Katrina visiting students in Burnaby.

60 years ago, much of Burnaby-Lougheed was rural, with open fields and even some farms. But since then it has grown into a diverse and welcoming community with many different working class neighbourhoods and immigrant communities. Burnaby-Lougheed is home to 56,235 residents, as of the 2011 Canada census.

Over half of Burnaby-Lougheed residents have a first language that other than English, with large Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Punjabi, Filipino, Italian, Persian speaking populations. These are just a few of the cultural origins that make up the strong multicultural mosaic of Burnaby.

Katrina interviewing SFU Political Science Students.

From the highlands of Burnaby Mountain to the lowlands of Burnaby Lake, Burnaby-Lougheed is home to an amazing number of parks and an interconnected trail network. Local residents have also spent years to restore several salmon-bearing streams. Many residents can be found using nature’s stairclimber up the Velodrome Trail on Burnaby Mountain, or practising their rowing at Burnaby Lake rowing pavillion. The community is also home to Canada’s Women’s Soccer team, who practise up on SFU’s Burnaby Campus.

Speaking with the community at the Second St Community School.

The Production Way area just north of Burnaby Lake is also home to many local industries, from TV stations, to breweries to the high-Tech hub including semiconductor manufacturing, bio-tech, alternative energy and even a fusion research company. Burnaby-Lougheed is a hub of innovation.

Talking with constituents at the Korean Community Day hosted by the North Road Business Improvement Association.

Burnaby-Lougheed is also home to one of province’s largest concentrations of co-op housing; housing designed to be an affordable way for working people to democratically build and operate their own community. Burnaby-Lougheed is a wonderful mix of diversity, whether it be economic, social or environmental.