Indian businesses and services in Surrey, Canada

Newton is the centre of gravity for Surrey's Punjabi community, and Gurdwara Dashmesh Darbar, on 85 Avenue near 128 Street, is where the city's Vaisakhi parade begins each April. The parade has grown into one of the largest Vaisakhi gatherings outside India: families line the route with tents serving free food, and roads around Newton close for the day. If you plan to go, take transit or park well outside the area and walk in.

The 120 Street corridor, known locally as Scott Road and running along the Surrey and Delta boundary, is lined with South Asian plazas: grocers, sweet shops, clothing and jewellery stores, travel agents, immigration consultants and driving schools. North Delta, across the road, is home to much of the same community. Alongside Punjabi Sikh families, the wider region has an established Indo-Fijian community, which helped found some of its first Hindu temples and mosques, and today mandirs, mosques and gurdwaras are found throughout Surrey.

Expect weekend congestion along Scott Road and 128 Street, and in the summer wedding season banquet halls and caterers book up early. Vaisakhi itself falls on 13 or 14 April, but the parade is usually held on a nearby weekend, so its date changes from year to year. Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond are covered on a separate page.