Marketing, websites and AI for businesses in Vancouver

Burned in 1886. Rebuilt by its merchants.

nuordinary helps established businesses, healthcare practices, manufacturers and nonprofits work out honestly what needs to change, then builds what moves them: strategy, brand, websites, marketing, search, AI and systems. Our head office is in London, Ontario, and we work with organisations in Vancouver and across Canada.

Start a conversation

Shoppers on a tree-lined brick street in Gastown — Fig. 01. Gastown, Vancouver. Credit

A city its merchants rebuilt.

Vancouver was incorporated on 6 April 1886. Two months later, the Great Fire destroyed most of it. The next year, a board of trade formed to help rebuild the city. Today most of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade’s 5,000-plus members are small businesses.

The 2021 census counted 662,248 people in the city and 2,642,825 in the metro area. At about 5,750 people per square kilometre, Vancouver is the most densely populated city in Canada.

Small ferries docked at Granville Island with towers across False Creek — Fig. 02. False Creek from Granville Island, Vancouver. Credit

Who’s building here

A few of the people and places building Vancouver:

[01] The makers

A quilting company in 1953. Three generations later, still family run.

Maxwell Garaway started Vancouver Quilting Ltd in 1953. The company says it was the first in Western Canada to use multi-quilt machines. His children Larry and Darlene took it on in the 1970s, and his grandchildren Oren and Jennifer run it today as Maxwell Fabrics.

Just off Commercial Drive on Venables Street, Uprising Breads started in the 1970s as a workers’ co-operative. It still sweetens its breads with honey or molasses.

Making it is the hard part. Being found for it shouldn’t be.

The red corner building of Uprising Breads Bakery with striped awnings — Fig. 03. Uprising Breads Bakery, off Commercial Drive, Vancouver. Credit

[02] The people who care for people

A hospital that started in a tent.

Vancouver General Hospital began in 1886 as a nine-bed tent hospital. It now has more than 1,000 beds, and has been a UBC teaching hospital since 1950.

St. Paul’s Hospital was founded in 1894 by the Sisters of Providence, with 25 beds. BC Children’s Hospital traces its start to 1928.

Around them are the clinics, practices and allied health professionals people see every week. Their job is care. The website, the booking and the paperwork should make that easier, not harder.

[03] The main streets

Twenty-two business improvement areas, and counting.

Vancouver’s first three business improvement areas, Gastown, Mount Pleasant and Downtown, started in 1989. By 2023 the city had 22.

Ming Wo opened its cookware store in Chinatown in 1917. The original closed in 2020, after more than 100 years, when its owners retired. Its stores in South Granville, Kitsilano and Burnaby carried on.

Granville Island Public Market opened in 1979. About 50 vendors trade there.

Owners on these streets run the shop, the books, the staff and the social media. They shouldn’t have to figure all of it out alone.

The lit sign and stalls of Granville Island Public Market at night — Fig. 04. Granville Island Public Market, Vancouver, 2015. Credit

A corner café and the street beyond on Commercial Drive — Fig. 05. Commercial Drive, Vancouver. Credit

[04] The organisations working for something bigger

More than 440,000 visits in a year.

The Greater Vancouver Food Bank, founded in 1983, recorded more than 440,000 client visits in its 2025 fiscal year. It works with more than 160 agency partners, and almost 30% of its clients are under 18.

More than 2,000 volunteers help it. In 2025 it bought its first permanent home, and Charity Intelligence named it a Top 10 Impact Charity.

Small teams carry a lot. The systems behind them should carry some of it.

When the world came to town.

Vancouver hosted FIFA World Cup matches this summer. On the 13 June match day, Visa recorded card-present spending in the city 12.7% above average.

We want to tell more of these stories in our Field Notes. If you’re building something in Vancouver, tell us about it.

Building here isn’t always easy.

01
In a February 2026 survey, more than half of BC small businesses said they had scaled back their US activity.
02
The Greater Vancouver Food Bank says persistent economic pressures have deepened food insecurity. Its first-time clients include working families and seniors.

Those pressures land differently on everyone:

A business owner needs more revenue without more hours in the week.

A manufacturer could serve new markets but struggles to show buyers what it makes.

A practice wants to see more patients with a team that’s already stretched.

A nonprofit needs more supporters without more work for its staff.

Different problems. Different answers. Sometimes the first step is to stop adding activity and work out what will actually make a difference.

Where Vancouver owners get help

There’s real help for owners and founders:

Government of BC, small businessThe Province’s small business hub: financing, the Business Benefits Finder, support for women, Black, 2SLGBTQIA+ and Indigenous entrepreneurs, and help in more than 220 languages. Visit (opens in a new tab)Greater Vancouver Board of TradeFormed in 1887 to help rebuild the city. Runs a scale-up centre for small and mid-sized businesses and, through World Trade Centre Vancouver, a trade accelerator. Visit (opens in a new tab)FuturpreneurEquity-free loans of up to $75,000 and up to two years of mentoring, for founders aged 18 to 39. Visit (opens in a new tab)

Programmes and eligibility change, so check with each one directly.

Sometimes the most useful thing we can do is point you to the right resource, even when that resource isn’t us.

Vancouver is part of a bigger region.

RichmondIncorporated in 1879. Home to the Steveston fishing harbour and the airport on Sea Island.

New WestminsterBC’s colonial capital from 1859 to 1866, and the first elected municipal government in the province.

BurnabyNext door, with 249,125 people at the 2021 census.

Surrey568,322 people at the 2021 census.

Cherry blossoms and a street clock along a row of Main Street shops — Fig. 06. Main Street, Vancouver. Credit

Vancouver

How nuordinary works with Vancouver organisations.

nuordinary’s head office is in London, Ontario. We take on work across the province and the rest of Canada, Vancouver included.

You know your organisation better than anyone else does. Our job isn’t to arrive with a package. It’s to understand what you’ve built, where you want to go and what’s in between.

See where you are. Define what comes next. Build what gets you there. Measure the movement.

Local businesses: Easier for the right customers to find you and choose you, with systems that don’t depend on you for everything.
Healthcare practices: Easier for patients to find you and book, with less paperwork for your team.
Manufacturers: Complex capabilities explained clearly, to the buyers who need them.
Nonprofits: A mission that’s easier to find, support and sustain.

Capabilities that fit what’s happening in Vancouver: local SEO⁠, web design⁠, ecommerce⁠, content marketing and brand identity.

Start a conversation

Questions

Can nuordinary work with organisations in Vancouver?

Yes. nuordinary is based in London, Ontario, and takes on work for established businesses, healthcare practices, manufacturers and nonprofits across Ontario and the rest of Canada, Vancouver included.

What can nuordinary help a Vancouver business with?

Strategy, brand, websites, marketing, SEO and AI search visibility, AI and automation, and better systems. We start with the outcome you want, then choose the capabilities that get you there.

Can you help a Vancouver business cut back on US exposure?

Yes, in the areas we work on: finding new customers and markets, explaining what you make clearly to new buyers, and making sales and operations leaner. nuordinary doesn’t give trade or legal advice.

Can you help a Commercial Drive or Main Street shop get found?

Yes. A complete Google Business Profile, consistent listings and a website that answers customers’ questions are often the fastest wins for a main-street business. See local SEO.

How do we start?

Start a conversation. You don’t need a brief or a list of services. Tell us what’s happening and what you’d like to change.

Other places we celebrate

London, OntarioHome and head office. TorontoThe main-street idea started here, in 1970. MississaugaHead offices up top. Five villages at street level. OttawaThe market opened in 1826. It’s still open. HamiltonKnown for steel. Built on much more. Waterloo RegionMarket day since the 1830s. Still building. BramptonThe Flower Town still grows things. CalgaryBread since 1962. Boots since 1978. EdmontonCanada’s first food bank started here. HalifaxA market since 1750. Seeds since 1866.

Sources (22)

Where next for your Vancouver organisation?

Maxwell Fabrics started as a quilting company. Uprising Breads started as a co-op. Tell us where you’re starting from, and where you want to go.

Start a conversation

Fig. 07. Columbia Street, Chinatown, Vancouver. Credit