When I lived in Vancouver there were two trees in our schoolyard that I have always been curious about. I have tried halfheartedly to identify them but online guides aren’t very comprehensive and I’m not that eager to buy a $50 botany book just to identify a pair of trees. I don’t remember much about the trees themselves (yeah, helpful I know) but I remember the fruit quite distinctly, since we spent a lot of time throwing it against the walls of the school building.
They were red and round, about the size and shape of a golf ball. They were soft and bruised easily, and even holding them for an extended period of time would cause the skin to darken. We nicknamed them “splatberries” because they splattered when dropped from a height. They gave off a pleasant fragrance that I could never pin down, but was similar to strawberries. The skin was covered with flat “spikes” - I hesitate to call them spikes because that might give you the wrong mental images. Maybe “scales” or “plates” would be a better word, but the centre of each plate came to a point so they were spikes, just not very… spiky. They grew in Vancouver but I’m not sure that they were native plants since nobody at my school knew what they were and we never learned about them in our “plants of the pacific northwest” unit. If anyone knows what they might be it would be greatly appreciated 
Well, here are a few to choose from.
Rambutan
Lychee
Belle Fruit
Mabolo fruit
Acerola
From you discription, I suspect its one on the first two. My money’s on Lychee.
No, they’re not lychees, though are quite similar superficially. This mystery fruit is much softer than the lychee and the “plates” on the skin are larger, though the same shape. I’ve never seen them being sold anywhere so they’re either inedible (despite smelling delicious) or one of those rare niche foods. A big difference is that lychees have a firm flesh inside their hard, scaly skin and these things have a soft skin and are just mash on the inside.
I took Vancouver to mean Vancouver, British Columbia. I think all the fruits you listed are tropical. How about Chinese Dogwood Cornus Kousa . That might grow in Canada.
Vancouver BC has a surprisingly mild climate. I’ve known at least two people who had lychees growing in their yards there. Ok, they didn’t flourish, but they did bear fruit.
Sorry for jumping to conclusions about the others.
Those are all tropical and subtropical fruits. You are not going to find any of these growing in a schoolyard in Vancouver, no less without special care and attention.
It is most likely either: Arbutus menziesii (Pacific Madrone) or Arbutus unedo (Strawerry tree):
A. menziesii: A. menziesii fruit
A. unedo: A. unedo fruit
Both are edible, but pretty grainy (the skin is full of grany bits, sort of like the grains in the flesh of pears). The fruit texture can be off putting, but they are pleasantly sweet, and to me, at least with A. unedo, the fruits are like a bland nectarine (without any of the signature acidity or intense sugaryness). A. unedo is used in Spain and Portugal for a liquor called “Madronheira”. These trees are related to the heathers (Ericeae).
We have a row of these lining a walk way at the University I work for, and whenever I spy ripe fruits, i’m compelled to snag one and eat it.
Ahh, it’s definitely the Chinese dogwood. Thanks everyone! 
