Grandview-Woodland in the north to Killarney on the Fraser River, with many older houses, two SkyTrain lines and new zoning for more homes per lot. Here is a guide for home buyers to ten local areas, their transit, parks, schools and what to check before you buy.

The short version

East Vancouver at a glance

East Vancouver is an informal name. The City groups Vancouver into 22 local areas but doesn't sort them into east and west, and it notes that people disagree about neighbourhood names and boundaries. This guide covers ten on the east side: Strathcona, Grandview-Woodland, Hastings-Sunrise, Mount Pleasant, Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Riley Park, Renfrew-Collingwood, Sunset, Victoria-Fraserview and Killarney.

In the 2021 Census, the city had 662,248 people on about 115 km². Only about 15% of its occupied homes were single-detached houses, and about 43% were built in 1980 or earlier. Hastings joined the City in 1911, and the Municipality of South Vancouver, which included Sunset, Victoria-Fraserview and Killarney, joined in 1929.

The neighbourhoods

• Strathcona. One of Vancouver's earliest neighbourhoods, with one of the city's largest concentrations of 19th and early 20th century buildings, from small cottages and restored row houses to Queen Anne houses. The City's local area also takes in the Downtown Eastside and the False Creek Flats.
• Grandview-Woodland. East of Chinatown and Strathcona, reaching south to Trout Lake. Commercial Drive, known as the Drive, is its main street, and the area became known as Little Italy after the Second World War. Elaborate houses on large corner lots sit beside cottages on narrow ones.
• Hastings-Sunrise. On the Burnaby border at Boundary Road, home of the PNE at Hastings Park. It is mainly residential, with shops in the East Village on Hastings Street, 1920s Craftsman homes near north Hastings and views of Burrard Inlet from the north slope.
• Mount Pleasant. Runs from False Creek up to the shopping district where Broadway, Kingsway and Main Street meet. It is known for heritage buildings, unusual shops and artists, and the City notes that it draws first-time buyers, urban professionals and families.
• Kensington-Cedar Cottage. A village of about 40 stores had grown around Commercial Drive by 1910, and Kingsway later drew businesses south. Small wooden and stucco houses lined its streets by the First World War, and its parks include Brewers Park, Clark Park and Cedar Cottage Park.
• Riley Park. From Kingsway to City Hall and south to Queen Elizabeth Park. North of King Edward Avenue are older Edwardian and Craftsman homes, often with front porches, and shops cluster on Main and Cambie streets. Nat Bailey Stadium, home of the Vancouver Canadians, opened in 1952.
• Renfrew-Collingwood. Along the Burnaby border, mainly residential, with Renfrew Ravine Park and its creek in the Still Creek watershed. Apartments have gone up near its SkyTrain stations since the 1980s, and shops line the Collingwood stretch of Kingsway.
• Sunset. South-central, east of Langara Golf Course and sloping down to the Fraser River. The City calls it an Indo-Canadian hub, and Main Street and Fraser Street are lined with independently owned shops and restaurants. Housing includes single-family homes and low-rise apartments.
• Victoria-Fraserview and Killarney. The city's southeast, down to the Fraser River. About 1,100 homes were built in Fraserview for returning veterans after the Second World War, and Fraserview Golf Course opened in 1935 as Vancouver's first public golf course. Killarney includes Champlain Heights, built in the 1970s, and along the river, former industrial land is becoming the city's newest waterfront neighbourhood.

Getting around

• SkyTrain. The Expo Line stops at Main Street-Science World, Commercial-Broadway, Nanaimo, 29th Avenue and Joyce-Collingwood, and the Millennium Line at VCC-Clark, Commercial-Broadway, Renfrew and Rupert. The two lines meet at Commercial-Broadway.
• The Broadway Subway. A 5.7 km Millennium Line extension from VCC-Clark to Arbutus Street, with six new stations, including Great Northern Way-Emily Carr and Mount Pleasant. In late May 2026, trains were being tested, and it was expected to open in fall 2027.
• RapidBus. The R5 runs along Hastings Street between SFU and downtown, and the R4 along 41st Avenue between Joyce-Collingwood Station and UBC.

Parks and recreation

• Trout Lake. An urban lake in John Hendry Park, with an off-leash area and a community centre.
• Queen Elizabeth Park. It sits on Little Mountain, the highest point in Vancouver, and was turned from an open-pit mine into a park in 1940.
• Hastings Park. The PNE grounds, with New Brighton Park and Sunrise Park nearby, both with off-leash areas.

Community centres include Britannia, one of North America's largest when it was built in 1975, and Hillcrest, with an ice rink and aquatic centre.

Schools

Public schools are run by the Vancouver School Board, School District 39, with about 50,000 students in Kindergarten to Grade 12 and 18 secondary schools. To find the catchment school for an address, use the board's School Locator and enter only the street name (Broadway, not East Broadway); the board's decision on catchment is final. District programs include Early and Late French Immersion, Intensive French, Mandarin Bilingual, Montessori, International Baccalaureate, fine arts and mini schools.

Housing and how it is changing

Housing runs from Strathcona's 19th century cottages and the area's Craftsman homes to postwar houses, Vancouver Specials and apartments near SkyTrain.

• Vancouver Specials. The Canadian Encyclopedia counts more than 10,000 of these two-storey houses, built mostly from 1965 to 1985, many in the city's south and east ends. They have a low-pitched roof and a full-width front balcony; the lower floor sits at or slightly below grade, which made the most of a zoning rule that didn't count the basement toward floor area.
• Multiplexes. Since October 17, 2023, the R1-1 zone has replaced the RS single-family zones. A lot at least 10 m (about 33 feet) wide can generally have three or four units, one 13.4 m (about 44 feet) wide five, and one 15.1 m (about 50 feet) wide six, with minimum site areas too. Strata multiplexes top out at six units, and all-rental buildings at eight.
• Laneway houses. Allowed since 2009, but a laneway house can't be strata-titled or sold separately from the main house.
• Near SkyTrain. Under provincial law, in areas the City designated in June 2024, the City can't refuse a rezoning near a station on height or density alone, up to 20 storeys within 200 m, 12 within 400 m and 8 within 800 m. Land isn't rezoned automatically.
• The Broadway Plan. In effect since 2022, it guides 30 years of growth from Vine Street to Clark Drive between 1st and 16th Avenues, including part of Mount Pleasant.

These City rules sit alongside the Province's small-scale housing rules, which I explain in More Homes per Lot.

What to check before you buy

• Permit history. A City property research letter lists outstanding orders, permits issued without final inspection approval, the zoning and the approved use, usually within 10 to 15 business days for a house, though the City shares less without the owner's consent. You can also search permits by address online.
• Older homes. With so many homes built before 1981, have an inspector look closely at the wiring, plumbing, drainage and any suite. I explain what inspectors check in Home Inspections in BC.
• Heritage. Ask whether the house is on the Vancouver Heritage Register. Under R1-1, keeping a character house can open other options, such as converting it into several units or adding an infill home.
• Flood plain. Some land near the Fraser River, False Creek, Burrard Inlet and Still Creek is in the City's designated flood plain, where new buildings must meet a flood construction level. Ask the City.
• Empty Homes Tax. Every Vancouver homeowner must file a declaration each year, and for the 2025 tax year the tax was 3% of a property's assessed taxable value.

Questions buyers often ask me

Which neighbourhoods are in East Vancouver?

The City doesn't define it: it groups Vancouver into 22 local areas without sorting them into east and west. This guide covers ten: Strathcona, Grandview-Woodland, Hastings-Sunrise, Mount Pleasant, Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Riley Park, Renfrew-Collingwood, Sunset, Victoria-Fraserview and Killarney.

When will the Broadway Subway open?

In late May 2026, trains were being tested, and the line was expected to open to the public in fall 2027. It will run from VCC-Clark to Arbutus Street, a ride of about 11 minutes, with new stations including Great Northern Way-Emily Carr and Mount Pleasant.

What is a Vancouver Special?

A two-storey house type built mostly from 1965 to 1985, with a low-pitched roof, a full-width front balcony and a lower floor at or slightly below grade. The Canadian Encyclopedia counts more than 10,000, many in the city's south and east ends.

Can I build a multiplex or laneway house on an East Vancouver lot?

On most lots once zoned for single-family homes, generally yes: three to six strata units depending on lot size, or up to eight if all are rentals. A laneway house can't be sold separately. Confirm the zoning for the address with the City.

How do I find my catchment school?

Use the Vancouver School Board's School Locator and enter the street name only. The board's decision on catchment is final, and its website lists district programs such as French Immersion and Mandarin Bilingual.

Thinking about the east side? Browse homes for sale in Vancouver, compare Burnaby, across Boundary Road, or read about BC's Speculation and Vacancy Tax, a provincial tax that is separate from the City's.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Population and housing figures are from the 2021 Census, and other details are from the City of Vancouver, TransLink, the Province, the Government of Canada, the Vancouver School Board and The Canadian Encyclopedia at the time of writing. For the City's neighbourhood pages, see Areas of the city.