Burnaby Mountain is recognized for a variety of competitive athletics teams for students including basketball, volleyball, swimming, soccer, track and field, and ultimate frisbee.

The head of the athletics department is Larry Ryan, who stirred local news attention for his teaching suspension in January 2021, when he threw a dumbbell at a student's face.

The school plays itself in a fictional "Burnaby, Washington" in the 2007 film The Invisible, starring British Columbia native Justin Chatwin and Alex O'Loughlin.

[citation needed] The school banner used in the movie was donated to Burnaby Mountain Secondary.

The school attempted to break a Guinness world record for the longest basketball game, which lasted 32 hours.