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Metropolis at Metrotown’s Santa Experience and Holiday Shopping Season

Snowman at the Met

Metropolis at Metrotown is definitely a best place for shopping in Metro Vancouver, especially when Santa is there during the Christmas holiday season.

The mall is a favourite place for shoppers, with its 300+ stores, Cineplex movie theatre, free parking and central location. During the winter holiday season, however, the place is especially popular, with its sales, festive decorations, special activities and photo opportunities with Santa Claus.

This article is about the holiday shopping season at the mall, including some of the shopping centre’s special events in November and December. Special activities from last year included the following:

Photos with Santa (Nov.12th to Dec. 23rd)
Charity Gift Wrap (Dec. 1st to 24th on the Upper Level near Winners)
Holiday Hive Market (Dec. 6th & 7th outside in the South Plaza by the Dolphin Pond)
Dance Party (Dec. 6th between the Holiday Hive Market and North Pole Santa Set)
Holiday Toy Drive (Dec. 6th on the Ground Level near Baskin Robbins)
Photos with Tropical Santa (Dec. 28th to 30th)

In addition to the above, there were also seasonal decorations all over the place, plus The Toy Room which was a place where low income families and seniors could register in advance to receive a donated gift between November 1st and 29th.

Event details at the mall for 2026 are to be confirmed as of early September. It should hopefully be pretty similar to last year.

To learn about the mall in general, see our article about Metropolis at Metrotown or visit metropolisatmetrotown.com. To learn about the shopping centre’s Santa Experience and other holiday happenings, however, continue reading.

Santa Experience and Holiday Shopping at Metropolis at Metrotown

Also known simply as the “Met”, Metropolis at Metrotown celebrates the winter holiday season with decorations, festive music and Santa Claus, along with sales at its many stores. There is live music on select dates and times, a toy drive (where they collect donations for kids in need), and a charity gift wrap service (which supports Burnaby Neighbourhood House).

In 2025 there was also a brand new Holiday Hive Market outside the shopping centre on the weekend of December 6th and 7th. Also on Saturday, December 6th, there was a Dance Party as well as the Holiday Toy Drive where shoppers were encouraged to donate either cash or a new, unwrapped toy to support the Burnaby Christmas Bureau. (TIP: The first hundred people to make a donation of at least $20 cash got a free $10 gift certificate to the mall.)

To give you an idea of what the upcoming holiday season might look like at the mall, below is information about some of the events that took place at Metropolis at Metrotown last year. First though, we’ll provide details about the shopping centre’s location and hours.

For the mall’s official website, visit metropolisatmetrotown.com.

West Coast Santa at Metropolis at the Met — West Coast Santa at the Met

Where is the Mall & When is it Open

The largest mall in BC, Metropolis at Metrotown is located in Burnaby, on Kingsway Avenue, about halfway between Central Park and Deer Lake Park. The Metrotown SkyTrain Station is conveniently right outside the mall. The mall’s official address is 4700 Kingsway.

For much of the year, the shopping centre is open every day from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm Mondays to Saturdays and between 11:00 am and 7:00 pm on Sundays and holidays. This is the case in November and December too, although with a few exceptions.

Special holiday hours last year included the following (and should be comparable in 2026):

Black Friday (November 28th) – 8:00 am to 9:00 pm
December 21st – 10:00 am to 9:00 pm
Christmas Eve (December 24th) – 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Christmas Day (December 25th) – Closed
Boxing Day (December 26th) – 8:00 am to 9:00 pm
December 28th – 10:00 am to 9:00 pm
New Year’s Eve (December 31st) – 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
New Year’s Day (January 1st) – 11:00 am to 7:00 pm

For the mall’s official website, visit metropolisatmetrotown.com.

Polar Bear at Metropolis at the Met

Santa Claus at the Met

Santa Claus is at Metropolis at Metrotown in various forms for most of the holiday season, between November 12th and December 30th. He appears with his traditional look, in his red and white suit, but also embodying other perspectives of the holidays too on specific dates.

The classic storybook Father Christmas typically shows up at the mall for photos each weekend as well as some select weekdays. Exact dates for 2026 are to be confirmed.

In addition to the traditional jolly old elf, on the Mondays of November 17th and December 1st last year, Global Santa was available for photos. Sporting a slightly different look, he represented multiple versions of the holidays celebrated by different cultures.

Between December 27th and 30th, meanwhile, there was Tropical Santa who made guest appearances during his well-earned, post-holiday vacation time (likely just before heading south to some place warm for some downtime).

For full details about the shopping centre, visit metropolisatmetrotown.com.

Tropical Santa at the Met

Holiday Music at the Met

Holiday music plays at Metropolis at Metrotown throughout the season, from mid-November until late December. At set times there are also live choir performances which are free to enjoy. They included the following last year (with 2026 details TBC):

Wednesday, December 10th, 2025 – Our Lady of Sorrows School in the Upper Level Balcony in the Grand Court at 1:00 pm.
Friday, December 12th, 2025 – Ecole Inman Elementary School in the Upper Level Balcony in the Grand Court at 4:00 pm and Upper Level Balcony in the Atrium Court at 5:00 pm.
Wednesday, December 17th, 2025 – Chaoyin Bilingual School in the Upper Level in the Armani Activation Area at 4:00 pm and Ground Level Balcony in the Grand Court at 5:00 pm.
Friday, December 19th, 2025 – Holly Cross Regional High School in the Upper Level Balcony in the Grand Court at 5:00 pm and Upper Level Balcony in the Atrium Court at 7:00 pm.

In addition to the above, there is live music at other times at the mall too, including performances by The Dimes during the Holiday Hive Market outside by the Dolphin Pond.

For the mall’s official website, click Metropolis at Metrotown.

Charity Gift Wrap & Toy Drive at Metro Town

Metropolis at Metrotown supports charitable causes during the holiday season with its Charity Gift Wrap and Holiday Toy Drive.

In December, up until Christmas Eve, you can usually take gifts you buy at the mall to the Charity Gift Wrap Station where they’ll wrap your items in pretty paper for a donation benefiting Burnaby Neighbourhood House (which is a great local charity). The gift-wrapping station is on the 2nd Level near Winners. Minimum donations for small, medium, large and extra large packages are $7, $9, $12 and $15 respectively (at least that’s what they were last year), plus $2 if you want a box.

Also at the mall, Metropolis at Metrotown hosts its annual Holiday Toy Drive, where they collect donations of new, unwrapped toys for the Burnaby Christmas Bureau. The Toy Drive happens on the first Saturday in December, so it should be on December 5th in 2026.

To encourage shoppers to donate to the Toy Drive, Metropolis at Metrotown often has prizes. For example, in the last couple years the first one hundred donors of $20 or more in cash get a free $10 gift card to use at the mall. Also, everyone who donates has a chance to win a $100 gift card.

Metropolis at the Met at Christmas

Other Information

To learn more about the mall in general, see our article about Metropolis at Metrotown or visit metropolisatmetrotown.com. To learn about special events at the shopping centre, see the Metropolis at Metrotown Events Calendar.

Other articles that might be of interest include the following: