The Surrey, BC Filming Locations Actually Worth Your Time

Surrey gets underestimated a lot.

It’s one of the most diverse cities in Canada, and one of the most filmed. The range here – modern civic architecture, urban parks, dense forest – gives productions something they can’t always find in one place.

I visited on a Cineventure FAM trip following the TMAC conference, and what surprised me wasn’t the number of shows filmed here. It was how different each location felt from the last.

Riverdale, Superman & Lois, Supernatural, The Flash, Batwoman, and Percy Jackson have all filmed in Surrey. And now Allegiance, the CBC series where Surrey finally gets to play itself by name, is bringing a whole new kind of attention to a city that honestly deserves it.

If you haven’t thought about Surrey as a place to spend a weekend, this might change that.

I visited these Surrey filming locations as part of a Cineventure FAM tour after a Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) conference in Richmond, BC. I was hosted by Discover Surrey for this portion of the tour and stayed at the Civic Hotel, Autograph Collection and enjoyed dinner at Dominion Bar + Kitchen.

If you’ve already worked your way through the New Westminster filming locations and Burnaby filming locations, Surrey is the natural next stop on a Metro Vancouver film tourism route.

How to Visit Surrey Civic Plaza

📍 Surrey City Hall: 13450 104 Ave, Surrey, BC
📍 City Centre Library: 10350 University Dr, Surrey, BC

Getting there: Surrey Central Station on the Expo Line puts you right at the civic centre. From downtown Vancouver, it’s a straightforward SkyTrain ride.

Supinder Wraich, star of the CBC Gem show Allegiance, showed me what looked like a call sheet and said something I wasn’t expecting.

She’d been stopped on set during filming for season 1 by someone who thought she was an actual cop.

That’s the thing about Surrey. When Allegiance films here, they don’t dress it up or make it look like somewhere else. The show is set in Surrey. Supinder’s character walks the same civic plaza we were standing in.

What makes this block so useful for productions is that it’s a working civic space. City Hall is open, and people are going about their day. Filming happens around the public, and sometimes that creates its own unscripted moments.

One of those quirks is the SkyTrain. Productions sometimes wait for it to pass to keep it out of the shot. Other times, they wait specifically to catch it. The elevated track running alongside the civic centre is part of what makes Surrey look like Surrey on screen.

The City Centre Library, designed by Bing Thom Architects, pulls its own weight. The curved glass facade and open interior have appeared in multiple productions.

Allegiance fans will recognize a particular scene inside – this is the exact spot where Hudson Williams filmed the episode he was in. And if you follow Heated Rivalry, add this one to your list of places to visit.

The civic plaza itself hosts real community life – including free public watch parties for major football tournaments. It’s the kind of space that reads as a city centre because it genuinely is one.

Productions filmed here:

• The Flash
• Batwoman
• Skyscraper
• The Unforgivable
• Altered Carbon
• Supergirl
• Allegiance

What to Do in Holland Park

📍 13428 Old Yale Rd, Surrey, BC

Getting there: One stop from Surrey Central on the SkyTrain to King George Station. Holland Park is a short walk from the station. The elevated ride gives you a good view of Surrey City Centre on the way.

Holland Park is a proper community green space. It hosts FVDED in the Park, one of western Canada’s largest music festivals, and the Fusion Festival, which celebrates Surrey’s cultural diversity every summer.

The fact that Percy Jackson filmed here makes sense. It has the scale and visual openness that productions look for. Percy Jackson was also filmed in New Westminster, making it easy to combine both cities into a film tourism weekend if you’re making the trip from Vancouver.

We had our own superhero moment here, too. Superman & Lois and Supergirl were filmed in Surrey. We took that personally with our activity.

Green Timbers Urban Forest

📍 14600 Block, 100 Ave, Surrey, BC

Getting there: A short drive or rideshare from Surrey City Centre. Parking is available on 100 Avenue between 144th and 148th Streets. A SkyTrain station serving this area is also planned to open in the next few years.

Green Timbers is the one that surprises people most.

It’s one of the best urban birdwatching spots in the Lower Mainland – bald eagles, barred owls, woodpeckers, and more, depending on the season. Standing inside the forest, you genuinely feel like you’re hours from the city. You’re not. Surrey City Centre is minutes away.

That contrast is exactly why productions keep coming back. The canopy is dense enough and the trails quiet enough that you lose the city completely. For Supernatural and The Magicians, that atmosphere was the whole point.

Productions filmed here:

• The Magicians
• Supernatural
• Allegiance

Make It a Weekend

The filming locations in this post are all in or near Surrey City Centre, which makes the Civic Hotel, Autograph Collection, the natural base. If you want to extend the trip further, the Fraser Valley filming locations are an easy drive from Surrey and round out a full BC film tourism itinerary.

It sits right on Civic Plaza, steps from City Hall and the Library. Dinner at Dominion Bar + Kitchen on the lobby level is worth building into the evening. The restaurant looks out onto the same plaza you spent the day walking through as a filming location.

📍 Civic Hotel, Autograph Collection & Dominion Bar + Kitchen: 13475 Central Ave, Surrey, BC

Planning Your Visit

How to get there

Surrey Central and King George stations on the Expo Line are both within walking distance of the civic centre filming locations. From Vancouver, it’s a direct SkyTrain ride with no transfers.

Getting around

The civic centre locations are all walkable from each other. Use the SkyTrain to get between the civic centre and Holland Park – it’s one stop and worth doing for the elevated view. For Green Timbers, a car or rideshare is the most practical option until the new station opens in 2029.

FAQs

Tips for Visiting Surrey Filming Locations

• Start at the civic centre.
• Take the SkyTrain between Surrey Central and King George for the elevated view of the city.
• Give yourself at least an hour at Green Timbers. It’s easy to underestimate how much there is to see.
• If you’re visiting during festival season, Holland Park gets very busy. Plan around it or lean into it.

Planning a BC filming locations trip? Surrey pairs naturally with New Westminster, Burnaby, and the Fraser Valley – all part of the same Cineventure filming locations route and all within easy reach of Vancouver.