Vancouver has long been one of North America’s busiest production hubs, and its streets have doubled for plenty of places that sit well south of the border. Glass towers, rainy waterfronts and a range of neighborhoods let crews pass the city off as Seattle, Chicago, Washington or a generic big American downtown. Tax incentives and a deep pool of local crews have helped keep the work coming for decades.
The shows below are ones I’m confident about, based on well-documented production histories. In each case the story is set in a U.S. city, while the cameras mostly rolled in and around British Columbia. Some of these series ended years ago, yet they still show how flexible Vancouver can be on screen.
Supernatural
This horror drama follows two brothers who drive across the United States hunting monsters. The story roams through small towns and cities across America, but the series was produced in and around Vancouver for most of its run. Forests, back roads and industrial lots in Metro Vancouver stood in for the American heartland.
The show ran for fifteen seasons on The WB and later The CW, finishing in 2020. Its first several seasons were shot in British Columbia, and the production later moved to other locations in the Vancouver area. It remains a good example of how the region can play many different parts of the U.S. in a single series.
The X-Files
The original series is set largely in Washington, D.C., where FBI agents Mulder and Scully work. Yet its first five seasons were filmed in and around Vancouver, with the production moving to Los Angeles ahead of season six. The damp, overcast look of British Columbia became part of the show’s moody identity.
When the series returned for revival seasons in 2016 and 2018, it came back to Vancouver. That return underlined how closely the city is tied to the show’s atmosphere. Fans still associate the program’s eerie forests and rain-soaked streets with the Pacific Northwest.
Smallville
Smallville is set in a fictional Kansas town, and the later episodes also visit Metropolis. The show was produced in Vancouver and nearby communities, which supplied farmland, small-town streets and city locations. The series ran for ten seasons, from 2001 to 2011.
Its Kansas feel was created largely with locations in the Fraser Valley and surrounding areas. Urban scenes for Metropolis used Vancouver’s downtown. It’s a neat case of one region covering both rural and big city America.
Arrow
Arrow is set in the fictional Star City, an American metropolis in the DC Comics universe. Production was based in Vancouver for its entire eight season run, which began in 2012 and ended in 2020. The city’s industrial areas and downtown streets gave Star City its gritty look.
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The series also launched a wider group of connected superhero shows. Several of those spinoffs, including The Flash, were also filmed in Vancouver. For a time, the region was effectively the home base for a whole television universe.
Riverdale
Riverdale takes place in a small American town of the same name, built on the Archie Comics characters. The series was filmed in the Vancouver area, with locations in places such as Langley and Surrey among those used. It debuted on The CW in 2017 and ran for seven seasons, ending in 2023.
Its look blended nostalgic Americana with a neon, noir tone. Vancouver-area diners, schools and streets supplied that backdrop. The result convinced many viewers they were seeing a classic small town in the United States.
The Good Doctor
The medical drama is set at the fictional San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital in California. Production was based in Vancouver, and the series ran on ABC for seven seasons from 2017 to 2024. Local sets and locations were used to represent its Bay Area setting.
The show is a recent example of Vancouver standing in for a California city. Its long run kept many local crew members employed. Since it concluded in 2024, it also marks the end of one of the region’s most prominent network dramas of recent years.
Fringe
Fringe follows an FBI division investigating strange science, and it’s set largely in Boston, with scenes tied to other American locations. The series was filmed primarily in Vancouver after its first season, which was shot in New York. Fox aired it from 2008 to 2013.
Vancouver’s mix of modern architecture and older buildings helped sell the Boston and Cambridge settings. Production moved there to take advantage of financial and logistical benefits. It’s another sign of how often American stories land in British Columbia.
Taken together, these seven series show why Vancouver earned its nickname as “Hollywood North.” The city can look like Kansas, Washington, California or Boston depending on how a crew frames it. Next time a show seems to capture an American place perfectly, it’s worth checking where it was actually shot.
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