Fraser Downs racecourse in Surrey closes for mixed-use housing redevelopment | Daily Hive

Fraser Downs horse racecourse in Surrey closes for mixed-use housing redevelopment

Fraser Downs at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds in Surrey. (BC Racebook)

British Columbia is now down to just one remaining horse racecourse, following the sudden closure of Fraser Downs, the longtime horse racing venue in eastern Surrey.

Even the future of B.C.’s last track, Hastings Racecourse & Casino at Hastings Park in Vancouver, is uncertain. The site in Hastings Park is widely expected to be targeted as the proposed location for Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s new purpose-built soccer stadium — a project seen as absolutely critical to preventing the MLS team from leaving the city.

As for Fraser Downs, the property within the Cloverdale Fairgrounds is already being eyed for a major mixed-use redevelopment, which formed the basis of the City of Surrey’s decision to terminate the lease — bringing an end to nearly half a century of horse racing at the site.

The local horse racing community says this announcement comes as a shock to them, arriving just three weeks before the scheduled start of the season in early September.

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“We know this decision touches everyone who has been a part of Fraser Downs’ long and proud history, from the racing community and our dedicated team members to the many people across the region who share a passion for standardbred racing. We are grateful for the commitment and contributions to horse racing in British Columbia,” said Rodrigo Perez, assistant general manager of Fraser Downs, in a statement late last week.

“Our priority now is supporting our team members through this transition and collaborating with the City of Surrey on the requirements to complete the property transition.”

Great Canadian Gaming Corporation operated Fraser Downs. The lease termination spans the footprint of the 5/8-mile standardbred harness racing track, the stabling facilities of six barn, and the backstretch. The racecourse and backstretch combined span over 12 acres within the core of the southern half of the 138-acre Cloverdale Fairgrounds.

Great Canadian will continue to operate Elements Casino Surrey and its BC Racebook operations, which are unaffected by the lease termination.

According to the company, the City of Surrey, in its capacity as the owner and landlord of Fraser Downs, exercised its recapture option under the lease agreement to terminate the racecourse lease.

Fraser Downs at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds in Surrey. (Google Maps)

Fraser Downs at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds in Surrey. (BC Racebook)

In a statement shared with Daily Hive Urbanized upon inquiry, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke says this is a necessary decision to begin the critical planning and pre-construction work to revitalize Cloverdale Fairgrounds and Town Centre, which is an effort that will turn it “into a regional destination and formally enshrining Old Cloverdale as a protected historic precinct that showcases our city’s heritage.”

Locke notes that the envisioned redevelopment of Fraser Downs includes new housing, public spaces, and expanded community and recreational facilities within the fairgrounds — including future phases of the new Cloverdale Sports & Ice Complex, set to be completed later this year — as well as a stronger network of venues to support cultural events on the fairgrounds site. She also asserted this would support the new $2.9-billion Cloverdale hospital currently being built nearby just southeast of the fairgrounds, next to the Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Cloverdale campus.

City of Surrey staff are currently engaged in a planning process to update the 2019-approved Cloverdale Town Centre Plan to better account for the area’s major growth and the implications and needs of the future hospital. In July 2024, Surrey City Council approved City staff’s recommendation to substantially expand the area plan’s boundaries northwards, with the entirety of the Cloverdale Fairgrounds now contained within the planning area.

Although the boundary extension was approved, the actual finalized amended area plan could be ready for City Council’s consideration later in 2025.

However, the Cloverdale Fairgrounds will be subject to a separate “Fairgrounds Special Study Area” process — an independent master planning and market feasibility study. While the Town Centre Plan will guide development around the fairgrounds, the fairgrounds are designated as a Special Study Area and fall outside the plan’s direct scope.

City staff also previously noted the Special Study Area could incorporate Mayor Locke’s 2024-stated vision of an entertainment district centred on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds — with new housing, commercial, and retail uses.

cloverdale town centre plan area map surrey

July 2024-approved boundary extension of the area for the Cloverdale Town Centre Plan, encompassing the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. (City of Surrey)

Cloverdale Sport & Ice Complex construction april 2025

April 2025 construction progress on the new Cloverdale Sport & Ice Complex, located at the northern end of the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. (City of Surrey)

Terminating the racecourse’s lease at this time enables the municipal government to build a new internal road grid, utilities, and sites for cultural and recreational use, according to the Mayor.

“Before shovels hit the ground, we must complete master planning, public consultation, environmental review, detailed design, permits, and procurement. Starting now keeps costs down, avoids delay, and ensures we can deliver a beloved regional destination that honours Old Cloverdale and serves Surrey’s next generation,” said Locke.

“We respect the long history of horse racing in Surrey and the people connected to it. We carefully weighed those impacts against the city-wide benefits of revitalization. This is a city-building decision about using public land for the greatest public good, taken within our contractual rights and with proper notice. Elements Casino is not affected by this decision. There are no horses on-site due to ongoing health and safety work in the backstretch area.”

Fraser Downs at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds in Surrey. (Harness Racing BC)

Elements Casino and Fraser Downs at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds in Surrey. (Google Maps)

At the time of the lease termination and closure, no horses were stabled at Fraser Downs, as it was undergoing maintenance work in the backstretch that required the premises to be vacated.

This past spring, Harness Racing BC (HRBC) went to court against Great Canadian’s original March 13 notice to the horse racing non-profit organization, providing their members, equine athletes, and associates with eight weeks notice to vacate the premises at Fraser Downs — no later than May 9, right after the conclusion of the spring racing season. The deadline to vacate the premises was later formally moved to May 30.

According to HRBC, Great Canadian’s original rationale for the site to be made vacant was to enable exterminators to remove the major rat population at Fraser Downs’ facilities. But the non-profit organization took issue with how the company did not commit to a fixed date enabling the horse racing members and animals to return to the site, asserting that a prolonged closure would impact the summertime training of horses for the upcoming fall racing season from September to December. Fraser Downs is deemed to be the only proper training facility in the province.

Great Canadian also allegedly rejected HRBC’s various alternative proposals to have the non-profit organization pay for the pest control work over a shorter duration, keep at least one barn open through the summer to allow workers and animals to remain on-site and continue some training, or to close the barns but maintain access to the training facilities. Through such proposals, they were striving for a “joint solution to clean up Fraser Downs with the lowest impact on our operations so we can continue our season.”

The non-profit organization asserts the closure of Fraser Downs impacts 218 members — entailing local ranchers and horseowners’ families — and 75 to 100 people who work at the racecourse during the racing season. Due to the uncertainties, HRBC provided some financial relief to eligible members in early June.

A week after the May 28 court hearing, Great Canadian informed HRBC members that they had a 24-hour deadline to remove all belonging from the barns.

On August 15, HRBC announced it had received an email from Great Canadian stating that the City of Surrey had terminated Fraser Downs’ lease for use as a racecourse, effective immediately.

In a bulletin today, August 20, HRBC shared that they had been provided two weeks notice by Great Canadian to vacate their office space, with the non-profit organization stating that the sudden eviction “threatens the operations and stability of the organization.”

Fraser Downs at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds in Surrey. (Google Maps)

The horse racecourse at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds first opened in 1976 as “Cloverdale Raceway,” which was renamed as “Fraser Downs” in 1996. The facilities underwent a $40-million renovation that retrofitted the racecourse’s spectator facilities and added a casino with 400 slot machines beneath the grandstands. Another renovation in 2015 completed $11 million worth of work, adding new entertainment space, dining options, and more slot machines, with the casino also renamed “Elements Casino Surrey.”

Brian Butters, an executive of the B.C. Horse Racing Industry Management Committee, previously told Daily Hive Urbanized that about 40 per cent of the local horse racing committee’s net income comes from the slots in the casinos of both Fraser Downs and Hastings Racecourse & Casino, which is also operated by Great Canadian.

At the time, Butters also shared that a very preliminary proposal had been pitched to build a brand new modern purpose-built horse racecourse and training facility in Langley Township — to replace both Fraser Downs and Hastings Racecourse.

In June 2025, the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation announced they had entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Great Canadian for an agreement in principle to acquire the “casino business and related real property interests” at Hastings Racecourse & Casino.

Great Canadian’s lease for Hastings Racecourse & Casino first began in 2004 and is set to expire in May 2026. The MOU with the First Nation suggests the company does not intend to pursue an additional five-year renewal option, which is subject to mutual consent with the property’s owner and landlord — the City of Vancouver. Vancouver’s municipal government is currently working with the Whitecaps FC on a potential stadium proposal at Hastings Park.

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