The station serves Vancouver's financial district and is within walking distance of the Coal Harbour and West End neighbourhoods.

[2] Prior to the opening of the Canada Line in 2009, Burrard station was the northern terminus of the 98 B-Line and was served by a number of bus routes that provided service to Vancouver's southern suburbs of Delta, Richmond, Surrey, and White Rock.

In 2016, bus service to the eastern suburbs of the Tri-Cities was discontinued when the Millennium Line's Evergreen Extension opened.

A connection to the Royal Centre complex was constructed some years later, while an anticipated underground passage to the Park Place skyscraper across the street was never built.

The construction of a new east entrance to the station, at the southeast corner of the intersection of Burrard and Dunsmuir, was considered as part of upgrades to the station included in TransLink's 10-Year Vision, but the cost of such an addition was higher than expected and TransLink turned to reviewing options to improve the existing entrance.