Advanced Manufacturing

Surrey, BC - A Major Manufacturing Centre in Metro Vancouver

Surrey is a major manufacturing centre within Metro Vancouver. Whether you're talking about wood, furniture, computer/electrical, machinery, or food production, companies are thriving here.

100+

Industry 4.0 Businesses

1,100+

Local Manufacturers

15%

Of B.C. Manufacturing Workforce, and 7.6% of Surrey's population work in manufacturing.

Statistics Canada Census 2021

Surrey is one of Canada’s most important manufacturing hubs

  • The manufacturing ecosystem in Surrey BC is thriving. More than 1,100 local companies manufacture everything from furniture and food, to electric motorcycles and machinery.

  • Surrey is home to a cluster of over 100 Industry 4.0 businesses in rapidly transforming industries, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and automation, and sensor technology.

Surrey's Business Climate 

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International Shipping Dock

A robust local supply chain with global reach

22%

of Metro Vancouver's Industrial Land Inventory

1,100+

Local Manufacturing Companies

24,000+

Full-time Workers Employed

A highly-skilled workforce and a steady supply of talent 

  • Surrey has top-tier talent emerging from advanced engineering and sciences programs at universities in the region, including UBC, SFU, and KPU. 

Simon Fraser University Mechatronics Engineering Program

Siemens Mechatronic Systems Certification Program

Kwantlen Polytechnic University Tech Campus

  • 10% of Surrey employees work in manufacturing, making the city home to the largest population of manufacturing workers in the province.

Businesses need to think about how they will modernize and innovate; it's looking at flexibility and analyzing where and when. A lot of what we bring in needs to be flexible and able to work on more than one job - even jobs we don't know about yet.

Brian Holmes, V.P. and General Manager, Columbia Plastics Ltd.

Case Study: Columbia Plastics Embraces Automation to Realize New Markets

As a long term tenant in the community, Columbia Plastics has been in operation in Cloverdale since 1981. Originally focusing on plastics for office supplies, Columbia Plastics examined market trends and noticed a demand for high end plastics for medical devices. They saw first-hand the effect automation was having on their industry and how companies relying on manual labour were now competing with cheaper labour options abroad. Columbia Plastics embraced a pilot program to explore automation opportunities, not just in office supplies, but in other high return industries, such as medical devices, agriculture, and mining.

The result?

  • Improved product quality.
  • Bigger contracts with higher quality manufacturers.
  • Safer working environment.
  • New higher skilled jobs were created.
  • Increased revenues.

Seize Your Opportunity Today

Surrey is a hotbed for advanced manufacturing companies specializing in Industry 4.0

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