Image: Arkells performing to large crowd at Surrey Canada Day 2022

The Surrey Music Strategy is here

As one of the fastest growing metropolitan centres in the region, Surrey has a diverse community of musicians, music businesses, industry workers and fans. Throughout the City, an estimated 350,000, or 62% of residents regularly engage with music. It is estimated that 1.5 million attendees enjoyed music in Surrey in 2019. Supporting the next generation of Surrey artists is key to building a music city for years to come.

The Surrey Music Strategy is a cross-departmental and industry tool that provides recommendations on how best to develop a growing music economy across all Surrey town centres. Framed around seven strategic pillars, the Surrey Music Strategy is designed to ensure that music development supports Surrey's unique needs.

Each pillar includes recommendations and ongoing, short, medium, and long-term actions. By taking action in each of these key areas, Surrey can build a diverse, inclusive, and thriving music scene.

Read the Surrey Music Strategy.

For more information, view the Surrey Music Strategy Appendix.

Strategic pillars

• Amplify Surrey’s music talent and supportive resources
• Continue building bridges between the City and Surrey’s diverse music communities
• Improve access to places and spaces for music
• Establish Surrey’s music identity
• Expand audience awareness and engagement
• Advance municipal leadership and support
• Encourage music tourism and placemaking

Background & Community Engagement

The Parks, Recreation and Culture Strategic Plan (2018-2027) recommends that the Department “develops a strategy to advance music in Surrey”. Music planning and development have the power to create new opportunities that support artists, venues, economic growth, tourism, investment, and can strengthen the social and cultural fabric of the City. The recommendation to develop a music strategy further aligns with the overarching goals of the City’s Sustainability Charter 2.0 and Official Community Plan.

As part of the preparation leading up to developing the Strategy, the City consulted with other major municipalities in Canada who have created similar strategies, including Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, and Kelowna. Lessons were learned from their successes and challenges. Staff created the Surrey.ca/music webpage that includes a musician and music business directory, information on funding opportunities, and music event listings. Staff also compiled research on Surrey’s music ecosystem and identified key trends and findings unique to Surrey’s music industry.

The Surrey Music Strategy was developed in three phases. 

Phase 1: Research & Discovery included a kickoff workshop and development of research tools, organizational assessment, interviews with senior City staff, a comparative review, creation of a Key Highlights document, and the creation of a Surrey Music Strategy Focus Group.

Phase 2 was split into two parts.

• Phase 2A: Community Engagement included creating a Community Engagement Plan, an online survey that received nearly 2,000 responses, conducting 24 external interviews, four community roundtables, two public events, a City of Surrey Economic Development roundtable, City of Surrey Planning & Development Department roundtable, and private sector developer roundtable.
• Phase 2B: Strategic Analysis included a SWOT Analysis, venue and town centre analysis, audience and survey analysis, economic impact assessment, creation of an industry profile, and a status update report.

Phase 3: Strategy Development and Recommendations included creating a strategic framework, drafting the strategy, running a validation session, integrating client feedback, and creating the final Surrey Music Strategy.