Georgia Street is an east–west street in the cities of
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
and
Burnaby
Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...
, British Columbia, Canada. Its section in
Downtown Vancouver
Downtown Vancouver is the central business district and the city centre neighbourhood of Vancouver, Canada, on the northwestern shore of the Burrard Peninsula in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. It occupies most of the north sh ...
, designated West Georgia Street, serves as one of the primary streets for the financial and central business districts, and is the major transportation corridor connecting downtown Vancouver with the
North Shore (and eventually
Whistler) by way of the
Lions Gate Bridge
The Lions Gate Bridge, opened in 1938 and officially known as the First Narrows Bridge, is a suspension bridge that crosses the first narrows of Burrard Inlet and connects the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, to the North Shore municipali ...
. The remainder of the street, known as East Georgia Street between
Main Street and Boundary Road and simply Georgia Street within Burnaby, is more residential in character, and is discontinuous at several points.
West of Seymour Street, the thoroughfare is part of
Highway 99.
The entire section west of Main Street was previously designated part of
Highway 1A, and markers for the '1A' designation can still be seen at certain points.
Route
Starting from its western terminus at Chilco Street by the edge of
Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and Coal ...
, Georgia Street runs southeast, separating the
West End from the
Coal Harbour
Coal Harbour is the name for a section of Burrard Inlet lying between Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula and the Brockton Point of Stanley Park. It has also now become the name of the neighbourhood adjacent to its southern shoreline.
Neighbourhoo ...
neighbourhood. It then runs through the Financial District; landmarks and major skyscrapers along the way include
Living Shangri-La
Living Shangri-La is a mixed-use skyscraper in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and is the tallest building in the city and province. The 62-storey Shangri-La tower contains a 5-star hotel and its offices on the first 15 floors, with ...
, Trump International Hotel and Tower,
Royal Centre, 666 Burrard tower,
Hotel Vancouver
The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, formerly and still informally called the Hotel Vancouver, is a historic hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia. Located along West Georgia Street the hotel is situated within the city's Financial District, in Downtown ...
and upscale shops, the
HSBC Canada Building
The HSBC Canada building is a 23-storey office tower in the city's downtown core of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The building's primary tenant is the headquarters of HSBC Bank Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of HSBC. The skyscraper, built ...
, the
Vancouver Art Gallery
The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Franc ...
, Georgia Hotel, Four Seasons Hotel,
Pacific Centre
Pacific Centre (officially CF Pacific Centre since 2015) is a shopping mall located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is owned by Cadillac Fairview, the Ontario Pension Board, and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, and is manage ...
, the
Granville Entertainment District
The Granville Entertainment District is a neighbourhood in Downtown Vancouver known for its vast assortment of bars, danceclubs, restaurants, nightlife, and urban adult oriented shops and entertainment. The entertainment district centred on a s ...
,
Scotia Tower
Scotia Tower is a prominent skyscraper located at 650 West Georgia Street in Downtown Vancouver.
The 15th tallest building in the city, it stands at 138 m or 35 storeys tall and completed in 1977 and is a landmark skyscraper near the end of the c ...
, and the
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...
headquarters. The eastern portion of West Georgia features the Theatre District (including
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
The Queen Elizabeth Theatre is a performing arts venue in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Along with the Orpheum, Vancouver Playhouse, and thAnnex it is one of four facilities operated by the Vancouver Civic Theatres on behalf o ...
and the Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts), Library Square (the central branch of the
Vancouver Public Library
Vancouver Public Library (VPL) is the public library system for the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2013, VPL had more than 6.9 million visits with patrons borrowing nearly 9.5 million items including: books, ebooks, CDs, DVDs, video game ...
),
Rogers Arena
Rogers Arena is a multi-purpose arena located at 800 Griffiths Way in the downtown area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Opened in 1995, the arena was known as General Motors Place (GM Place) from its opening until July 6, 2010, when Ge ...
, and
BC Place
BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located at the north side of False Creek, it is owned and operated by the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), a crown corporation of the province.
The venue is currently ...
. West Georgia's centre lane between Pender Street and Stanley Park is used as a
counterflow lane
In transport engineering wikt:nomenclature, nomenclature, a counterflow lane or contraflow lane is a lane in which traffic flows in the opposite direction of the surrounding lanes.
Contraflow lanes are often used for bicycles or bus rapid tran ...
.
East of
Cambie Street
Cambie Street is a street in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is named for Henry John Cambie, chief surveyor of the Canadian Pacific Railway's western division (as is Cambie Road, a major thoroughfare in nearby Richmond).
There are two d ...
, Georgia Street becomes a one-way street for eastbound traffic, and connects to the
Georgia Viaduct
The Georgia Viaduct is a twinned bridge that acts as a flyover-like overpass in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It passes between Rogers Arena and BC Place Stadium and connects Downtown Vancouver with Main Street and Strathcona.
Histo ...
for eastbound travellers only, which subsequently flows into Prior Street after crossing
Main Street; westbound traffic is handled by Dunsmuir Street and the Dunsmuir Viaduct, located one block to the north.
![Facing eastward, the entry point of the Georgia Street Viaduct](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Facing_eastward%2C_the_entry_point_of_the_Georgia_Street_Viaduct.jpg)
East Georgia Street begins at an intersection with Main Street to the north of the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts in Vancouver's
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
, then runs eastwards through
Strathcona,
Grandview–Woodland
Grandview–Woodland, also commonly known as Grandview–Woodlands, is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to the east of the downtown area, stretching south from the shores of Burrard Inlet and encompassing portions of the popu ...
and
Hastings–Sunrise Hastings–Sunrise is a neighbourhood located in the northeastern corner of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia.
One of Vancouver's oldest neighbourhoods, Hastings–Sunrise is primarily residential, with a dense strip of shops and services ...
to Boundary Road. East of the municipal boundary, Georgia Street continues eastwards through Burnaby until its terminus at Grove Avenue in the
Lochdale Lochdale is a single-family neighbourhood in the north-eastern part of Burnaby, near Burnaby Mountain. It lies between Kensington Ave to the west and Duthie Ave to the east. Hastings Street marks its northern limits while Halifax Street closes the ...
neighbourhood. This portion of Georgia Street is interrupted at several locations, such as
Templeton Secondary School
Templeton Secondary School is a public secondary school located in the Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood on the East Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Its student teams won the SmartAsk competition in 2004, the junior ''Reach For The Top'' pro ...
,
Highway 1 and
Kensington Park.
History
Georgia Street was named in 1886 after the
Strait of Georgia
The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...
and ran between Chilco and Beatty Streets. After the first Georgia Viaduct opened in 1915,
[The History of Metropolitan Vancouver - 1972 Chronology](_blank)
/ref> the street's eastern end was connected to Harris Street, and Harris Street was subsequently renamed East Georgia Street.
The second Georgia Viaduct, opened in 1972, connects to Prior Street at its eastern end instead. As a result, East Georgia Street has been disconnected from West Georgia ever since.
On June 15, 2011, Georgia Street became the focal point of the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot
The 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot was a public disturbance in the downtown core of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on the evening of June 15, 2011. The riot broke out almost immediately after the conclusion of the Boston Bruins' win over ...
.
Major intersections
West Georgia Street; from north to south.
References
{{Streets in Vancouver
Streets in Vancouver
Shopping districts and streets in Canada
Former segments of the Trans-Canada Highway