--- title: "Burnaby's community safety plan adds wildfire cameras and new pedestrian crossings. Survey closes November 16." description: "Burnaby's 2026 Community Safety and Well-Being Plan update sets out 85 initiatives for this year, including a new wildfire detection system near SFU, a new RCMP headquarters by 2028, and crosswalk improvements across the city. The City's survey is open until November 16." canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/burnaby-2026/news/burnaby-community-safety-plan-2026-update-november-2026" last_updated: "2026-11-12T20:47:13.390Z" --- The City of Burnaby released a progress report on its Community Safety and Well-Being Plan in June 2026. The plan covers five years, 2025 to 2030, and the report lays out 85 initiatives the City is running this year. It also opens a question the City is putting to residents directly: what does safety in your neighbourhood feel like, and what still needs to change? The public survey is at yourvoice.burnaby.ca. It closes Monday, November 16, 2026. ## 85 initiatives, covering everything from drones to crosswalks The plan groups its work into five priorities: reducing crime, preparing for wildfires and other emergencies, addressing substance use and mental health, making streets and public spaces safer, and responding to homelessness. The 2026 update lists 85 initiatives in total: 58 that are already running and 27 that are new this year or in the planning stage. Mayor Mike Hurley's foreword in the report ties the plan directly to his campaign. Three of the initiatives connect to promises he made in the 2026 election: - Extending the wildfire early warning system, now on Burnaby Mountain, to Central Park and Robert Burnaby Park ([his tracker page](/bc/burnaby-2026/candidates/mike-hurley#promise-expand-wildfire-warning-system)) - Finishing the new Community Safety Building, the planned RCMP headquarters ([his tracker page](/bc/burnaby-2026/candidates/mike-hurley#promise-finish-rcmp-detachment-expansion)) - Holding a city-wide emergency exercise ([his tracker page](/bc/burnaby-2026/candidates/mike-hurley#promise-citywide-emergency-exercise)) All three are still listed as not started. The plan is now where residents can see what work has begun and what is still ahead. ## Wildfire: cameras, drones and an SFU research project The report says the City purchased a wildfire detection system in 2025, after Council authorized the purchase. It uses smoke-detection cameras and ground sensors, and it will be placed near Simon Fraser University and the Trans Mountain tank farm on Burnaby Mountain. That system extends work the Burnaby Fire Department has been doing with drones. The department now operates three drones, two of which carry thermal imaging cameras. Five firefighters hold Nav Canada licensing to fly them, letting the department search areas of Burnaby Mountain in conditions where a person on the ground could not. Also in 2026, the City and SFU are launching a Climate and Fire Research Project together. The report does not give dates or describe the scope of the research, but it lists the partnership as a new initiative for the year. The BC government funds wildfire prevention work for local governments through the FireSmart Community Funding and Supports program. Mayor Hurley's November 5 letter to the new provincial government asked for stable, multi-year funding rather than the current year-to-year confirmation, saying that short-term grants make it hard to retain trained staff. His campaign promise is to extend the warning system beyond Burnaby Mountain. The two parks named, Central Park in south Burnaby and Robert Burnaby Park in the east, are both forested areas where a wildfire warning system does not yet exist. The City is also in the third phase of a seismic risk assessment, running computer models for a Cascadia Subduction Earthquake and a Georgia Strait Earthquake. A city-wide emergency exercise on Burnaby Mountain is planned for 2027. ## A new RCMP building and more officers The City's plan says a new Community Safety Building (the planned home of the Burnaby RCMP detachment) is on track to open in 2028. The report does not say where the building will be located or what it will cost. The connection to staffing is direct: the report says the new building is needed to help the force hire and keep officers. The current detachment is too small for the number of officers Burnaby needs, and that has made it harder to recruit. Mayor Hurley made finishing the expansion a campaign promise. The City's Emergency Operations Centre is also being upgraded. The report says Phase 2 of an EOC software project is underway, building new tools inside a system called ESRI's EMO. The first phase set up the platform; the second is building the operational tools the City would use to coordinate a response. ## Safer streets: crosswalks and a school street pilot The plan lists five locations where the City is adding a new crosswalk or upgrading a pedestrian signal in 2026: - Forest Grove Drive and Ash Grove Crescent - Hazel Street and McMurray Avenue - Buffalo Street and Phillips Avenue - Kensington Avenue and Sumas Street - Delta Avenue at Brentwood Park Elementary, where a rectangular rapid flash beacon and curb extensions will be added The City is also adding a pedestrian scramble at the Central Boulevard and Metrotown SkyTrain intersection. In a pedestrian scramble, all vehicle signals go red at once, giving people a phase to cross in any direction. The report lists this as a new initiative for 2026 and does not give a timeline for construction. A School Street Pop-Up is planned for one week in April 2026 at a Burnaby school. The City received a provincial grant for the pilot, which will close the street to through traffic during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up. The City has not announced which school will host it. ## Crime reporting and BlockWatch The City launched an online Burnaby Crime Map that tracks five types of property crime across the city. Residents can use it to see where thefts and break-ins are being reported, by neighbourhood and over time. The map is at burnaby.ca. The plan also says the City's BlockWatch program is expanding into newcomer and immigrant communities. BlockWatch is a neighbour-to-neighbour program where residents watch for unusual activity on their block and share information with Burnaby RCMP. The expansion into newcomer communities is new for 2026. ## How to give input before November 16 The City says more than 1,600 residents, businesses and community partners gave input before the plan was adopted. The 2026 survey asks what has changed and what still concerns people. The answers will shape what the City focuses on in future updates. The survey is at yourvoice.burnaby.ca. It closes Monday, November 16, 2026. The full 2026 progress report and the plan page are at burnaby.ca under Strategies and Plans. Mayor Hurley's promises connected to this plan are tracked at the [Burnaby promise tracker](/bc/burnaby-2026/tracker). ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](/bc/burnaby-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.