Vancouver is predominantly a service center. Since the 1960s, employment in finance, insurance, and real-estate-related activities has tripled, that in accommodation and food services has quadrupled, that in health and welfare services has quintupled, and that in services for business has increased eightfold. Employment in primary and secondary industries has declined relative to population.

The majority of Vancouver's historic buildings are in the Gastown and Chinatown areas. Older sections of the city have undergone considerable change since 1960, when downtown high-rise office buildings and hotels were built. False Creek – a decaying industrial area with sawmills, rail yards, and small shops -- was transformed into a residential development project. Gastown, the original heart of the city, was restored in the 1880s style with antique stores and boutiques.

服務業是溫哥華的主要行業。自20世紀60年代以來，金融、保險以及房地產相關行業的從業人員增至3倍，旅館餐飲服務業的從業人員增至4倍，衛生福利服務業的從業人員增至5倍，商業服務的從業人員增至8倍。第一和第二產業的從業人員的比率下降了。

溫哥華的歷史建筑大多坐落在蓋斯敦和中國城地區。自1960年以來，溫哥華的老城區發生了相當大的變化，市中心的摩天辦公樓和旅館拔地而起。法爾斯河這個鋸木廠、鐵路調車場、小店鋪充斥其間的日漸衰敗的工業區，已被改造為住宅發展區。舊城的市中心蓋斯敦 區已重新恢復了 1880 年代的風格，古玩店和時裝禮品店四處可見。