--- title: "Is Vancouver walkable? Walkability score 83/100" description: "Vancouver scores 83/100 for walkability (Very Walkable) across its central 5 km. How far walkability reaches, what's near the centre, and its rank in Canada." url: https://howwalkable.com/cities/canada/vancouver updated: 2026-10-22 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ --- 1. [Cities](https://howwalkable.com/cities) 2. [Canada](https://howwalkable.com/cities/canada) 3. Vancouver # How walkable is Vancouver? By [Oscar Higson-Spence](https://howwalkable.com/about#author). Updated 22 October 2026 Vancouver has a walkability score of 83 out of 100 across the 5 km around its centre, which makes it very walkable: most errands can be done on foot. It is the most walkable of the 14 cities ranked in Canada. 83 out of 100: Very Walkable Most errands can be accomplished on foot. * #1 of 14 in Canada * #84 of 690 tied, worldwide * 94 at the centre [Open on the map](https://howwalkable.com/?lat=49.27300&lon=-123.11934&q=Vancouver%2C%20Canada) ## What's within walking distance of the centre 4,485 shops, restaurants, parks and other everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of central Vancouver. The nearest grocery is about 8 minutes away on foot. It earns full or nearly full points for restaurants & bars, shopping, coffee, banks, parks, schools and culture & entertainment. ### Groceries 2.6 of 3 points * Yaletown Deli And Grocery, 8 min * Choices Market, 8 min * Farm to Table Market, 9 min ### Restaurants & bars 3.0 of 3 points * Sweet Spot, 1 min * Provence Marinaside, 1 min * OEB Breakfast Co., 1 min ### Shopping 2.0 of 2 points * Reckless Bike Stores, 1 min * WIND Mobile, 2 min * Bosley's - Bosley's, 2 min ### Coffee 2.0 of 2 points * Starbucks, 1 min * Black Echo Coffee, 4 min * Analog Coffee, 5 min ### Banks 1.0 of 1 point * Coast Capital, 2 min * HSBC, 2 min * RBC Royal Bank - Meeting Place (Cash at ATM Only), 3 min ### Parks 1.0 of 1 point * Helmcken Park, 3 min * Coopers' Park, 3 min * David Lam Park, 4 min ### Schools 1.0 of 1 point * Elsie Roy Elementary School, 4 min * The Bigger Picture, 4 min * HongDe Elementary School, 5 min ### Books & libraries 0.6 of 1 point * VPL - Main Library, 13 min * Vancouver Public Library, 13 min * The Westcoast Reader, 13 min ### Culture & entertainment 1.0 of 1 point * MPC, 5 min * Actorvan Studios, 6 min * Cypress Choral Music, 9 min Measured from the centre at 49.2730, -123.1193, the point near Vancouver's middle with the most places in walking range. Walking times assume 80 m per minute along an estimated street route. ## Street layout Within 800 m of the centre there are about 78 street intersections per km², and blocks average 103 m long. That is a well-connected street grid, so the score is not reduced. ## How far walkability reaches Vancouver's score of 83 is the average across the 5 km around its centre, the point with the most everyday places within a walk. Walkability averages 98 within 1 km of the centre, 87 from 1 to 3 km out and 77 from 3 to 5 km out. 30 of the 91 points within 5 km fall on water or on land without streets, such as hillsides, forest or farmland, and are left out, so the score describes only the built-up part. 80% of the sampled area scores 70 or more, where most errands can be done on foot. ![Walkability scores across the 5 km around central Vancouver, one hexagon per square kilometre. 80% of points score 70 or more; the lowest, 14, is 5 km to the north.](https://howwalkable.com/maps/canada/vancouver.svg?v=3955e367219f) Each hexagon is the score at a point, 1 km from its neighbours, across the 5 km around central Vancouver. Rings mark 1, 3 and 5 km from the centre. Gaps are water or land without streets. | Area | Score | Scoring 70+ | Points sampled | | ------------- | ----- | ----------- | -------------- | | Centre | 94 | 100% | 1 | | Within 1 km | 98 | 100% | 6 | | 1 to 3 km out | 87 | 91% | 23 | | 3 to 5 km out | 77 | 69% | 32 | ## Nearby cities | City | Distance | Score | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | -------- | ----- | | [Seattle](https://howwalkable.com/cities/united-states/seattle), United States | 192 km | 80 | | [Portland, Oregon](https://howwalkable.com/cities/united-states/portland), United States | 416 km | 75 | | [Calgary](https://howwalkable.com/cities/canada/calgary), Canada | 675 km | 69 | ## Questions about walking in Vancouver ### Is Vancouver a walkable city? Around its centre, yes. Vancouver has a walkability score of 83 out of 100 across the 5 km around its centre, which makes it very walkable: most errands can be done on foot. Its centre scores 94. The score covers about 80 km² around the busiest point rather than the whole city, and suburbs further out are usually less walkable, so check a specific address on the map. It ranks 1st of 14 cities in Canada and joint 84th of 690 worldwide on How Walkable. ### What is the most walkable city in Canada? Vancouver is the most walkable of the 14 cities ranked in Canada, with a score of 83. Montreal and Toronto are next, each with 82. ### How does Vancouver compare with nearby cities? Vancouver is more walkable than its nearest ranked neighbours: it scores 83, against Seattle (80, 192 km away), Portland, Oregon (75, 416 km away) and Calgary (69, 675 km away). ### Which part of Vancouver is most walkable? The streets just around Vancouver's centre are its most walkable, averaging 98 within 1 km. The centre itself, the point with the most places in walking range, scores 94. Beyond 2.5 km, it holds up best to the east (averaging 91) and falls most to the north (19). ### Why is Vancouver's score different from its Walk Score? Walk Score's city scores average every neighbourhood within the city limits, weighted by where people live, so they count outer suburbs that the 5 km around Vancouver's centre leaves out, and they are usually lower. Address by address the two agree closely: across 46 addresses in the United States and Canada, How Walkable's scores were 5.9 points from Walk Score's on average, as the accuracy study at [howwalkable.com/accuracy](https://howwalkable.com/accuracy) shows. ### How is Vancouver's walkability score calculated? For Vancouver it is the average of 61 points spaced 1 km apart within 5 km of its busiest point, leaving out water and land without streets; 49 of them score 70 or more. Each point counts groceries, restaurants, shops, cafés, banks, parks, schools, libraries and cultural venues within a 30 minute walk, gives nearer places more weight, and loses up to 20% where streets are sparse or blocks are long, using open map data from Overture Maps (release 2026-09-23.1) and OpenStreetMap. It measures what is within a walk, not what the walk is like: pavements, traffic, safety, hills and heat are not part of the score. This page is generated from open map data with a published walkability method, explained in the [methodology](https://howwalkable.com/methodology). Places from Overture Maps release 2026-09-23.1. City position and population from GeoNames. Ask about walking anywhere in ChatGPT with the [How Walkable app](https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6accc634bcf8819189c1bcaf0e227f0f), for example "How walkable is Vancouver?" Scores, rankings and text by How Walkable (https://howwalkable.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); credit How Walkable and link to this page when reusing them.