Coquitlam History
The Evergreen Extension opened at noon on December 2, 2016 — an 11 km extension from Lougheed Town Centre through Port Moody to Coquitlam. New stations: Burquitlam, Moody Centre, Inlet Centre, Coquitlam Central, Lafarge Lake-Douglas. The single most consequential infrastructure event in Coquitlam's modern real estate history.
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What should you know about Evergreen Line Coquitlam History?
The Evergreen Extension opened at noon on December 2, 2016 — an 11 km extension from Lougheed Town Centre through Port Moody to Coquitlam. New stations: Burquitlam, Moody Centre, Inlet Centre, Coquitlam Central, Lafarge Lake-Douglas. The single most consequential infrastructure e Craig Johnston, Top 1% Team Member — Greater Vancouver REALTORS® and 47+ year Tri-Cities resident, can walk you through the local context. Free Strategy Call ends with a written one-page plan in 24 hours.
Verified facts · Coquitlam History
Opened
December 2, 2016 at noon
Length
11 km extension from Lougheed Town Centre
New stations (Coquitlam)
Burquitlam, Coquitlam Central, Lafarge Lake-Douglas
New stations (Port Moody)
Moody Centre, Inlet Centre
Now part of
Millennium Line (VCC-Clark to Lafarge Lake-Douglas)
Project delivery
Province of BC, TransLink, SNC-Lavalin
Travel time Coquitlam to Burnaby
~15 minutes
Coquitlam Central also serves
West Coast Express + bus terminal
Coquitlam History · Real estate connection
The 2016 SkyTrain opening is the dividing line in Coquitlam real estate. Buildings within walking distance of any new station appreciated materially in the 2016-2020 window. Coquitlam Town Centre's high-rise build-out is largely a post-2016 phenomenon.
A 47-year Coquitlam resident and licensed REALTOR® at The MACNABS, Royal LePage Elite West. The local context that makes the numbers make sense.
Rapid transit reshapes a city’s property map. Here is what the Evergreen Line’s arrival means for buyers and owners today.
Access
Rapid transit meaningfully shortened the practical distance between Coquitlam and the rest of the region. That improved access is one of the most durable things that can happen to a property’s value.
Stations
Homes within easy reach of a station tend to enjoy stronger, steadier demand. Proximity to rapid transit is a premium buyers and tenants consistently pay for.
Density
Transit brought density — new towers and amenities clustered near the stations. If you want an urban, walkable lifestyle, those station areas are where it lives.
Commuters
Better transit widened the pool of people for whom Coquitlam is realistic, including commuters who once looked only closer in. A deeper buyer pool supports prices.
Investment
Transit access is a top priority for many renters, which is part of why investors focus on station-area homes. It tends to mean lower vacancy and steadier demand.
Resale
Because transit access does not go away, homes that benefit from it tend to stay desirable through market cycles — a quiet form of resale protection.
The short version is that the Evergreen Line did not just add a commuting option; it changed where value concentrates in Coquitlam. Station-area homes gained a durable advantage, and that is why so many buyers and investors weigh transit proximity heavily. The history of the line is really the story of how today’s value map came to be.
If transit access matters to you — for your own commute or for resale and rental strength — it is worth being precise about it when you shop: the real question is not whether a home is "near the SkyTrain" in general, but how genuinely walkable a specific station is from a specific address, in real minutes. That precision is what turns the Evergreen Line from a selling point on paper into an amenity you actually use.
It opened December 2, 2016, extending the Millennium Line through Burnaby, Port Moody and Coquitlam and finally connecting the Tri-Cities to Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain network.
In Coquitlam the stations include Burquitlam, Lincoln and Coquitlam Central, with Moody Centre and Inlet Centre serving Port Moody. Homes within walking distance of these stations saw strong demand after the line opened.
Transit access is one of the most durable demand drivers in the Tri-Cities. Properties near the new stations appreciated materially in the years after 2016, and station-adjacency remains a key factor for both buyers and investors.
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