Moving to Chilliwack: A Guide to Its Neighbourhoods

Most of Chilliwack's residents live in a corridor that runs from Fairfield Island in the north through downtown, Sardis and Vedder to Promontory in the south, with hillside neighbourhoods and farm communities around it. Here is what each area is like, how people get around, where the lakes and trails are, and what to check before you buy.

The short version

Chilliwack at a glance

In the 2021 Census, about 54% of Chilliwack's occupied homes were single-detached houses, 20% were apartments in buildings under five storeys and 15% were row houses. The City divides Chilliwack into 12 neighbourhood areas.

Chilliwack is on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Stó:lō Coast Salish peoples, and the City names ten First Nations communities, including Tzeachten, Skowkale, Squiala and Cheam, that share its borders.

The central neighbourhoods

• Downtown. The core urban neighbourhood, with the most residents. Around the core, older areas such as Riverside, Townsend and Mountainview are mostly one- and two-storey houses built in the 1950s to 1970s.
• Fairfield Island. Directly north of downtown, across the Hope Slough. Most homes are detached houses from the 1970s and 1980s on 600 to 800 m² lots, with several parks, few shops and only a few bridges to the rest of the city.
• Little Mountain. The smallest neighbourhood, with detached houses on the top and sides of the hill.
• Sardis. Just south of Highway 1, with a mix of homes, shops and services. Vedder Road is its main spine, the large shopping centres are near Luckakuck Way, and the Sardis Park area is mostly established single-family homes.
• Vedder and Garrison Crossing. Vedder is mostly residential and runs south to the Vedder River. A military training base opened here in 1941 and closed in 1998, and part of it became Garrison Crossing, which Canada Lands Company describes as a walkable village of some 1,500 homes.
• Promontory. A suburban neighbourhood on the slopes of Promontory Hill, surrounded by forest. In 2021 it had the youngest median age of any neighbourhood in the city, 36.

Hillsides and rural communities

• The Eastern Hillsides. About 8 km from downtown on the north slopes of the Cascades, largely forested, with mostly detached houses. Its plan allows for about 10,500 residents at build-out, but slopes of 30% or more cover about 45% of the area.
• Ryder Lake. A rural, historic farming neighbourhood in the uplands of southeast Chilliwack, still largely undeveloped.
• Rosedale. The largest neighbourhood by area, in the east, mostly farmland, with about 5,700 residents in 2021.
• Yarrow. A farming community in the southwest, between the Vedder River and Vedder Mountain, which opened to farming and settlement after Sumas Lake was drained in 1924. Homes are mostly on large rural lots with private septic systems and a community water system, and the plan expects little growth.
• Greendale and Chilliwack Mountain. Greendale, in the southwest, is farmland with a large industrial area. West of downtown, the Chilliwack Mountain area stretches along the Fraser River, with industry and relatively few homes.

Getting around

• Highway 1. The Trans-Canada crosses the city from west to east. The Province is widening it in phases from Langley east, and the section from Highway 11 through Sumas Prairie is still in planning.
• Fraser Valley Express. BC Transit's route 66 is a limited-stop bus that runs seven days a week from downtown Chilliwack, with stops on Vedder Road and at the Lickman Park & Ride, through Abbotsford and Langley's Carvolth Exchange to Lougheed SkyTrain station in Burnaby. Local passes aren't valid on it.
• Local buses. Routes serve Vedder and UFV (51), Fairfield (53), Promontory (54) and Yarrow and Greendale (55), and route 56 runs to Cultus Lake from July 1 to Labour Day. Route 71 links downtown with Rosedale, Agassiz and Harrison.

Lakes, rivers and trails

• Cultus Lake. Cultus Lake Provincial Park, 11 km southwest of Chilliwack, has four campgrounds, beaches and wharfs at Entrance Bay and Maple Bay, and hikes such as the Teapot Hill Trail, about 5 km return.
• The Vedder River. The Chilliwack River becomes the Vedder River at Vedder Crossing. The City's trails there include the Vedder Rotary Loop Trail and the Vedder North Dyke and Vedder South Dyke trails.
• Chilliwack Lake. Sx̱ótsaqel/Chilliwack Lake Park is about 40 km up Chilliwack Lake Road from Vedder Crossing, with 182 campsites, a sandy beach with very cold water and about 40 km of trails, including the 3.4 km return hike to Lindeman Lake. Cell reception ends partway up the road.

Schools, the university and the hospital

The Chilliwack School District (School District 33) runs elementary, middle and secondary neighbourhood schools. Use the district's School Locator to find the catchment school for an address, and check it again before you buy, since catchments can change. District programs include:

• French Immersion. Early French Immersion starts in Kindergarten at Cheam Elementary, Late French Immersion starts in Grade 6 at Chilliwack Middle and Vedder Middle, and the program continues at Sardis Secondary. If Kindergarten applications exceed the spaces, places go by lottery, and parents arrange transportation.
• Integrated Arts and Technology. A Kindergarten to Grade 12 program at Leary Fine Arts and Technology Elementary, AD Rundle Middle and Imagine High Integrated Arts and Technology Secondary, which opened in September 2021.

The University of the Fraser Valley's Chilliwack campus is at Canada Education Park on Caen Avenue, including its Trades and Technology Centre. Chilliwack General Hospital, run by Fraser Health, has a 24-hour emergency department, maternity care, surgery, an intensive care unit and an inpatient psychiatry unit.

How Chilliwack is growing

• The 2050 plan. Council adopted Chilliwack 2050, the City's new Official Community Plan, in December 2025. It plans for 20 years of housing need, focuses growth on redevelopment and densification of existing urban areas inside an urban growth boundary, allows selective growth in serviced hillside areas and keeps rural settlements within their existing boundaries.
• Sardis. The Sardis plan expects 1,300 to 1,700 new attached homes and 1,100 to 1,700 new apartments by 2041.
• Around transit. Downtown, the area around the Spadina Avenue transit exchange is a transit-oriented area. Land isn't rezoned automatically, but within 400 m the City can't turn down a rezoning on height or density alone, up to limits the Province sets, and residential projects don't need parking.
• More homes per lot. Since June 2024, lots zoned for single-detached houses or duplexes that are over 280 m² and inside the urban growth boundary can have up to four units, and single-detached lots can have a secondary suite. I explain these rules in More Homes per Lot.

Before you buy

• Floodplain. The provincial dike standard and floodplain mapping for the Fraser River are based on the 1894 flood, the largest on record, and for the Vedder River on a 1 in 200 year flood. Parts of Greendale and Yarrow are in the floodplain of both rivers, and in and around downtown, new living space must be above the 1 in 500 year flood level. Check the City's floodplain map and its Floodplain Regulation Bylaw.
• Farmland. The City says nearly 70% of its land is in the Agricultural Land Reserve. On ALR land there is generally one home per parcel, with a main house of up to 500 m², and local rules can be stricter.
• Hillsides. The City treats land with slopes of 20% or more as hillside, with its own development standards. In the Eastern Hillsides, some areas are no-build zones because of old slides and ground movement, and new development needs a geotechnical hazard study. For a hillside lot, ask the City what reports apply and have your lawyer or notary check the title.
• Septic systems. If a home has a private septic system, as in Yarrow, the City suggests having a septic tank inspected every year and pumped out every two to three years.
• Who governs the land. First Nations lands within the city are self-governed, and Cultus Lake Park, a separate community at the lake, is run by its own Park Board, with residents who are leaseholders. For a home on either, ask how the land is held and have a lawyer review the lease or title before you remove subjects.

Questions buyers often ask me

How many people live in Chilliwack?

The 2021 Census counted 93,203 people, up 11.2% from 2016, on about 261 km² of land. Most live in the corridor from Fairfield Island south to Promontory.

What is the difference between Sardis and Vedder?

Sardis starts just south of Highway 1 and has the main shopping areas along Vedder Road and near Luckakuck Way. Vedder, further south toward the Vedder River, is mostly residential and includes Garrison Crossing, built on part of the former military base.

Are homes in Cultus Lake Park leasehold?

Yes. Cultus Lake Park is run by the Cultus Lake Park Board under its own 1932 Act, and its residents are leaseholders. Have a lawyer review the lease before you remove subjects.

Is Chilliwack in a floodplain?

Parts of it are. The City's floodplain map shows the areas at risk from the Fraser and Vedder rivers, including parts of Greendale and Yarrow, and new building must meet the flood construction levels in its Floodplain Regulation Bylaw.

How do I find my catchment school in Chilliwack?

Enter the address in the Chilliwack School District's School Locator. French Immersion, which starts in Kindergarten or Grade 6, takes applications, and Kindergarten places go by lottery when there are more applicants than spaces.

Browse homes for sale in Chilliwack, visit my Chilliwack area page, or see how it compares with its neighbours in Abbotsford, Chilliwack or Mission?

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 Chilliwack, the Province, BC Transit, BC Parks, Fraser Health and the Chilliwack School District at the time of writing. For the City's guide, see Chilliwack's neighbourhoods.