North Vancouver sits at the base of the Coastal Mountain Range above the city of Vancouver directly across Burrard Inlet. Its climate is one of the mildest in Canada.

Although it has significant industry of its own, including shipping, technology, chemical production, and film production, the City of North Vancouver is usually regarded as a suburb of Vancouver.

North Vancouver lies in a much greater region (the Lower Mainlaind) of more than 2 million people. Bounded by the Capilano River to the west, Indian Arm to the east, Burrard Inlet to the south, and the North Shore Mountains to the north, it sprawls in an east-west direction across the mountain slopes, characterized by rugged terrain, frequent rain and steep and winding roadways.

The rugged nature of the North Shore Mountains, including, predominantly, Grouse Mountain and Mount Seymour, have contributed to this area's reputation for hiking, skiing, and perhaps most famously, mountain biking.