Metro Vancouver adds land to Kanaka Creek Regional Park to protect salmon habitat
Metro Vancouver has expanded Kanaka Creek Regional Park with the purchase of two properties in Maple Ridge, adding 3.5 hectares of land to protect sensitive salmon habitat, with potential future trail connections.
The two acquisitions, announced Monday, Aug. 10, cost a combined $4.3 million and were funded through Metro Vancouver’s funding pool for regional park acquisitions, meant to secure environmentally significant lands being encroached on by development.
Metro Vancouver says the acquisition also creates an opportunity to eventually connect disconnected sections of the park’s trail network in the northeast portion of the park with an off-street trail.
“For nearly 60 years, Metro Vancouver’s regional parks have protected natural areas and connected people to nature, and these land acquisitions are enhancing our ability to do exactly that at Kanaka Creek Regional Park,” said Metro Vancouver board chair Mike Hurley in a press release.
The larger of the two properties, a 3.19-hectare parcel on Trethewey Crescent, occupies one of the park’s narrowest sections. The land includes part of the slope leading to Kanaka Creek, perched wetlands and openings in the forest canopy where shrubs, ferns and other understory plants thrive.
The purchase also links a 20-hectare mature forest acquired by Metro Vancouver in 2022 to the creek itself. Lands immediately north of the property contain heavily forested areas with some trees measuring more than one metre in diameter.
The second acquisition, a one-third-hectare property on 110 Avenue, removes the last remaining private property overlapping the main stem of Kanaka Creek between the Fraser River and Dewdney Trunk Road.
The site previously contained a house, patio and swimming pool built along the creek bank, with much of the natural vegetation removed.
Metro Vancouver said the structures have now been demolished and the creek setback area will be restored with native vegetation.
They added the stretch of Kanaka Creek between 240th Street and Cliff Falls contains the park’s most critical salmon habitat, providing important spawning and rearing areas.
“It was a high priority for Metro Vancouver to acquire both of these properties because of their locations at some of the narrowest portions of Kanaka Creek Regional Park,” said John McEwen, Metro’s board vice-chair and Regional Parks Committee chair. “We are now lucky to have the opportunity to further protect the creek and surrounding riparian areas, and provide more connectivity within the park, where trails are often interrupted and access limited.”
Kanaka Creek Regional Park welcomed approximately 528,000 visitors in 2025. The park offers hiking, cycling, horseback riding, fishing and boating opportunities, while also serving as habitat for bears, cougars, coyotes and salmon.
The park is also home to the Kanaka Creek Watershed Stewardship Centre and the Bell-Irving Hatchery.
The acquisitions are part of Metro Vancouver’s ongoing effort to expand and connect its regional parks system, which now includes 24 regional parks, five greenways, two ecological conservancy areas and two regional park reserves spanning nearly 14,000 hectares across the region.
