Our Mission

We aspire to be a vibrant, joyful faith community adhering to the beliefs and traditions of the Catholic Church to demonstrate our love of God and love of neighbour.



As a Catholic community our focus is on:

  • Worship
  • Welcoming
  • Service
  • Teaching and Learning 
  • Resource Management


Achieving balance among these elements enables us to live our faith in a way that is most appropriate for each member of our community, while also respecting the preferences of others. Each parishioner is a very important part of our parish.


Our Core Values:

  1. Holiness: We lift up our lives to God through prayer, sacrifice and our daily actions.
  2. Compassion & Service: We demonstrate genuine care, support and concern for others.
  3. Stewardship: We make a personal commitment of time, talent and treasure to provide caring, responsible leadership that strengthens the parish and reaches out to the broader community.
  4. The pursuit of Learning: We use formal and informal opportunities concerning faith and life that can be learned and applied by parishioners of all ages.
  5. Evangelization: We reach out to all people searching for a way to pursue their own faith journey by sharing the teachings and the spirit of Christ. Our Parish Family extends a warm invitation and welcomes newcomers and all who, for any reason, have been separated from the practice of their Catholic faith. We seek to provide an opportunity for Catholics who have been away from the life of the Church for some time, for whatever reason, to establish reconnection through the healing of any hurt that may have created division and through the acquisition of a renewed understanding of the Church and its mission. Our goal is to provide as much information as possible toward reconciliation.

OUR HISTORY

Our Lady of Mercy Parish began as an idea in 1941. Archbishop William Duke, D.D., of Vancouver, invited the Fathers of Mercy from New York to establish a parish that would serve Catholics in South Burnaby, the west end of New Westminster, and Queensborough. Three priests came from New York to carry out this task. Father Henry Hall S.P.M. became the first pastor of the new parish, accompanied by assistants Father Edward Malaysters S.P.M., and Father Julian Burt S.P.M.
At that time, the land where our church and school now stand was just swampy ground with a small stream, so Fathers’ Henry hall, Julian Burt, and Edward Malayter found living quarters elsewhere in the area. Masses were celebrated in St Genevieve School in New Westminster.
When Fr. Charles Lacey took over as pastor, the land for the parish was purchased. On the corner of 10th Avenue and Kingsway stood a huge house, built-in 1892 by a member of Burnaby’s first city council. The house was renovated as the rectory. In 1942, the parish applied for a license to build a church. Because of shortages during the war, only a small “basement church”- a basement church with a roof was built.
Wartime conditions delayed construction of the parish church, thus the present basement church was not completed until 1944 at which time the rectory also underwent remodelling. It was blessed on October 15, 1944.It is in respect to the new construction plans for Our Lady of Mercy Church and rectory that this memorial drawing has been produced.

In September 1959, Our Lady of Mercy School was opened. The Fathers of Mercy returned to New York in 1960, and OLM became a diocesan parish. Fr. Gordon McKinnon celebrated the last Mass in the old church on Thanksgiving Day, 1986. By November that year, the church rectory had been demolished, and work had begun on the new structure. While our present church was being built, Sunday Mass was celebrated in the school gym and weekday Masses at the St Thomas More students’ chapel. The new church was blessed on June 20th, 1987.

Since then, other organizations, such as the Catholic Women’s League, the Knights of Columbus and the Legion of Mary, have formed chapters at OLM. For many years, our parish and school life were also enriched by the presence of the Sisters of Charity of Providence and the Sisters of Mercy.
In recent years, more and more people have moved into the parish. Today, OLM is a community of approximately 1200 families. We come together for weekday and Sunday Mass and to participate in a variety of parish groups and activities, such as the choir, Children’s Liturgy program, Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, Parish Religious Education Program, Project ADVANCE, Mustard Seed Prayer Group, Parent/Teacher Association, parish picnics, Fall fairs, Pancake breakfasts and others. We face the new millennium with hope and look forward to the continued growth of our parish and school community, with our current pastor, Rev. Hien Nguyen.



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Our People

Neva Grout - OLM School Principal 

Our Lady of Mercy Elementary School is an exciting place to learn and grow for children from Kindergarten to 7th grade! The students are why we are here. We believe in teaching the whole child; nurturing and guiding each one to reach his/her potential academically, spiritually, physically and socially. We strive to create an environment where students feel safe, comfortable, and respected.

Link to the OLM School Website

 Kenneth Fung - Deacon

Rev. Hien Nguyen - Pastor

Fr. Hien Nguyen, (B.A. Phil., B.A. Bth., M.Div, STL), was born in Nha Trang South Vietnam during the Civil War. In 1982/1983, he escaped from Vietnam with family and took refuge under the protection of the UN in Pulau Galang, Indonesia. He was sponsored by the cooperation of the Jesuits in Montreal and IC Parish of Vancouver and arrived in Vancouver 1988. Fr. Hien enrolled in general education at David Thompson Secondary, entered the Seminary of Christ the King in 1990, and was ordained to the priesthood in 2000. Since then, he has served as the vocations director and at various parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Vancouver. Fr. Hien is currently the pastor at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Burnaby.