Holding Court
Burnaby’s forthcoming Pacific Tennis Centre will give West Coast prodigies a place to achieve greatness
BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA, a sleepy suburban city of 250,000, will soon be home to the largest, most tricked-out tennis training facility west of Toronto. The $45-million Pacific Tennis Centre, or PTC, slated for a 2023 opening, is expected to house an impressive 12 covered courts, four to six outdoor clay courts and six to eight courts specifically reserved for pickleball. Plans for the building’s third phase also include a second-floor viewing area, a bubble dome and dedicated spaces for physiotherapy and fitness.
The sprawling project has been in the works since 2018—and it can’t come quickly enough. The recent explosion of tennis’s popularity in Canada has merited the need for a western hub for aspiring national-level athletes; right now, young players on the West Coast have to migrate to Toronto or Montreal for development. And all of B.C.’s indoor facilities are now operating at capacity.
The PTC isn’t just meant to create a pipeline to the pros, either: at least 80 per cent of its court time will be dedicated to public access and programs, giving tennis lovers from groups that are historically underrepresented in the sport—people with disabilities, low-income families and Indigenous Canadians—space to play.
Visitors of the Centre might also find themselves playing side-by-side with some of Canada’s greatest athletes, including Vancouver-based pro Rebecca Marino and Thomas Venos, Canada’s top-ranked men’s wheelchair tennis player. Tennis Canada is still working to secure funding from the provincial and federal governments, but, in a year’s time, the PTC will open its doors, cementing Canada’s position as one of the top tennis hubs in the world.