Highway 8 is part of the first automobile route built to connect the Lower Mainland to the Alberta border.

[3] Named the Southern Trans-Provincial Highway, it ran from Vancouver to Crowsnest Pass and was later designated as Route A; the route followed Kingsway and Yale Road from Vancouver to Hope, then turned north to Spences Bridge.

On November 2, 1949, the Hope-Princeton Highway through Allison Pass and Sunday Summit was opened,[6] reducing the driving distance between Hope and Princeton from approximately 300 km (185 mi) to 135 km (85 mi).

[7] During the major floods in November 2021, large segments of the highway were washed out by the Nicola River.

[10] The highway subsequently reopened to the general public on November 9, nearly a year after the washouts.