Newly daylighted Canyon Creek brings lost habitat back to Spanish Banks
A long-hidden urban stream in Spanish Banks Beach Park has been brought back to the surface thanks to efforts by the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.
Local Nations, community members and elected officials gathered today to celebrate the public opening of Canyon Creek, a previously buried waterway that ran through Pacific Spirit Regional Park and under the western parking lot at Spanish Banks Beach Park before flowing into English Bay.
Today, visitors can explore this newly revitalized green corner of the city and enjoy new naturalized and vegetated areas, as well as 0.4 hectares of habitat for bird, aquatic and pollinator species.
“We’re thrilled to welcome visitors and residents to Canyon Creek this summer to appreciate the natural beauty of the newly restored creek and its surrounding area,” says Park Board Chair Laura Christensen. “Vancouver is both defined and shaped by its relationship to the natural world, and the daylighting of the creek illustrates the Park Board’s commitment to bringing nature back into the city.”
"Investing in natural infrastructure is an important way to use communities’ ecosystems to enhance biodiversity, build resilience to climate change, and promote access to nature for all,” said Wade Grant, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Quadra. “Thriving natural habitats are essential not only for plants and wildlife, but also for improving the well-being, health, and quality of life of Vancouverites who live alongside them."
Park Board staff began construction on Canyon Creek in late 2024 as crews removed buried pipes and began land grading and planting.
Work included converting 65 parking stalls to greenspace, providing additional space for the creek and wetland and riparian ecosystems, and rerouting the multi-use path to improve connections in the area and providing access to a new viewing deck. New interpretive signage is in place to support public education around the ecological benefits of the project.
The design for the project was informed through consultation and dialogue with the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations and the local community.
The work to daylight Canyon Creek was made possible through a variety of funding including the City of Vancouver’s Capital Plan and the Government of Canada's Natural Infrastructure Fund (NIF).
Ahead of today's opening event, Wade Grant, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Quadra, announced a federal contribution of $992,800 towards the project.
Illuminating Vancouver’s hidden waterways
Vancouver was once part of a rich temperate rainforest with a vast network of creeks and streams that supported salmon, wetlands and a dense coastal forest. As the city expanded, many of these streams, including Canyon Creek, were buried in pipes, filled in or diverted to make room for roads, buildings and stormwater infrastructure.
Together with the City of Vancouver and provincial and federal government, the Park Board is working to restore the city’s valuable ecosystems and enhance our natural environment.
In 2024, the Park Board completed work on two major green infrastructure projects: the daylighting of a long-buried creek under Kitsilano's Tatlow Park and the opening of “Gibby’s Field", a new park featuring an engineered wetland.
Rainwater integration projects are also underway across the Still Creek watershed, including at Falaise, Slocan and Beaconsfield parks.
Learn more at vancouver.ca/restoring-streams