Mayor's Corner

After 70 years, fish passage restored at Surrey’s Bon Accord Creek

An innovative project at Bon Accord Creek in Surrey involving the installation of ‘flexi-baffles’ are allowing salmon are able to swim through this channel for the first time in 70 years. It’s the largest project of its kind in North America. The City of Surrey’s Salmon Habitat Restoration Program completed this work in partnership with Resilient Waters and Watershed Watch Salmon Society. This work helps ensure salmon can access key spawning and rearing habitats.

Surrey ready for snow with 15K tonnes of salt, 90 pieces of equipment

Our snow-fighting crew is ready for winter with 15,000 tonnes of salt and more than 90 pieces of equipment. We've begun brining and salting roads as temperatures drop.

View the Snow and Ice Priority Routes Map to learn about the road priorities in Surrey. You can also see current road conditions with our live-streaming traffic cameras, or our Snow Plow Tracker that activates when plowing starts. 

Learn more about how we keep the roads clear and safe during winter events at surrey.ca/snow.

Surrey schools see largest enrolment increase in its history

This fall, Surrey schools saw the largest enrolment increase ever. Traditionally, the district has seen 800 additional students per year, but this September the district grew by more than 3,000.

Some schools are running out of room for portables. We need action now to tackle the critical classroom space shortage.

Standing Up for Surrey Taxpayers

The provincially ordered police transition will cost Surrey taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars while delivering no added public safety benefit to Surrey. As the Mayor of Surrey, it is my job to stand up for taxpayers and fight against a double digit tax imposed by the NDP.

Surrey signs Global Trees in Cities challenge to plant 106,000 trees

This year, I signed the Global Trees in Cities challenge and have pledged to plant 106,000 trees on public land in the City of Surrey by the end of 2024. This international challenge aims to promote climate action in cities.

Did you know you can help us grow our urban forest?

Plant trees and shrubs in your local park at one of our upcoming ‘Releaf’ Tree Planting Events. This popular tree planting series is one of the many initiatives that contribute to making Surrey a thriving, green, and inclusive community. It provides an excellent opportunity for the community to connect with each other, enjoy the outdoors, and contribute to the growth of one of our most vital natural assets, the City’s urban forest.

I commend our staff and our citizens in Surrey who are deeply committed to our vision of being a green and inclusive city. As the stewards of our parkland and natural habitats, we are committed to sustainability and building a legacy for future generations.

The Releaf Tree Planting Program is one of the City’s many stewardship initiatives delivered by the Parks Division to engage the community in protecting, preserving, and maintaining Surrey’s extensive parkland system. Since 1991, volunteers have planted thousands of trees and shrubs, contributing to improved air quality, increased shade, food and shelter for wildlife, and greater biodiversity in our parks.

Maximum capacity: Portable breaking point

It’s clear the state of school infrastructure in Surrey has reached a crisis level. The current pressures to create more housing cannot be done in isolation. As a city of families where many of our new residents are children, core infrastructure such as schools must be built in lock step with new housing.

Over the last two decades, Surrey Schools saw roughly 700 new students every year. But fast forward to today, and that figure has more than tripled. Last year, the district saw over 2,500 new students. This year’s tally is going to be comparable.

In some areas, such as Fleetwood, schools are hitting maximum capacity. Not maximum capacity of the physical building, but maximum capacity in terms of the number of portables they can even squeeze onto a school site: They’re past their breaking point. At one elementary school, the portable space was maxed out and new classrooms had to be temporarily set up in the gym and teacher’s lounge.

Laurie Larsen, Surrey School Board Chair, says right now we need at least 2 more secondary and 6 new elementary schools.

“This past June, we submitted our annual capital submission to the Ministry of Education and Child Care outlining additional projects that we feel are a priority to address our capacity needs,” she explained, “including 10 new schools and 17 additions to existing schools.”

Room for portables running out at some Surrey schools

• This year alone, the district has had to relocate or purchase 57 portables. That came with a price tag of $7 million from the district’s operating budget - funds that should be used to support learning directly, not to create physical space for children to learn.
• Some schools are so full, the district has now maxed out the portables it can have on-site. In other words – they’ve run out of room for more portables.
• Fleetwood is particularly struggling with growth. Walnut Road Elementary, for example, had more than 90 new students enrolled this year.
• Walnut Road’s 6 portables needed to be increased to 9 due to higher-than-expected enrollment. As a result, the gymnasium and even teacher’s lounges were converted into temporary learning spaces until additional portables could be installed.
• Some students are now being told their school simply has no room for them and must go out of catchment. You could live across the street from a school, but have to drive to another.
• This level of overcrowding takes a strain on washrooms, libraries, recreational spaces, parking, everything. Children are being put on staggered bell schedules and losing access to things like sports fields.

The City of Surrey is here to support the district in any way we can to speed up timelines and fast-track municipal approvals to help get new schools built as quickly as possible. 

I know the Board of Education has continually advocated for funding from the Province, but we’re not seeing the action we so desperately need. Without rapid investment, our schools are facing a dire situation. More and more schools are going to hit maximum portable capacity.

We need the provincial government to step up and give Surrey’s fair share. We need action and investment in building more schools in Surrey, and we need it now.

A look inside the Totest Aleng: Indigenous Learning House

The Totest Aleng: Indigenous Learning House is now complete. This vibrant new facility features a covered pavilion to support a range of programming, and a dedicated studio space, all to support Indigenous cultural practices.

Development of the venue and its programming has been informed by ongoing dialogue and consultation with Semiahmoo, Kwantlen and Katzie First Nations. I am thankful for their guidance on both the facility’s design and the important programming that occurs here.

Learn about this new space for connection, gathering and learning: surrey.ca/totestaleng.