The Yoruba Social and Cultural Association of British Columbia will host the fifth Metro Vancouver Black Business Expo at Surrey City Hall on Saturday, 24 October 2026. The public event runs from noon to 4pm, Pacific time, with free admission.
Organised with the Surrey & White Rock Board of Trade, the expo will bring Black-owned businesses together with customers, other entrepreneurs and organisations offering business support. The City of Surrey’s event listing describes a family-friendly programme of exhibitors, cultural showcases and networking.
The board’s booking information sets the exhibitor fee at C$200. That charge applies to businesses taking exhibition space, rather than members of the public visiting the event. The organisers’ separate attendee registration page offers free bookings through Eventbrite.
Among the people listed on the expo’s speaker page are Joslyn Young, chief executive of the Surrey & White Rock Board of Trade, and Adebola Ige, president of the Yoruba association. The organisers describe Ige as a technology professional and community leader whose work includes cultural preservation, digital literacy and youth development.
The expo began on 22 October 2022 at St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic Parish in Surrey, according to the organisers’ history. Its first edition brought local Black-owned businesses and community leaders together with cultural programming. The 2026 gathering continues that combination of enterprise and community activity at the city hall venue.
The association was established in 1998 to serve people of Yoruba origin living in British Columbia. Its stated objectives include maintaining social and cultural relationships among Yoruba people, Yoruba Canadians and other cultural associations. It identifies itself as a Black-led non-profit organisation.
Its partnership with the business chamber predates this year’s expo. A June 2023 announcement recorded an agreement with the then Surrey Board of Trade covering access to business resources, co-working office space and support to develop the Black Business Expo.
At the time, Ige said the partnership would help “promote entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, youth empowerment and educational opportunities in our communities”. The statement linked the arrangement to wider participation by Black Canadian business owners and people seeking to start enterprises.
The association’s other activities include vocational training. Its published programme for June 2025 offered practical sessions in hair weaving and braiding, barbing, photography and sewing at Fleetwood Community Centre. The organisation presented those workshops as a route to developing skills for employment and self-employment.
The Foundation for Black Communities also records the association’s work in Yoruba-language classes, youth development and business training. The foundation dates its Community Empowerment and Social Integration programme to 2022. Its account describes the expo as a platform connecting entrepreneurs with other organisations, financial institutions and government representatives.
For this year’s event, the organisers say visitors will be able to discover products and services and learn about resources available to Black-owned businesses. Their Eventbrite listing also advertises speakers, panel discussions and live cultural showcases.
Doors are listed to open at 11.45am. The public programme begins at noon at Surrey City Hall, 13450 104 Avenue, with free attendee registration linked from the official expo website.
Archive venue photograph: Leoboudv, Surrey City Hall, 6 November 2014. Not a photograph of the 2026 expo or its attendees. Source, CC BY-SA 3.0. Prepared crops and resized photographic adaptations retain the same licence.
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