GREATER VANCOUVER EVENT
Burnaby Farm Tour
This free self-guided tour explores Burnaby’s Big Bend urban farming district, its local growers and its agricultural history.
- Date and time
- Location
- Big Bend, Burnaby · Burnaby
- Organizer
- City of Burnaby
About this event
The free, self-guided Burnaby Farm Tour explores the urban farming district of Big Bend, Burnaby. Visitors can find plants, vegetables, vendors, nurseries and other attractions, including opportunities to buy nursery plants and farm products directly from the growers.
Big Bend was once a natural cranberry marsh where Indigenous Peoples harvested berries and other resources for thousands of years. Agriculture expanded after British Columbia was established as a colony, initially with European settlers and later with a more diverse group of farmers, including Chinese Canadians.
Chinese Canadian farmers often leased land because discriminatory legal and social restrictions limited land ownership. By 1946, they rented an estimated 200 acres in Burnaby, sharing labour and using traditional techniques to supply fresh food to distributors and supermarkets in Burnaby and Greater Vancouver. By 1974, approximately 27 Big Bend farms were operated by Chinese Canadian farmers; some families continue to farm there today.
Physical tour maps are available at Burnaby recreational facilities, Burnaby Village Museum and featured local vendors. More information is available at HeritageBurnaby.ca, along with a downloadable resource guide. Burnaby Village Museum has 38 exhibits in a 10-acre open-air museum.