AS the 78th Cloverdale Rodeo and 135th Country Fair draw tens of thousands to the Cloverdale Fairgrounds this Victoria Day weekend, Mike Starchuk and Imagine Surrey on Friday released their plan to protect Surrey’s farmland, secure the city’s food future, and turn the Cloverdale Fairgrounds into a world class year-round destination.
Surrey is the agricultural powerhouse of Metro Vancouver. The city holds 9,275 hectares of Agricultural Land Reserve — 15% of Metro’s ALR — and produces 22% of the region’s gross farm receipts. Surrey is home to BC’s largest floriculture greenhouse and a working backbone of poultry, dairy, berry, and vegetable producers.
“Surrey’s farmland feeds families across the Lower Mainland, supports thousands of jobs, and anchors the Cloverdale, Hazelmere, and Mud Bay communities that make our city special,” said Starchuk. “When I represented us in Victoria, I learned how fragile the link is between a working farm and the food on our table. As a city councillor, I championed the September in Surrey farm-to-table dining experience in restaurants across every town centre, and I celebrated our agricultural heritage at festivals featuring the world’s largest blueberry pie. Not a single hectare of ALR land was lost during my time on Council. As mayor, I will protect that land — and I will give the Cloverdale Rodeo and Fairgrounds the support they need to put Surrey on the world map.”
Imagine Surrey commits to:
* Protect the Agricultural Land Reserve by stopping speculative development on productive farmland, tightening enforcement, and restoring a real farm-to-table economy.
* Give the Cloverdale Rodeo special event status with up to $250,000 annual marketing and growth grant support — separate from existing City policing support and provincial event funding — to grow it into a premier North American destination.
* Restore the Cloverdale Fairgrounds into a world-class, year-round destination, in consultation with Semiahmoo First Nation and the existing on-site casino partner, with new investments in heritage, hospitality, and event programming year-round.
* Launch a Buy Surrey program with local procurement priority, a Surrey farm directory, city-promoted farm visits and tours, and a red-tape review so farmers can sell more of what they grow directly from their own property.
* Connect fresh local produce to food banks and back farmers’ markets as part of a serious citywide food security strategy.
The Cloverdale Country Fair has been a Surrey tradition since 1888. The Cloverdale Rodeo, founded in 1948, is among the oldest and largest professional rodeos in Canada, drawing 65,000+ visitors over the Victoria Day long weekend and anchoring a heritage ecosystem of farmers, livestock breeders, country festivals, and family-run agribusinesses across South Surrey, Cloverdale, Panorama / Mud Bay, and the Fraser Valley. Imagine Surrey’s plan treats that ecosystem as the regional asset that it is.
“The Cloverdale Rodeo is part of who we are. So is the farmland that surrounds it,” said Imagine Surrey Council Candidate Kevin Wilkie, who ran federally in Cloverdale-Langley City and has called Surrey home for more than three decades. “We don’t get this back if we lose it. Mike’s plan treats Surrey’s agricultural heritage like the asset it is — and gives Cloverdale the world-class venue it has deserved for years.”
“Surrey families want a city that is proud of where it came from and ready for what’s coming next,” Starchuk said. “That means protecting our farmland, supporting our farmers, and treating the Cloverdale Rodeo like the world-class event it deserves to be. That is what a City of Champions looks like.”
