Moving to Surrey: A Guide to Its Communities

Surrey's new community plan expects it to soon be BC's most populous city, and it has a growing downtown, wide stretches of farmland, beaches on Boundary Bay and a SkyTrain extension under construction. Here is a guide for home buyers to its communities, transit, parks and schools.

The short version

Surrey's communities

Surrey has long been described as six communities: City Centre and Whalley, Guildford, Fleetwood, Newton, Cloverdale and South Surrey. Its new Official Community Plan, Surrey 2050, adopted in June 2026, divides the city into eight: Whalley, Guildford, Fleetwood, Newton, Cloverdale, Clayton, Grandview and Semiahmoo. Here is what each part of the city is like, using the names you will see in listings:

• City Centre and Whalley. The City calls City Centre the region's emerging second downtown. It has City Hall, the City Centre Library, SFU Surrey, KPU Civic Plaza, Central City and Surrey Memorial Hospital, and high-rises around the Surrey Central and King George stations. Whalley, one of Surrey's oldest neighbourhoods, surrounds it, and Holland Park hosts the Fusion Festival each year.
• Guildford. East of City Centre, with established neighbourhoods around Guildford Town Centre, the newer Fraser Heights subdivision, and views of the Port Mann Bridge and the Fraser River along its northern edge.
• Fleetwood. Mostly residential and mostly single-family homes, along Fraser Highway, where three of the new SkyTrain stations are being built.
• Newton. Surrey's most populous town centre, home to the Newton Cultural Centre, the Bell Performing Arts Centre and Unwin Park's fully accessible playground. Its Vaisakhi Parade draws more than 400,000 people.
• Cloverdale and Clayton. Cloverdale was settled in the mid to late 1800s and keeps one of Surrey's most recognizable main streets, the Museum of Surrey and the Cloverdale Rodeo, held since 1945. Clayton, to the north, has grown quickly and has the Clayton Community Centre.
• South Surrey. The largest town centre by land area, with coastal and mountain views, and neighbourhoods such as Grandview Heights, Morgan Creek, Rosemary Heights and Crescent Beach. Semiahmoo Town Centre is its commercial heart, and White Rock, to the south, is a separate city.

Getting around

• SkyTrain. The Expo Line has four stations in Surrey: Scott Road, Gateway, Surrey Central and King George.
• The Surrey Langley extension. A 16 km extension along Fraser Highway, from King George Station to Langley City Centre, with eight stations: Green Timbers, 152 Street, Fleetwood, Bakerview-166 Street, Hillcrest-184 Street, Clayton, Willowbrook and Langley City Centre. In May 2026, construction was under way at all eight stations, and service is expected to begin in late 2029.
• RapidBus. The R1 runs from Guildford along 104 Avenue to Surrey Central, then down King George Boulevard to Newton, and the R6 runs along Scott Road from Scott Road Station to Newton.
• Bridges and highways. All four lanes of the new toll-free stal̕əw̓asəm (Riverview) Bridge, which replaces the Pattullo Bridge, opened in February 2026, and some ramps and walking and cycling connections are still being built. Highways 1, 10, 15, 17 and 99 cross the city, and the Peace Arch and Pacific Highway border crossings are in South Surrey.

Parks and recreation

• Bear Creek Park. An outdoor pool and waterpark, gardens, sports fields, trails and a fenced off-leash area, with salmon in the creek in season.
• Green Timbers Urban Forest. Known as BC's birthplace of reforestation, with more than 10 km of trails and a stocked fishing lake.
• Redwood Park. A grove of redwoods and a replica of the treehouse where the twin brothers who planted the park once lived.
• Crescent Beach and Blackie Spit. Swimming, a pier and one of the top bird-watching areas in Canada, where the Nicomekl River meets Mud Bay.
• Serpentine Fen and Tynehead Regional Park. More than 200 bird species at the fen, and a salmon hatchery and paved trails at Tynehead.

The City has indoor pools at the Grandview Heights Aquatic Centre, Guildford, Newton, South Surrey and the Surrey Sport & Leisure Complex in Fleetwood.

Schools and universities

Surrey Schools, School District 36, is the largest school district in BC, with more than 80,000 students, and it also serves White Rock. Programs of choice, such as Early French Immersion, Montessori, Traditional and International Baccalaureate, take applications rather than going by catchment, and places are usually given out by lottery, so check the district's application dates. You can find the schools for an address with the district's School Locator.

SFU has its Surrey campus in City Centre. KPU's main campus, KPU Surrey, is in Newton, and KPU also has KPU Civic Plaza in City Centre and KPU Tech in Cloverdale. SFU's new medical school, the SFU Stephens Family School of Medicine, started classes for its first 48 students on August 5, 2026 in interim space, and its permanent home in City Centre is expected to be completed in 2030.

Health care

Surrey Memorial Hospital, in City Centre, is the second-largest hospital in BC, with the province's busiest emergency department. A second hospital, with a BC Cancer centre and a 55-space emergency department, is being built in Cloverdale and is expected to open in 2030.

How Surrey is growing

• The new plan. Surrey 2050 makes City Centre the main growth area and the place for the tallest buildings, and its low-rise apartment areas generally plan for three to six storeys, or up to eight in transit-oriented areas.
• Around transit. Surrey has 15 transit-oriented areas: 12 around SkyTrain stations, including Columbia in New Westminster and Willowbrook in Langley, whose areas reach into Surrey, and three around the Guildford, Newton and Scottsdale bus exchanges. Land isn't rezoned automatically, but the City can't turn down a rezoning on height or density alone, up to limits the Province sets.
• More homes per lot. Since July 2024, most single-family lots can have three or four units, or six near frequent bus service. In July 2026, Council approved a comprehensive review of these rules. I explain them in More Homes per Lot.

Before you buy

• Floodplains. About 20% of Surrey is coastal floodplain, from Boundary Bay and Mud Bay along the Nicomekl and Serpentine rivers, including Crescent Beach, Mud Bay, Colebrook and parts of Cloverdale. South Westminster, near the bridge, sits on the Fraser River floodplain. Check the "Flood Prone Areas" layer on the City's COSMOS map. Land in the 200-year floodplain generally needs a hazard lands development permit before building work.
• Farmland. More than a third of the city is in the Agricultural Land Reserve, where provincial rules limit what you can build.
• Steep slopes. Land with slopes over 20%, and land within 10 metres of the bottom or 30 metres of the top of such a slope, is also treated as hazard land.
• Property records. The City's Property Report Tool shows a property's legal description, assessment and utility connections, and COSMOS shows zoning.

Questions buyers often ask me

How many people live in Surrey?

The 2021 Census counted 568,322 people, up 9.7% from 2016. The City's website, citing BC Stats estimates, which run higher than census counts, gives 733,760 as of December 19, 2025, and its new plan projects one million residents by 2050.

Is White Rock part of Surrey?

No. White Rock has been a separate city since 1957. It borders South Surrey, and both are served by the Surrey School District.

When will SkyTrain reach Fleetwood, Clayton and Langley?

The Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension, with eight new stations along Fraser Highway, is expected to go into service in late 2029.

How do I find my catchment school in Surrey?

Use the Surrey School District's School Locator or School Boundaries Map. Programs of choice such as Early French Immersion take applications, and places are usually given out by lottery.

How do I know if a Surrey home is in a floodplain?

Check the "Flood Prone Areas" layer on the City's COSMOS map. About 20% of Surrey is coastal floodplain, including Crescent Beach and Mud Bay, and South Westminster is on the Fraser River floodplain.

Browse homes for sale in Surrey, or compare its neighbours in City or Township of Langley? and Moving to New Westminster.

Population is from the 2021 Census and the City of Surrey, and other details are from the City, TransLink, the Province, Fraser Health and Surrey Schools at the time of writing. For the City's guide, see Surrey's communities.