What was the Burrard Dry Dock at the foot of Lonsdale, and what stands on the Shipyards now?

What can you see on the old yard today?

Place	What it is	Open	Cost in 2026	The catch
Shipbuilders' Square and the crane	The plaza under the yard's restored crane	Open public space all year	Free	The night market fills it only on summer Fridays
Shipyards Skate Plaza	A covered rink of 12,000 square feet	From late November 2026, daily	Free in your own skates; rentals $8 adults, $5.50 kids	The ice shuts for half an hour at 1:30, 3:30 and 5:30 pm
MONOVA	The Museum of North Vancouver at 115 West Esplanade	Wednesday to Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm, to 8 pm on Thursdays	$15 adults, pay what you can on Thursday evenings	Closed Mondays and Tuesdays
The Polygon Gallery	A photography gallery in a building finished in 2017	Wednesday to Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm, to 9 pm on Thursdays	By donation	Closed Mondays and Tuesdays
Burrard Dry Dock Pier	The yard's long pier, now on the Spirit Trail	Open public space	Free	Wind comes in cold off the water

Who built ships at the foot of Lonsdale?

Alfred Wallace did, and then his sons. Parks Canada says Wallace left England for Vancouver in 1891 and began a one-man shipbuilding and repair business on False Creek in 1894. He incorporated it as the Wallace Shipyards Company in 1905 and set up a new yard on the north shore of Burrard Inlet the next year. In the First World War the company built steel cargo ships for the Imperial Munitions Board. It added a dry dock in 1921 and took the name Burrard Dry Dock, and by 1929 it was the largest shipyard in British Columbia.

The yard built the RCMP schooner St. Roch in 1928 as a supply ship for the Arctic detachments. The Canadian Register records that in 1944 it became the first ship to sail the Northwest Passage in both directions, and the City says it now sits at the Vancouver Maritime Museum. Alfred Wallace died in 1929 and left the company to his sons Clarence and Hubert.

What did the yard build in the Second World War?

More large cargo ships than any other yard in Canada. Between 1940 and 1946, by Parks Canada's count, the company built 126 ships for the war effort, and 109 of them were 10,000-ton steel vessels that took about 100 days each. The City puts those 109 among the 312 Victory Ships made in Canada. The yard became the largest employer of shipyard labour in BC, and North Vancouver laid out whole subdivisions to house the workers.

The workforce grew from about 200 men to about 12,000 men and a thousand women. Parks Canada says the women did the same shipbuilding work as the men for equal pay after 1942, and every one of them lost her job when the war ended. Clarence Wallace was made a Commander of the British Empire for the yard's war work, and from 1950 to 1955 he served as the first Lieutenant Governor born in British Columbia.

Why did the yard close?

Orders fell away after the 1950s. The company repaired 4,001 vessels between 1951 and 1961 and built ships for the Royal Canadian Navy and the provincial government, then went into decline. Parks Canada calls 1971 its worst year, with no shipbuilding orders at all. The Wallace family sold the yard, and it ran as Burrard-Yarrows and then Versatile Pacific Shipyards. The Canadian Register says the Coast Guard icebreaker George R. Pearkes went down the ways in 1986, and the cancelled contract for the icebreaker Polar 8 in 1990 dealt the company its final blow. It closed in 1992.

The Government of Canada designated shipbuilding at the Burrard Dry Dock a national historic event on 5 March 2004. The yard's eastern end never stopped working, and the Vancouver Drydock Company still runs its Panamax dry dock there.

What survives from the shipyard?

The bones of it. When the Canadian Register listed the site in 2005 it counted the structural frames of five large buildings, two piers, a concrete storage building, the work yards and two historic cranes. The bare steel frames stand at right angles to the water, and the register reads that layout as the mark of the shipbuilding they once housed.

Only one crane stands over Shipbuilders' Square now. Pinnacle International restored it and moved it there in 1998 at the City's direction, the North Shore News reported, and on 27 May 2015 council let the developer scrap the second crane in exchange for $500,000. The night market's organizers have named the survivor Colby. The 2005 register entry also placed the stern of the Victory ship Flamborough Head inside one of the buildings, and a heritage advocate told council in 2015 that it had gone to the scrapyard.

Walk out along Burrard Dry Dock Pier for the best look at the yard's layout. The City's 2013 Heritage Register dates this 700-foot pier to 1925, and the Spirit Trail passes the head of it, with a detour to the end that the City suggests.

What stands on the yard now?

A public waterfront that the City and Quay Management Corp finished in July 2019. The Skate Plaza covers 12,000 square feet under a roof and holds up to 300 skaters, and the City calls it the largest outdoor rink in the region. Curved lines under the ice trace the hulls of the ships once cut on this spot. Heat taken from the ice system warms the buildings around it, and in summer the 8,000 square feet beside the rink become a splash park. The City reopens the rink in late November 2026. Skating costs nothing in your own skates, and the rental desk stops at 7:30 pm.

Go to MONOVA for the people who worked here. Its 60-minute walking tour of the Shipyards District follows the Burrard Dry Dock's workers through the Second World War, and its main gallery traces North Vancouver from the people who have lived on these lands since time immemorial. On Thursdays it stays open to 8 pm and admission is pay what you can, and Indigenous visitors who self-identify get in free.

The Polygon Gallery moved into its mirrored building on the water in 2017 after 40 years as Presentation House Gallery, and the building won a Governor General's Medal. Admission is by donation every day it opens. The Lind Biennial fills it from 27 November 2026 to 31 January 2027.

Two hotels stand on Victory Ship Way. The Pinnacle Hotel at the Pier has a heated 25-metre indoor pool, and the Seaside Hotel has 71 rooms and a spa. For the restaurants and taprooms around the square, read our walk from the Quay to the Shipyards.

When does the Shipyards fill up?

On summer Fridays and in December. The Shipyards Night Market ran on 18 Fridays from 15 May to 11 September 2026, from 3 pm to 10 pm, and its organizers count 6,000 to 10,000 people on a typical night. From 27 November to 24 December 2026 the Shipyards Christmas Market puts more than 90 wooden chalets in Shipbuilders' Square, with free entry and the rink inside it.

The City's Spirit of the Season Festival lights the holiday tree at the foot of Lonsdale on a Saturday in late November, and the City had not set the 2026 date by 16 October. At the 2025 festival the Tsleil-Waututh Nation opened the evening with a welcome and song, and the Squamish Nation followed with its welcome and the Eagle Song Dancers. The SeaBus from Waterfront Station takes 12 minutes, and the Shipyards is less than a five-minute walk from the terminal.

Quick answers

When did the Burrard Dry Dock close?

The Burrard Dry Dock in North Vancouver closed in 1992, by Parks Canada's account, after running as Burrard-Yarrows and Versatile Pacific Shipyards. The Vancouver Drydock Company still operates a dry dock at the eastern end of the old site.

How many ships did the Burrard Dry Dock build in the Second World War?

The Burrard Dry Dock built 126 ships between 1940 and 1946, Parks Canada says, and 109 of them were 10,000-ton cargo ships, more than any other Canadian yard built.

Is skating at the Shipyards free?

Yes. Skating at the Shipyards Skate Plaza in North Vancouver is free in your own skates, and rentals cost $8 for adults and $5.50 for kids in the 2026/27 season. The City reopens the rink in late November 2026.

How much does MONOVA cost?

MONOVA, the Museum of North Vancouver at the Shipyards, charges $15 for an adult in 2026. Admission is pay what you can on Thursday evenings, when the museum stays open until 8 pm.