Imperial Oil Refinery

The Imperial Oil refinery was one of the first refinery operations in Western Canada and a very significant site in the industrial development of British Columbia. The company started in 1880 in Sarnia, Ontario. Sixteen southwestern-Ontario refiners form The Imperial Oil Company in London, Ontario, to find, produce and distribute petroleum products in Canada. By 1893, Twenty-three branch offices across from Halifax to Victoria gave Imperial a presence across Canada. In 1907, Imperial opens Canada’s first service station in Vancouver, British Columbia, where gasoline was dispensed by a garden hose.

In 1912, a distribution facility was bought in Burnaby, but when it came time to build a refinery they could not come to an agreement with the local city council. They had to look elsewhere and decided to buy 85 acres for a new plant on Burrard Inlet. Site clearing for the refinery began in 1914, by 600 men and 10 teams of horses. That work was followed by installation of the crude oil processing equipment in 1914. The refinery began operation in January 1915.
The Ioco area was incorporated into the municipality as part of a City boundary expansion in 1988, and although distribution activities continue, the refinery itself was officially shut down in 1995. ( First Picture Shown is of Distribution Facility in Burnaby, all other pics are of Refinery in Ioco.)