White Rock is a city in British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District.

The Semiahmoo people also constructed forts as lookouts for raiders from the northern first nations; one is located in the Ocean Park area.

Previously, these issues had been put on hold through a shared occupancy agreement of the Oregon territory by the two nations in the Treaty of 1818.

The Semiahmoo Trail still exists in White Rock and South Surrey, running from the site of the Boundary Commission Camp at the estuary of the Campbell River, overland to Mud Bay north of Crescent Beach.

The modern history of White Rock is directly tied to the railway linking British Columbia to Washington state, which runs along the shore of Semiahmoo Bay to the border.

This was originally the Great Northern line, and it opened up White Rock and Crescent Beach to tourists from Vancouver and New Westminster in the early 1900s.

On April 15, 1957, a special warrant from the Government of British Columbia created the City of White Rock within its present boundary.

In the 1950s, Peace Arch Hospital opened and continues as a major employer in the city and health facility for the region.

White Rock gained a reputation for being a retirement centre, as it features the lowest rainfall in the Metro Vancouver region, while benefitting from the influence of the ocean, keeping both summers highs and winter lows bearable.

In 1979, chartered accountant Tom Kirstein and architect Chip Barrett organized an annual sandcastle competition,[7] which became internationally famous.

The event took advantage of the long, sandy beach exposed at low tide, giving enough time for entrants to construct elaborate displays.

Uptown White Rock has been the site of significant new developments in recent years, with medium-rise condos becoming more prominent.

Replacement plans call for a new pier that could be built by the end of August 2019, with an early cost estimate that is projected to be over $5 million.

Because the city is set away from the Coast Mountains, it sees less fog, fewer rainy days and shorter snowfalls.

Highway 99 is a freeway that links the White Rock area with Vancouver to the north and U.S. Interstate 5, via the Peace Arch border crossing, to the south.

Only one route serving the area, the 352 Ocean Park/Bridgeport Station express bus, does not run through White Rock Centre, instead terminating near the South Surrey Athletic Park.

The 321, 345, and 394 buses provide service to North Surrey, notably to Surrey Central and King George Skytrain stations, and the 375 service runs through White Rock Centre from just north of the Peace Arch border crossing to Guildford Town Centre.

Goods transported on the corridor include Canadian softwood lumber, coal, paper products, and general merchandise.

The USA Network's detective comedy Psych was also filmed in White Rock, though the series is set in Santa Barbara, California.