Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is the hub of
Greater VancouverGreater Vancouver is the metropolitan area centred on the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, roughly coterminous with the Greater Vancouver Regional District, which is governed by a body known as Metro Vancouver...
, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the
third most populous metropolitan area in the country,
and the most populous in
Western CanadaWestern Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
. The
city properCity proper is defined as a "locality with legally fixed boundaries and an administratively recognized urban status that is usually characterized by some form of local government", or the area within the corporate limits. This definition has been consistently used since the United Nations...
has more than 640,000 people,
making it the
eighth largest among Canadian cities,
and the most densely populated Canadian city of over 25,000 residents, with 5,039 people per square kilometre in 2006.
The city is ethnically and linguistically diverse, with 52% for whom English is not their first language.
The settlement of
GastownGastown is a national historic site in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the northeast end of Downtown adjacent to the Downtown Eastside. Its historical boundaries were the waterfront , Columbia Street, Hastings Street, and Cambie Street, which were the borders of the 1870 townsite survey, the proper...
grew around a logging
sawmillA sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
established in 1867, enlarging to become the
townsiteA townsite is a legal subdivision of land for the development of a town or community. In the historical development of the United States, Canada, and other former British colonial nations, the filing of a townsite plat or plan was often the first legal act in the establishment of a new town or...
of
GranvilleGranville was the name for Vancouver, British Columbia until 1886.The town was located beside the settlement of Gastown.-History:The area was first known as Gastown, a settlement around the original makeshift tavern established by "Gassy" Jack Deighton in 1867 on the edge of the Hastings Mill...
. With the announcement that the railhead would reach the site, it was renamed "Vancouver" and incorporated as a city in 1886. By 1887, the
transcontinental railwayThe Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
was extended to the city to take advantage of its large natural seaport, which soon became a vital link in a trade route between the
OrientThe Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...
,
Eastern CanadaEastern Canada is generally considered to be the region of Canada east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:* New Brunswick* Newfoundland and Labrador* Nova Scotia* Ontario* Prince Edward Island* Quebec...
, and
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Port Metro VancouverPort Metro Vancouver is a non-shareholder, financially self-sufficient corporation, established by the Government of Canada in January 2008, pursuant to the Canada Marine Act, and accountable to the federal Minister of Transport. It is the principal authority for shipping and port-related land and...
is the new name for the Port of Vancouver, which is now the busiest and largest in Canada, as well as the fourth largest port (by tonnage) in North America.
While forestry remains its largest industry, Vancouver is well known as an urban centre surrounded by nature, making
tourismAs a prosperous nation, Canada has a large domestic and foreign tourism industry. The second largest country in the world, Canada's incredible geographical variety is a significant tourist attractor...
its second-largest industry.
Major film production studios in Vancouver and Burnaby have turned Metro Vancouver into the third-largest
film productionthumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
centre in North America after
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, earning it the film industry nickname,
Hollywood NorthHollywood North, an allusion to Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States, a notable film centre in the world, is a colloquialism used to describe film production industries and or film locations north of its namesake...
.
Vancouver has ranked highly in worldwide "livable city" rankings for more than a decade according to business magazine assessments and it was also acknowledged by
Economist Intelligence UnitThe Economist Intelligence Unit is part of the Economist Group.It is a research and advisory company providing country, industry and management analysis worldwide and incorporates the former Business International Corporation, a U.S. company acquired by the parent organization in 1986...
as the first city to rank among the top-ten of the world's most liveable cities for five straight years.
It has hosted many international conferences and events, including the
1954 British Empire and Commonwealth GamesThe 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, in the province of British Columbia in Canada, from 30 July-7 August 1954. These were the first games since the name change from British Empire Games took effect in 1952....
,
Expo 86The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo '86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from Friday, May 2 until Monday, October 13, 1986...
, and the
World Police and Fire GamesThisWorld Police and Fire Games are a biennial athletic event open to active and retired law enforcement and fire service personnel throughout the world...
in 1989 and 2009. The
2010 Winter OlympicsThe 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
and
2010 Winter ParalympicsThe 2010 Winter Paralympics, officially the X Paralympic Winter Games, or the 10th Winter Paralympics, were held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada from March 12 to 21, 2010. The Opening Ceremony took place in BC Place Stadium in Vancouver and the Closing Ceremony in Whistler...
were held in Vancouver and nearby
WhistlerWhistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately north of Vancouver...
, a resort community 125 km (77.7 mi) north of the city.
Indigenous peoples
ArchaeologicalArchaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
records indicate the presence of
Aboriginal peopleFirst Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
in the Vancouver area from 8,000 to 10,000 years ago.
The city is located in the traditional territories of the S
kw
xwú7mesh (Squamish),
Xwméthkwyiem (Musqueam)The Musqueam Indian Band is a First Nations government in the Canadian province of British Columbia, and is the only Indian band whose reserve community lies within the boundaries of the City of Vancouver....
, and
Tseil-waututh (Burrard)The Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, also known as the Burrard Indian Band or Burrard Band, is a First Nations government in the Canadian Province of British Columbia...
peoples of the
Coast SalishCoast Salish languages are a subgroup of the Salishan language family. These languages are spoken by First Nations or Native American peoples inhabiting the territory that is now the southwest coast of British Columbia around the Strait of Georgia and Washington state around Puget Sound...
group.
They had villages in various parts of present day Vancouver, such as
Stanley ParkStanley Park is a 404.9 hectare urban park bordering downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was opened in 1888 by David Oppenheimer in the name of Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada....
,
False CreekFalse Creek is a short inlet in the heart of Vancouver. It separates downtown from the rest of the city. It was named by George Henry Richards during his Hydrographic survey of 1856-63. Science World is located at its eastern end and the Burrard Street Bridge crosses its western end. False Creek is...
,
KitsilanoKitsilano is an upmarket neighbourhood on the West Side of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Known colloquially as "Kits", this neighborhood is home to many yuppies, young families and students as well as yoga studios, organic markets, cafes and Vancouver's Greektown. The primary...
, Point Grey and near the mouth of the
Fraser RiverThe Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
.
Exploration and contact
The first European to explore the coastline of present-day
Point GreyWest Point Grey is a neighbourhood on the western side of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered by 16th Avenue to the south, Alma Street to the east, English Bay to the north, and Blanca Street to the west...
and parts of
Burrard InletBurrard Inlet is a relatively shallow-sided coastal fjord in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the low-lying Burrard Peninsula from the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, home to the communities of West...
was
José María NarváezJosé María Narváez was a Spanish naval officer, explorer, and navigator notable for his work in the Pacific Northwest of present-day Canada. In 1791, as commander of the schooner Santa Saturnina, he led the first European exploration of the Strait of Georgia, including a landing on present-day...
of
SpainThe Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
, in 1791, although one author contends that
Francis DrakeSir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
may have visited the area in 1579.
The city is named after
George VancouverCaptain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
, who explored the inner harbour of Burrard Inlet in 1792 and gave various places British names.
The explorer and
North West CompanyThe North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
trader
Simon FraserSimon Fraser was a fur trader and an explorer who charted much of what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia. Fraser was employed by the Montreal-based North West Company. By 1805, he had been put in charge of all the company's operations west of the Rocky Mountains...
and his crew were the first known people of European race to set foot on the site of the present-day city. In 1808, they travelled from the east down the
Fraser RiverThe Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
, perhaps as far as Point Grey.
Early growth
The Fraser Gold Rush of 1858 brought over 25,000 men, mainly from California, to nearby New Westminster (founded February 14, 1859) on the
Fraser RiverThe Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
, on their way to the
Fraser CanyonThe Fraser Canyon is an 84 km landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley...
, bypassing what would become Vancouver.
Vancouver is among British Columbia's youngest cities;
the first European settlement in what is now Vancouver was not until 1862 at McLeery's Farm on the Fraser River, just east of the ancient village of Musqueam in what is now
MarpoleMarpole is a mostly residential neighbourhood of 22,400 located on the southern edge of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, immediately northeast of Vancouver International Airport. It is approximately bordered by Angus Drive to the west, 57th Avenue to the north, Main Street to the east and...
. A sawmill established at Moodyville (now the
City of North VancouverThe City of North Vancouver is a waterfront municipality on the north shore of Burrard Inlet, directly across from Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the smallest of the three North Shore municipalities, and the most urbanized as well...
) in 1863, began the city's long relationship with logging. It was quickly followed by mills owned by Captain Edward Stamp on the south shore of the inlet. Stamp, who had begun lumbering in the Port Alberni area, first attempted to run a mill at
Brockton PointBrockton Point is located in Vancouver harbour at the east end of Stanley Park. It is named after Francis Brockton. Brockton Point Lighthouse, an automated light, is located at the point....
, but difficult currents and reefs forced the relocation of the operation in 1867 to a point near the foot of Gore Street. This mill, known as the
Hastings MillHastings Mill was a sawmill on the south shore of Burrard Inlet and was the first commercial operation around which the settlement that would become Vancouver developed in British Columbia, Canada....
, became the nucleus around which Vancouver formed. The mill's central role in the city waned after the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in the 1880s. It nevertheless remained important to the local economy until it closed in the 1920s.
The settlement which came to be called Gastown grew up quickly around the original makeshift
tavernA tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....
established by "Gassy"
Jack DeightonJohn Deighton , generally known as "Gassy Jack", was a Canadian bar owner who was born in Hull, England. The Gastown neighborhood of Vancouver, British Columbia is named for him....
in 1867 on the edge of the Hastings Mill property.
In 1870, the
colonial governmentThe Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...
surveyed the settlement and laid out a townsite, renamed "Granville" in honour of the then-British
Secretary of State for the ColoniesThe Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies....
,
Lord GranvilleGranville George Leveson Gower, 2nd Earl Granville KG, PC FRS , styled Lord Leveson until 1846, was a British Liberal statesman...
. This site, with its natural harbour, was selected in 1884
as the terminus for the Canadian Pacific Railway, to the disappointment of Port Moody, New Westminster and
VictoriaVictoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, all of which had vied to be the railhead. A railway was among the inducements for British Columbia to join the
ConfederationCanadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
in 1871, but the
Pacific ScandalThe Pacific Scandal was a political scandal in Canada involving allegations of bribes being accepted by the Conservative government in the attempts of private interests to influence the bidding for a national rail contract...
and arguments over the use of Chinese labour delayed construction until the 1880s.
Incorporation
The City of Vancouver was incorporated on April 6, 1886, the same year that the first transcontinental train arrived. CPR president William Van Horne arrived in Port Moody to establish the CPR terminus recommended by
Henry John CambieHenry John Cambie was a Canadian surveyor, civil engineer, and a notable figure in the completion of that country's transcontinental railway...
, and gave the city its name in honour of
George VancouverCaptain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
. The
Great Vancouver FireThe Great Vancouver Fire was a conflagration that destroyed most of the newly incorporated city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on 13 June 1886. The fire began as a brush fire to clear land between present-day Main and Cambie Streets that was spread out of control by a strong gale...
on June 13, 1886, razed the entire city. The
Vancouver Fire DepartmentVancouver Fire and Rescue Services was founded in 1886 and today serves the city of Vancouver, British Columbia providing both fire and emergency medical services. In 2007, the V.F.R.S. responded to over 43,000 emergency calls.-History:...
was established that year and the city quickly rebuilt. Vancouver's population grew from a settlement of 1,000 people in 1881 to over 20,000 by the turn of the century and 100,000 by 1911.
Vancouver merchants outfitted prospectors bound for the
Klondike Gold RushThe Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...
in 1898. One of those merchants, Charles Woodward, had opened the first
Woodward'sWoodward's was the name of a department store chain which operated in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada for one hundred years, before its sale to the Hudson's Bay Company .-History:...
store at Abbott and Cordova Streets in 1892 and, along with Spencer's and the
Hudson's BayThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
department stores, formed the core of the city's retail sector for decades.
The economy of early Vancouver was dominated by large companies such as the CPR, which fueled economic activity and led to the rapid development of the new city; in fact the CPR was the main real estate owner and housing developer in the city. While some manufacturing did develop, natural resources became the basis for Vancouver's economy. The resource sector was initially based on logging and later on exports moving through the seaport, where commercial traffic constituted the largest economic sector in Vancouver by the 1930s.
Twentieth century
The dominance of the economy by big business was accompanied by an often militant
labour movementThe Trades and Labour Congress of Canada was a Canada-wide central federation of trade unions from 1883 to 1956. It was founded at the initiative of the Toronto Trades and Labour Council and the Knights of Labor...
. The first major sympathy strike was in 1903 when railway employees struck against the CPR for union recognition. Labour leader Frank Rogers was killed by CPR police while picketing at the docks, becoming the movement's first martyr in British Columbia. The rise of industrial tensions throughout the province led to Canada's first general strike in 1918, at the
CumberlandCumberland is a town in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.-History:The village was originally named Union, British Columbia after the Union Coal Company, which was in turn named in honour of the 1871 union of British Columbia with Canada. The town was renamed after...
coal mines on
Vancouver IslandVancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
. Following a lull in the 1920s, the strike wave peaked in 1935 when unemployed men flooded the city to protest conditions in the relief camps run by the military in remote areas throughout the province. After two tense months of daily and disruptive protesting, the
relief camp strikersThe Relief Camp Workers' Union was the union into which the inmates of the Canadian government relief camps were organized in the early 1930s. It was affiliated with the Workers' Unity League, the trade union umbrella of the Communist Party of Canada...
decided to take their grievances to the federal government and embarked on the
On-to-Ottawa TrekThe On-to-Ottawa Trek was a long journey where thousands of people had unemployed men protesting the dismal conditions in federal relief camps scattered in remote areas across Western Canada. The men lived and worked in these camps at a rate of twenty cents per day before walking out on strike in...
, but their protest was put down by force. The workers were arrested near
MissionMission, the core of which was formerly known as Mission City, is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is situated on the north bank of the Fraser River overlooking the City of Abbotsford and with that city is part of the Central Fraser Valley. Mission is the...
and interned in work camps for the duration of the Depression.
Other social movements, such as the
first-wave feministFirst-wave feminism refers to a period of feminist activity during the 19th and early twentieth century in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. It focused on de jure inequalities, primarily on gaining women's suffrage .The term first-wave was coined retroactively in the 1970s...
, moral reform, and
temperance movementA temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
s were also influential in Vancouver's development.
Mary Ellen SmithMary Ellen Spear Smith was a politician in British Columbia, Canada. She was the first female Member of the Legislative Assembly in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, and both the first female cabinet minister and the first female Speaker in the British Empire.She was born in England...
, a Vancouver
suffragistWomen's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
and
prohibitionistThe temperance movement reached its height in Canada in the 1920s, when outside imports were cut off by provincial referendums. As legislation prohibiting consumption of alcohol was repealed, it was typically replaced with regulation restricting the sale of alcohol to minors and imposing excise...
, became the first woman elected to a provincial legislature in Canada in 1918. Alcohol prohibition began in the First World War and lasted until 1921, when the provincial government established control over alcohol sales, a practice still in place today. Canada's first
drug lawThe prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent drug use. Prohibition of drugs has existed at various levels of government or other authority from the Middle Ages to the present....
came about following an inquiry conducted by the federal
Minister of LabourThe Minister of Labour is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for setting national labour standards and federal labour dispute mechanisms...
and future Prime Minister,
William Lyon Mackenzie KingWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
. King was sent to investigate damages claims resulting from a riot when the
Asiatic Exclusion LeagueThe Asiatic Exclusion League, often abbreviated AEL, was a racist organization formed in the early twentieth century in the United States and Canada that aimed to prevent immigration of people of East Asian origin.-United States:...
led a rampage through Chinatown and Japantown. Two of the claimants were
opiumOpium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
manufacturers, and after further investigation, King found that white women were reportedly frequenting
opium denAn opium den was an establishment where opium was sold and smoked. Opium dens were prevalent in many parts of the world in the 19th century, most notably China, Southeast Asia, North America and France...
s as well as
ChineseChinese Canadians are Canadians of Chinese descent. They constitute the second-largest visible minority group in Canada, after South Asian Canadians...
men. A federal law banning the manufacture, sale, and importation of opium for non-medicinal purposes was soon passed based on these revelations.
AmalgamationA merger or amalgamation in a political or administrative sense is the combination of two or more political or administrative entities such as municipalities , counties, districts, etc. into a single entity. This term is used when the process occurs within a sovereign entity...
with Point Grey and South Vancouver gave the city its final boundaries not long before it became the third-largest metropolis in the country. As of January 1, 1929, the population of the enlarged Vancouver was 228,193.
Geography
Located on the
Burrard PeninsulaThe Burrard Peninsula is a peninsula in the Lower Mainland region of southwestern British Columbia, Canada, lying between Burrard Inlet to the north and the Fraser River to the south, and bounded by Georgia Strait on the west and the Pitt River on the east...
, Vancouver lies between Burrard Inlet to the north and the
Fraser RiverThe Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
to the south. The
Strait of GeorgiaThe Strait of Georgia or the Georgia Strait is a strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is approximately long and varies in width from...
, to the west, is shielded from the Pacific Ocean by
Vancouver IslandVancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
. The city has an area of 114 km² (44 sq mi), including both flat and hilly ground, and is in the
Pacific Time ZoneThe Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
(UTC−8) and the Pacific Maritime Ecozone.
Until the city's naming in 1885, "Vancouver" referred to Vancouver Island, and it remains a common misconception that the city is located on the island.
The island and the city are both named after Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver (as is the city of
Vancouver, WashingtonVancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...
in the United States).
Vancouver has one of the largest urban parks in North America,
Stanley ParkStanley Park is a 404.9 hectare urban park bordering downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was opened in 1888 by David Oppenheimer in the name of Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada....
, which covers 404.9 hectares (1001 acres). The
North Shore MountainsThe North Shore Mountains are a mountain range overlooking Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. Their southernmost peaks are visible from most areas in Vancouver and form a distinctive backdrop for the city....
dominate the cityscape, and on a clear day scenic vistas include the snow-capped volcano
Mount BakerMount Baker , also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States. It is the second-most active volcano in the range after Mount Saint Helens...
in the state of Washington to the southeast, Vancouver Island across the Strait of Georgia to the west and southwest, and
Bowen IslandBowen Island, British Columbia, is an island municipality in Howe Sound, is part of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, and is an island included within the jurisdiction of the Islands Trust . Approximately 6 km wide by 12 km long, the island at its closest point is about 2 km...
to the northwest.
Ecology
The vegetation in the Vancouver area was originally
temperate rain forestTemperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive high rainfall.-Definition:For temperate rain forests of North America, Alaback's definition is widely recognized:-Global distribution:...
, consisting of
conifersThe conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. Pinophytes are gymnosperms. They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority being...
with scattered pockets of
mapleAcer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
and
alderAlder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
, and large areas of swampland (even in upland areas, due to poor drainage).
The conifers were a typical coastal British Columbia mix of
Douglas firDouglas-fir is one of the English common names for evergreen coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. Other common names include Douglas tree, and Oregon pine. There are five species, two in western North America, one in Mexico, and two in eastern Asia...
,
Western red cedarThuja plicata, commonly called Western or pacific red cedar, giant or western arborvitae, giant cedar, or shinglewood, is a species of Thuja, an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae native to western North America...
and
Western HemlockTsuga heterophylla. the Western Hemlock, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma County, California.-Habitat:...
.
The area is thought to have had the largest trees of these species on the
British Columbia CoastThe British Columbia Coast or BC Coast is Canada's western continental coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The usage is synonymous with the term West Coast of Canada....
. Only in
Elliott BayElliott Bay is the body of water on which Seattle, Washington, is located. A line drawn from Alki Point in the south to West Point in the north serves to mark the generally accepted division between the bay and the open sound...
, Seattle did the size of trees rival those of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The largest trees in Vancouver's old-growth forest were in the Gastown area, where the first logging occurred, and on the southern slopes of
False CreekFalse Creek is a short inlet in the heart of Vancouver. It separates downtown from the rest of the city. It was named by George Henry Richards during his Hydrographic survey of 1856-63. Science World is located at its eastern end and the Burrard Street Bridge crosses its western end. False Creek is...
and English Bay, especially around
Jericho BeachJericho Beach, a popular Vancouver beach, is located west of the seaside neighbourhood of Kitsilano. It is surrounded by Jericho Beach Park, a large grassy area with a pond, which is a good picnic destination. In the local Indigenous Sḵwxwú7mesh language, Jericho Beach is iy'a'l'mexw meaning "good...
. The forest in Stanley Park was logged between the 1860s and 1880s, and evidence of old-fashioned logging techniques such as springboard notches can still be seen there.
Many plants and trees growing throughout Vancouver and the Lower Mainland were imported from other parts of the continent and from points across the Pacific. Examples include the
monkey puzzle treeAraucaria araucana is an evergreen tree growing to tall with a trunk diameter. The tree is native to central and southern Chile, western Argentina and south Brazil. Araucaria araucana is the hardiest species in the conifer genus Araucaria...
, the
Japanese MapleAcer palmatum, called Japanese Maple or Smooth Japanese Maple is a species of woody plant native to Japan, North Korea, South Korea, China, eastern Mongolia, and southeast Russia. Many different cultivars of this maple have been selected and they are grown worldwide for their attractive leaf...
, and various flowering exotics, such as
magnoliaMagnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....
s,
azaleaAzaleas are flowering shrubs comprising two of the eight subgenera of the genus Rhododendron, Pentanthera and Tsutsuji . Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks...
s, and
rhododendronRhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
s. Some rhododendrons have grown to immense sizes, as have other species imported from harsher climates in Eastern Canada or Europe. The native Douglas Maple can also attain a tremendous size. Many of the city's streets are lined with flowering varieties of
Japanese cherryA cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese Cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is sometimes called sakura after the Japanese . Many of the varieties that have been cultivated for ornamental use do not produce fruit...
trees donated from the 1930s onward by the government of Japan. These flower for several weeks in early spring each year. Other streets are lined with flowering chestnut, horse chestnut and other decorative shade trees.
Climate
Vancouver is one of the warmest Canadian cities. Vancouver's climate is temperate by Canadian standards and is usually classified as
OceanicAn oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
or Marine west coast, which under the
Köppen climate classification systemThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
would be
Cfb. The summer months are typically dry, with an average of only one in five days during July and August receiving precipitation. In contrast, precipitation falls during nearly half the days from November through March.
Annual precipitation as measured at
Vancouver International AirportVancouver International Airport is located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, about from Downtown Vancouver. In 2010 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements and passengers , behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, with non-stop flights daily to...
in Richmond averages 1,199 millimetres (47.2 in), though this varies dramatically throughout the metropolitan area due to the topography and is considerably higher in the downtown area. In winter, a majority of days receive measurable precipitation. Summer months are drier and sunnier with moderate temperatures, tempered by sea breezes. The daily maximum averages 22 °C (72 °F) in July and August, with highs rarely reaching 30 °C (86 °F).
The highest temperature ever recorded was 34.4 °C (93.9 °F) on July 30, 2009.
On average, snow falls on eleven days per year, with three days receiving 6 cm (2.4 in) or more. Average yearly snowfall is 48.2 cm (19.0 in) but typically does not remain on the ground for long.
Winters in Greater Vancouver are the fourth mildest of Canadian cities after nearby
VictoriaVictoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, Nanaimo and
DuncanDuncan is a city on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.-History:The community is named after William Chalmers Duncan . He arrived in Victoria in May 1862, then in August of that year he was one of the party of a hundred settlers which Governor Douglas took to Cowichan Bay...
, all on Vancouver Island.
Cityscape
Urban planning
At 5,335 people per km
2 (13,817.6 people per mi
2) in 2006, Vancouver is the fourth most densely populated incorporated city with a population above 500,000 in
North AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, after
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, San Francisco, and
Mexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. Urban planning in Vancouver is characterized by high-rise residential and mixed-use development in urban centres, as an alternative to
sprawlUrban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
.
This has been credited in contributing to the city's high rankings in livability.
Vancouver has been ranked one of the most livable cities in the world for more than a decade. As of 2010, Vancouver has been ranked as having the 4th highest quality of living of any city on Earth. In contrast, according to Forbes, Vancouver had the 6th most overpriced real estate market in the world and was second-highest in
North AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
after
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 2007. Vancouver has also been ranked among Canada's most expensive cities in which to live.
ForbesForbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
has also ranked Vancouver as the tenth cleanest city in the world.
This approach originated in the late 1950s, when city planners began to encourage the building of high-rise residential towers in Vancouver's
West EndThe West End of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is on the downtown peninsula neighbouring Stanley Park and the areas of Yaletown, Coal Harbour and the downtown financial and central business districts....
, subject to strict requirements for setbacks and open space to protect sight lines and preserve green space. The success of these dense but livable neighbourhoods led to the redevelopment of urban industrial sites, such as North False Creek and Coal Harbour, beginning in the mid-1980s. The result is a compact urban core that has gained international recognition for its "high amenity and 'livable' development". More recently, the city has been debating "ecodensity"—ways in which "density, design, and land use can contribute to environmental sustainability, affordability, and livability."
Architecture
The
Vancouver Art GalleryThe Vancouver Art Gallery is the fifth-largest art gallery in Canada and the largest in Western Canada. It is located at 750 Hornby Street in Vancouver, British Columbia...
is housed downtown in the
neoclassicalNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
former courthouse built in 1906. It was designed by
Francis RattenburyFrancis Mawson Rattenbury was an architect born in England, although most of his career was spent in British Columbia, Canada where he designed many notable buildings. Divorced amid scandal, he was murdered in England at the age of 68 by his second wife's lover.- Architectural career :Rattenbury...
, who also designed the
British Columbia Parliament BuildingsThe British Columbia Parliament Buildings are located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and are home to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia....
and the
Empress HotelThe Fairmont Empress is one of the oldest and most famous hotels in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Located on Government Street facing the Inner Harbour, the Empress has become an iconic symbol for the city itself...
in Victoria, and the lavishly decorated second Hotel Vancouver.
The 556-room Hotel Vancouver, opened in 1939 and the third by that name, is across the street with its copper roof. The Gothic-style Christ Church Cathedral, across from the hotel, opened in 1894 and was declared a heritage building in 1976.
There are several
modernModern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
buildings in the downtown area, including the
Harbour CentreHarbour Centre is a notable skyscraper in the central business district of Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The "Lookout" tower atop the office building makes it one of the tallest structures in Vancouver and a prominent landmark on the city's skyline...
, the Vancouver Law Courts and surrounding plaza known as
Robson SquareRobson Square is a landmark civic centre and public plaza of modernist concrete, located in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the site of the Provincial Law Courts, UBC Robson Square, government office buildings, and public space connecting the newer development to the Vancouver Art...
(designed by
Arthur EricksonArthur Charles Erickson, was a Canadian architect and urban planner. He studied Asian languages at the University of British Columbia, and later earned a degree in architecture from McGill University.-Biography:...
) and the Vancouver Library Square (designed by
Moshe SafdieMoshe Safdie, CC, FAIA is an architect, urban designer, educator, theorist, and author. Born in the city of Haifa, then Palestine and now Israel, he moved with his family to Montreal, Canada, when he was 15 years old.-Career:...
), reminiscent of the
ColosseumThe Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre , is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire...
in Rome, and the recently completed
Woodward's buildingThe Woodward's building was a historic building in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The original portion of the building was constructed in 1903 for the Woodward's Department Store when that area of Cordova Street was the heart of Vancouver's retail shopping district. ...
Redevelopment (designed by
Gregory HenriquezGregory Henriquez is a Canadian architect, best known for the design of community-based mixed-use, institutional and social housing projects in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Canada...
).
The original
BC HydroThe BC Hydro and Power Authority is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia generally known simply as BC Hydro. It is the main electric distributor, serving 1.8 million customers in most areas, with the exception of the Kootenay region, where FortisBC, a subsidiary of Fortis...
headquarters building (designed by Ron Thom and Ned Pratt) at Nelson and Burrard Streets is a
modernistModernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
high-rise, now converted into the Electra condominiums. Also notable is the "concrete waffle" of the MacMillan-Bloedel building on the north-east corner of the Georgia and Thurlow intersection.
A prominent addition to the city's landscape is the giant tent-frame
Canada PlaceCanada Place is a building situated on the Burrard Inlet waterfront of Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the home of the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Pan Pacific Hotel, Vancouver's World Trade Centre, and the world's first permanent IMAX 3D theatre . The building's exterior is covered by...
, the former Canada Pavilion from the 1986 World Exposition, which includes part of the Convention Centre, the Pan-Pacific Hotel, and a cruise ship terminal. Two modern buildings that define the southern skyline away from the downtown area are City Hall and the Centennial Pavilion of Vancouver Hospital, both designed by Townley and Matheson in 1936 and 1958 respectively.
A collection of
EdwardianEdwardian architecture is the style popular when King Edward VII of the United Kingdom was in power; he reigned from 1901 to 1910, but the architecture style is generally considered to be indicative of the years 1901 to 1914....
buildings in the city's old downtown core were, in their day, the tallest commercial buildings in the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. These were, in succession, the Carter-Cotton Building (former home of
The Vancouver ProvinceThe Province is a daily, tabloid format newspaper published in British Columbia by Postmedia. It has been a daily newspaper since 1898.According to a recent NADbank survey, The Provinces average weekday readership was 520,100, making it British Columbia's most read newspaper...
newspaper), the
Dominion BuildingThe Dominion Building , is a commercial building in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located on the edge of Gastown , it was Vancouver's first steel-framed high-rise. At 53 m , the thirteen-storey, Second Empire style building was the tallest commercial building in the British Empire upon its...
(1907) and the
Sun TowerThe Sun Tower is a 17 storey Beaux-Arts building at 100 West Pender Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is known for its faux-patina steel dome painted to imitate copper cladding. Nine nude muses, the "nine maidens" supporting the cornice line can be seen...
(1911), the former two at Cambie and Hastings Streets and the latter at Beatty and Pender Streets.
The Sun Tower's
cupolaIn architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
was finally exceeded as the Empire's tallest commercial building by the elaborate
Art DecoArt deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
Marine BuildingThe Marine Building is a skyscraper located at 355 Burrard Street in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada near the Financial District, designed by McCarter Nairne and Partners. It is renowned for its Art Deco details....
in the 1920s. The Marine Building is known for its elaborate ceramic tile facings and brass-gilt doors and elevators, which make it a favourite location for movie shoots. Topping the
list of tallest buildings in Vancouver is Living Shangri-La at 201 metres (659 ft) and 62 storeys. The second-tallest building in Vancouver is
One Wall CentreOne Wall Centre, also known as the Sheraton Wall Centre - North Tower, is currently the second-tallest completed building in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The skyscraper is located at a high point on the downtown peninsula of Vancouver and its address is 1088 Burrard Street.One Wall Centre...
at 150 metres (491 ft) and 48 storeys, followed closely by the
Shaw TowerShaw Tower located at 1067 W. Cordova St in Downtown Vancouver's Coal Harbour is home to Shaw Communications' headquarters for Lower Mainland Operations and credited to local architect James K. M. Cheng....
at 149 metres (489 ft).
Demographics
Canada's national statistics agency estimated the population of the Vancouver metropolitan area to be 2,328,000 as of July 1, 2009. BC Stats estimated the population of the city proper to be 642,843 in 2010. Approximately 73 percent of the people living in Metro Vancouver live outside the city.
Vancouver has been called a "city of neighbourhoods", each with a distinct character and ethnic mix. People of English, Scottish, and Irish origins were historically the largest ethnic groups in the city, and elements of British and Irish society and culture are still visible in some areas, particularly South Granville and Kerrisdale. Germans are the next-largest European ethnic group in Vancouver and were a leading force in the city's society and economy until the rise of anti-German sentiment with the outbreak of
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1914. Today the
ChineseChinese Canadians are Canadians of Chinese descent. They constitute the second-largest visible minority group in Canada, after South Asian Canadians...
are the largest visible ethnic group in the city, with a diverse
Chinese-speakingThe Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
community, and several languages, including
CantoneseCantonese is a dialect spoken primarily in south China.Cantonese may also refer to:* Yue Chinese, the Chinese language that includes Cantonese* Cantonese cuisine, the cuisine of Guangdong province...
and Mandarin. Neighbourhoods with distinct ethnic commercial areas include the Chinatown, Punjabi Market, Little Italy, Greektown, and (formerly) Japantown.
Since the 1980s, immigration has dramatically increased, making the city more ethnically and linguistically diverse; 52% do not speak English as their first language.
Almost 30% of the city's inhabitants are of
ChineseHan Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
heritage. In the 1980s, an influx of immigrants from Hong Kong in anticipation of
the transfer of sovereigntyThe transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, referred to as ‘the Return’ or ‘the Reunification’ by the Chinese and ‘the Handover’ by others, took place on 1 July 1997...
from the United Kingdom to China, combined with an increase in immigrants from mainland China and previous immigrants from
TaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, established in Vancouver one of the highest concentrations of ethnic Chinese residents in North America. This arrival of Asian immigrants continued a tradition of immigration from around the world that had established Vancouver as the second-most popular destination for immigrants in Canada after
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. Other significant
AsianThis is a list of Canadians of Asian ancestry. Asian Canadians comprise the largest visible minority in Canada, at 11% of the Canadian population.- Ethnicity :List of Asian Canadian Demographies according to the 2006 Census- Notable Asian Canadians :...
ethnic groups in Vancouver are South Asian (mostly
PunjabiThe Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
, usually referred to as Indo-Canadian),
FilipinoThe Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
,
KoreanThe Korean people are an ethnic group originating in the Korean peninsula and Manchuria. Koreans are one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogeneous groups in the world.-Names:...
,
VietnameseThe Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
, Japanese,
IndonesianIndonesian people may be:*any nation or ethnic group of Indonesia**see Demographics of Indonesia**see Overseas Indonesians**see Ethnic groups in Indonesia**see Native Indonesians...
, and Cambodians. Despite increases in Latin American immigration to Vancouver in the 1980s and 90s, recent immigration has been comparatively low, and African immigration has been similarly stagnant (3.6% and 3.3% of total immigrant population, respectively.) In 1981, less than 7% of the population belonged to a
visible minorityA visible minority is a person who is visibly not one of the majority race in a given population.The term is used as a demographic category by Statistics Canada in connection with that country's Employment Equity policies. The qualifier "visible" is important in the Canadian context where...
group. By 2008, this proportion had grown to 51%.
Prior to the Hong Kong diaspora of the 1990s, the largest non-British ethnic groups in the city were
IrishIrish Canadian are immigrants and descendants of immigrants who originated in Ireland. 1.2 million Irish immigrants arrived, 1825 to 1970, at least half of those in the period from 1831-1850. By 1867, they were the second largest ethnic group , and comprised 24% of Canada's population...
and German, followed by
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n, Italian,
UkrainianA Ukrainian Canadian is a person of Ukrainian descent or origin who was born in or immigrated to Canada. In 2006, there were an estimated 1,209,085 persons residing in Canada of Ukrainian origin, making them Canada's ninth largest ethnic group; and giving Canada the world's third-largest...
and
ChineseChinese Canadians are Canadians of Chinese descent. They constitute the second-largest visible minority group in Canada, after South Asian Canadians...
. From the mid 1950s until the 1980s, many
PortuguesePortuguese Canadians are both Canadians born with Portuguese descent or citizenship or Portuguese born with Canadian descent or citizenship . According to StatCan, in 2006, there were 410,850 persons of Portuguese descent living in Canada, or 1.3% of the nation's total population...
immigrants came to Vancouver and the city now has the third-largest Portuguese population in Canada. Eastern Europeans, including
YugoslavsYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
,
RussiansThe Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
, Czechs,
Polesthumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
and Hungarians began immigrating after the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe after
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
GreekThe Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
immigration increased in the late 1960s and early 70s, with most settling in the
KitsilanoKitsilano is an upmarket neighbourhood on the West Side of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Known colloquially as "Kits", this neighborhood is home to many yuppies, young families and students as well as yoga studios, organic markets, cafes and Vancouver's Greektown. The primary...
area. Vancouver also has a significant
aboriginalAboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
community of about 11,000 people.
Vancouver has a large
gay communityThe gay community, or LGBT community, is a loosely defined grouping of LGBT and LGBT-supportive people, organizations and subcultures, united by a common culture and civil rights movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality...
focused on the West End neighbourhood lining a certain stretch of Davie Street, recently officially designated as
Davie VillageDavie Village is a neighbourhood in the West End of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is the home of the city's gay subculture, and, as such, is often considered a gay village or "gaybourhood". It is centred on Davie Street and roughly includes the area between Burrard and Jervis streets...
, though the gay community is omnipresent throughout West End and Yaletown areas. Vancouver is host to one of the country's largest annual
gay pride paradePride parades for the LGBT community are events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture. The events also at times serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage...
s. British Columbia was the second Canadian jurisdiction (after
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
) to legalize
same-sex marriageOn July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act which provided a gender-neutral marriage definition...
.
| Canadian Census Population Growth by decade |
| Year |
1891 |
1901 |
1911 |
1921 |
1931 |
1941 |
1951 |
1961 |
1971 |
1981 |
1991 |
2001 The Canada 2001 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 15, 2001. On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count of Canada was 30,007,094. This was a 4% increase over 1996 Census of 28,846,761. In...
|
2006 The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...
|
| Vancouver |
13,709 |
26,133 |
100,401 |
117,217 |
246,593 |
275,353 |
344,833 |
384,522 |
426,256 |
414,281 |
471,644 |
545,671 |
578,041 |
| Greater Vancouver |
21,887 |
42,926 |
164,020 |
232,597 |
347,709 |
393,898 |
562,462 |
790,741 |
1,028,334 |
1,169,831 |
1,602,590 |
1,986,965 |
2,116,581 |
The largest religious group in Vancouver City is those with no religious affiliation, as is the case for the Vancouver CMA (Census Metropolitan Area), and for BC as a whole. Compared to the rest of Canada, the city of Vancouver has a lesser percentage of Catholics and Protestants, and almost seven times the percentage affiliated with Buddhism.
Religion in Vancouver City and Vancouver (CMA), compared with British Columbia and Canada
Religion
| Total
| %
| Total
| %
| Total
| %
| Total
| %
|
|
Vancouver City |
Vancouver (CMA) |
British Columbia |
Canada |
| Total |
539,630 |
100.0% |
1,967,480 |
100.0% |
3,868,875 |
100.0% |
29,639,035 |
100.0% |
| Catholic[1] |
102,315 |
19.0% |
364,790 |
18.5% |
675,320 |
17.5% |
12,936,910 |
43.6% |
| Protestant |
94,010 |
17.4% |
499,185 |
25.4% |
1,213,290 |
31.4% |
8,654,850 |
29.2% |
| Christian Orthodox |
9,090 |
1.7% |
26,520 |
1.3% |
35,655 |
0.9% |
479,620 |
1.6% |
| Christian,n.i.e.[2] |
23,600 |
4.4% |
101,620 |
5.2% |
200,340 |
5.2% |
780,450 |
2.6% |
| Muslim |
9,345 |
1.7% |
52,590 |
2.7% |
56,220 |
1.5% |
579,640 |
2.0% |
| Jewish |
9,620 |
1.8% |
17,270 |
0.9% |
21,230 |
0.5% |
329,995 |
1.1% |
| Buddhist |
37,140 |
6.9% |
74,550 |
3.8% |
85,540 |
2.2% |
300,345 |
1.0% |
| Hindu |
7,670 |
1.4% |
27,410 |
1.4% |
31,495 |
0.8% |
297,200 |
1.0% |
| Sikh |
15,200 |
2.8% |
99,000 |
5.0% |
135,310 |
3.5% |
278,410 |
0.9% |
| Eastern religions[3] |
1,250 |
0.2% |
5,580 |
0.3% |
9,975 |
0.3% |
37,550 |
0.1% |
| Other religions[4] |
2,455 |
0.5% |
6,195 |
0.3% |
16,205 |
0.4% |
63,975 |
0.2% |
| No religious affiliation[5] |
227,925 |
42.2% |
692,765 |
35.2% |
1,388,300 |
35.9% |
4,900,090 |
16.5% |
| Source:Canada 2001 Census The Canada 2001 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 15, 2001. On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count of Canada was 30,007,094. This was a 4% increase over 1996 Census of 28,846,761. In...
|
[1] Includes Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Polish National Catholic Church, Old Catholic
[2] Includes mostly answers of "Christian", not otherwise stated.
[3] Includes Baha'i, Eckankar, Jains, Shinto, Taoist, Zoroastrian and Eastern religions, not identified elsewhere.
[4] Includes Aboriginal spirituality, Pagan, Wicca, Unity – New Thought – Pantheist, Scientology, Rastafarian, New Age, Gnostic, Satanist, etc.
[5] Includes Agnostic, Atheist, Humanist, and No religion, and other responses, such as Darwinism, etc. |
Economy
With its location on the
Pacific RimThe Pacific Rim refers to places around the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The term "Pacific Basin" includes the Pacific Rim and islands in the Pacific Ocean...
and at the western terminus of Canada's
transcontinental highwayThe Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...
and rail routes, Vancouver is one of the nation's largest industrial centres. The
Port of VancouverThe Port of Vancouver was the name of the largest port in Canada, the largest in the Pacific Northwest, and the largest port on the West Coast of North America by metric tons of total cargo, with 76.5 million metric tons...
, Canada's largest and most diversified, does more than
C$The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
75 billion in trade with over 130 different economies annually. Port activities generate $10.5 billion in gross domestic product and $22 billion in economic output. Vancouver is also the headquarters of
forest productForestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
and mining companies. In recent years, Vancouver has become an increasingly important centre for
software developmentSoftware development is the development of a software product...
,
biotechnologyBiotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
,
aerospaceAerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
, video game development, animation studios and a vibrant film industry.
The city's scenic location makes it a major tourist destination. Visitors come for the city's gardens,
Stanley ParkStanley Park is a 404.9 hectare urban park bordering downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was opened in 1888 by David Oppenheimer in the name of Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada....
, Queen Elizabeth Park,
VanDusenVanDusen Botanical Garden is situated in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Named for local lumberman and philanthropist Whitford Julian VanDusen, it has been a public garden since its opening on August 30, 1975 and is managed by the Vancouver Park Board and run by a large staff of volunteers...
and the mountains, ocean, forest and parklands surrounding the city. Each year over a million people pass through Vancouver on
cruise shipA cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
vacations, often bound for
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
.
Vancouver is amongst the least affordable cities in which to live in the nation, with the highest housing prices in Canada. Several 2006 studies rank Vancouver as having the least affordable housing in Canada, ranking 13th least affordable in the world, up from 15th in 2005. The city has adopted various strategies to reduce housing costs, including
cooperative housingA housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
, legalized
secondary suiteSecondary suite is an urban planning term for an additional separate dwelling unit on a property that would normally accommodate only one dwelling unit. A secondary suite is considered "secondary" or "accessory" to the primary residence on the parcel. It normally has its own entrance, kitchen,...
s, increased density and
smart growthSmart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a...
. As of April 2010, the average two-level home in Vancouver sold for a record high of $987,500, compared with the Canadian average of $365,141.
Since the 1990s development of high-rise condominiums in the downtown peninsula has been financed, in part, by an inflow of capital from Hong Kong immigrants due to the former colony's 1997 handover to China. Such development has clustered in the
YaletownYaletown is an area of Downtown Vancouver approximately bordered by False Creek, Robson, and Homer Streets. Formerly a heavy industrial area dominated by warehouses and rail yards, since the Expo 86, it has been transformed into one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in the city...
and
Coal HarbourCoal Harbour is the name for a section of Burrard Inlet lying between Vancouver, Canada's downtown peninsula and the Brockton Peninsula of Stanley Park...
districts and around many of the
SkyTrainSkyTrain is a light rapid transit system in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. SkyTrain has of track and uses fully automated trains on grade-separated tracks, running mostly on elevated guideways, which helps SkyTrain to hold consistently high on-time reliability...
stations to the east of the downtown. The city's selection to co-host the
2010 Winter OlympicsThe 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
has also been a major influence on economic development. Concern has been expressed that Vancouver's increasing
homelessnessHomelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
problem may be exacerbated by the Olympics because owners of single room occupancy hotels, which house many of the city's lowest income residents, have begun converting their properties in order to attract higher income residents and tourists. Another significant international event held in Vancouver, the
1986 World ExpositionThe 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo '86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from Friday, May 2 until Monday, October 13, 1986...
, received over 20 million visitors and added $3.7 billion to the Canadian economy. Some still-standing Vancouver landmarks, including the SkyTrain public transit system and
Canada PlaceCanada Place is a building situated on the Burrard Inlet waterfront of Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the home of the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Pan Pacific Hotel, Vancouver's World Trade Centre, and the world's first permanent IMAX 3D theatre . The building's exterior is covered by...
, were built as part of the exposition.
Government
Vancouver, unlike other British Columbia municipalities, is incorporated under the
Vancouver CharterThe Vancouver Charter is a unique provincial statute that serves to incorporate the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The legislation, passed in 1953, superseded the Vancouver Incorporation Act and granted the city more and different powers than other communities possess under British...
. The legislation, passed in 1953, supersedes the
Vancouver Incorporation Act, 1921 and grants the city more and different powers than other communities possess under BC's
Municipalities Act.
The civic government has been dominated by the centre-right
Non-Partisan AssociationThe Non-Partisan Association is a civic-level electoral organization in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. There are, and have also been in the past, Non-Partisan Association political parties in the nearby municipalities of Burnaby, Richmond and Surrey.The NPA was established in 1937 to...
(NPA) since the Second World War, albeit with some significant centre-left interludes until 2008. The NPA fractured over the issue of
drugThe term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
policy in 2002, facilitating a landslide victory for the
Coalition of Progressive ElectorsThe Coalition of Progressive Electors is a municipal political party in the Canadian city of Vancouver, British Columbia.-Origins:...
(COPE) on a
harm reductionHarm reduction refers to a range of public health policies designed to reduce the harmful consequences associated with recreational drug use and other high risk activities...
platform. Subsequently, North America's first and only legal
safe injection siteInsite is the only legal supervised injection site in North America, located at 139 East Hastings Street, in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia. The DTES had 4700 chronic drug users in 2000 and has been considered to be the centre of an "injection drug epidemic"...
was opened for the significant number of intravenous heroin users in the city.
Vancouver is governed by the ten-member
Vancouver City CouncilVancouver City Council is the governing body of the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.The city is governed by the Vancouver Charter, not the Community Charter and the Local Government Act which are used for other municipal governments...
, a nine-member School Board, and a seven-member
Park BoardThe Vancouver Park Board is an elected board with exclusive possession, jurisdiction and control over public parks in the City of Vancouver. Established by section 485 of the Vancouver Charter, the Park Board , is one of the only elected bodies of its kind in Canada...
, all elected for three-year terms through an
at-largeAt-large is a designation for representative members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent the whole membership of the body , rather than a subset of that membership...
system. Historically, in all levels of government, the more affluent west side of Vancouver has voted along conservative or
liberalLiberalism has been a strong force in Canadian politics since the late 18th Century. While Canada has the same features of other liberal democracies in the Western democratic political tradition, it is, in some respects, an exemplar of liberalism. This article gives an overview of liberalism in...
lines while the eastern side of the city has voted along
left-wingIn politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
lines. This was reaffirmed with the results of the
2005 provincial electionThe 38th British Columbia general election was held on May 17, 2005, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia , Canada. The BC Liberal Party formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell...
and the
2006 federal electionThis is page shows results of Canadian federal elections in Greater Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast.-Regional profile:The city of Vancouver, along with the inner suburbs south of Burrard Inlet, tend to be very liberal and have always been heavily supportive of the New Democratic Party and Liberals...
.
Though polarized, a political consensus has emerged in Vancouver around a number of issues. Protection of urban parks, a focus on the development of
rapid transitA rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
as opposed to a freeway system, a harm reduction approach to illegal drug use, and a general concern about community-based development are examples of policies that have come to have broad support across the
political spectrumA political spectrum is a way of modeling different political positions by placing them upon one or more geometric axes symbolizing independent political dimensions....
in Vancouver.
In the
2008 Municipal ElectionThe 2008 Vancouver municipal election was held on November 15, 2008, filling seats on the Vancouver School Board, the Parks Board, the Vancouver City Council, and the position of Mayor of Vancouver. It was held at the same time as municipal elections throughout the province...
campaign, NPA incumbent mayor
Sam SullivanSam Sullivan, CM served as the 38th mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and has been invested as a Member of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian award...
was ousted as mayoral candidate by the party in a close vote, which instated Peter Ladner as the new mayoral candidate for the NPA.
Gregor RobertsonGregor Angus Bethune Robertson is a Canadian politician who has been the 39th Mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, since 2008. He was elected as part of the Vision Vancouver party slate...
, a former MLA for
Vancouver-FairviewVancouver-Fairview is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.- Demographics :-MLAs:#Gary Farrell-Collins, Liberal #Gregor Robertson, NDP #Jenn McGinn, NDP...
and head of
Happy PlanetHappy Planet is a private company in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, known for making organic juices and smoothies. The company was started in 1994 by Randal Ius and Gregor Robertson. They originally started out with one farm producing carrot juice. At first the company supplied primarily...
, was the mayoral candidate for Vision Vancouver, the other main contender. Vision Vancouver candidate Gregor Robertson defeated Ladner by a considerable margin, nearing 20,000 votes. The balance of power was significantly shifted to Vision Vancouver, which held 7 of the 10 spots for councillor. Of the remaining three, COPE received 2 and the NPA 1. For park commissioner, 4 spots went to Vision Vancouver, 1 to the Green Party, 1 to COPE, and 1 to NPA. For school trustee, there were 4 Vision Vancouver seats, 3 COPE seats, and 2 NPA seats.
There are 21 municipalities in Metro Vancouver, whose seat is in Burnaby. While each has a separate municipal government, Metro Vancouver oversees common services within the area such as water, sewage, transportation, and regional parks.
Provincial and federal representation
In the
Legislative Assembly of British ColumbiaThe Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....
, Vancouver is represented by 11
Members of the Legislative AssemblyA Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
(MLAs). There are currently five seats held by the
BC Liberal PartyThe British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
and five by the BC New Democratic Party and one vacant seat.
In the
Canadian House of CommonsThe House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
, Vancouver is represented by five Members of Parliament. In the most recent 2011 Federal Election, the NDP held on to two seats (
Vancouver EastVancouver East is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1935....
and
Vancouver KingswayVancouver Kingsway is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1953 to 1988 and since 1997. It is located in Vancouver.-Demographics:...
) while the
LiberalsThe Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
retained two (
Vancouver QuadraVancouver Quadra is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1949....
and
Vancouver CentreVancouver Centre is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1917.-Geography:...
), their only seats in BC. The
ConservativesThe Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
broke through by winning
Vancouver SouthVancouver South is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1917 to 1997, and since 2004. It covers the southern portion of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia....
, their first win in the city since 1988.
In the
2004 federal electionsThe Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
, the
Liberal Party of CanadaThe Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
won four seats and the federal
New Democratic PartyThe New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
(NDP) one. In the
2006 federal electionsThe 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
, all the same Members of Parliament were re-elected. However, on February 6, 2006,
David EmersonDavid Lee Emerson, PC, OBC is a Canadian politician, businessman and civil servant.Emerson is a former Member of Parliament for the riding of Vancouver Kingsway. He was first elected as a Liberal and served as Minister of Industry under Prime Minister Paul Martin...
of
Vancouver KingswayVancouver Kingsway is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1953 to 1988 and since 1997. It is located in Vancouver.-Demographics:...
defected to the
Conservative PartyThe Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
, giving the Conservatives one seat in Vancouver. In the
2008 federal electionThe 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
, the NDP took the Vancouver Kingsway seat vacated by Emerson, giving the NDP two seats to the Liberals' three.
Policing and crime
While most of the Lower Mainland is policed by the
Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceThe Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
's "E" Division, Vancouver operates the
Vancouver Police DepartmentThe Vancouver Police Department is the police force for the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the province after RCMP "E" Division.VPD was the first Canadian police force...
, with a strength of 1,174 sworn members and an operating budget of $149 million in 2005. Over 16% of the city's budget was spent on police protection in 2005.
The Vancouver Police Department's operational divisions include a
bicycle squadA Police bicycle is a land vehicle used by police departments, most commonly in the form of a mountain bicycle. They are designed to meet the requirements unique to each department....
, a
marine squadWater police, also called harbour patrols, port police, marine/maritime police, nautical patrols, bay constables or river police, are police officers, usually a department of a larger police organisation, who patrol in water craft...
, and a
dog squadA police dog, often referred to as a "K-9 dog" in some areas , is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work...
. It also has a
mounted squadMounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. They continue to serve in remote areas and in metropolitan areas where their day-to-day function may be picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and...
, used primarily to patrol Stanley Park and occasionally the
Downtown EastsideThe Downtown Eastside is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is known as "Canada's poorest postal code"....
and West End, as well as for crowd control. The police work in conjunction with civilian and volunteer run Community Police Centres. In 2006, the police department established its own
Counter Terrorism UnitCounter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...
. In 2005, a new transit police force, the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police Service (now South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service), was established with full police powers.
Although it is illegal, Vancouver police generally do not arrest people for possessing small amounts of
marijuanaCannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
. In 2000 the Vancouver Police Department established a specialized drug squad, "Growbusters", to carry out an aggressive campaign against the city's estimated 4,000
hydroponicHydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel, mineral wool, or coconut husk.Researchers discovered in the 18th...
marijuana growing operations (or grow-ops) in residential areas. As with other law enforcement campaigns targeting marijuana this initiative has been sharply criticized.
As of 2008, Vancouver had the seventh highest
crime rateUnder the Canadian constitution, the power to establish criminal law and rules of investigation and trying crimes is vested in the federal government...
, dropping 3 spots since 2005, among Canada's 27 census metropolitan areas. However, as with other Canadian cities, the over-all crime rate has been falling "dramatically". Vancouver's
property crimeProperty crime is a category of crime that includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime only involves the taking of money or property, and does not involve force or threat of force against a victim...
rate is particularly high, ranking among the highest for major North American cities. But even property crime dropped 10.5% between 2004 and 2005. For 2006, Metro Vancouver had the highest rate of gun-related violent crime of any major metropolitan region in Canada, with 45.3 violent offences involving guns for every 100,000 people in Metro Vancouver, slightly higher than
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
at 40.4 but far above the national average of 27.5. A series of gang-related incidents in early 2009 escalated into what police have dubbed a
gang warIn early 2009, a series of gang-related shootings occurred due to what police describe as a gang war in Vancouver. Alleged participants include the Independent Soldiers, the Sanghera Crime Group, the Buttar Gang, the Bacon Brothers , the United Nations Gang, the Red Scorpions, and the Vancouver...
. Vancouver plays host to special events such as the
Asia-Pacific Economic CooperationAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region...
conference, the Clinton-Yeltsin Summit, or the
Symphony of FireThe Symphony of Fire is an annual multi-day fireworks exhibition and friendly international competition held around the world, most notably in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
fireworks show that require significant policing. The
1994 Stanley Cup riotThe 1994 Vancouver Stanley Cup Riot occurred in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on the evening of June 14, 1994 and continued into the following morning...
overwhelmed police and injured as many as 200 people. A second riot took place following the
2011 Stanley Cup FinalsThe 2011 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League , and the culmination of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was the 118th year of the Stanley Cup's presentation. The Eastern Conference Champion Boston Bruins defeated the Western Conference Champion Vancouver...
.
Military
Vancouver is the location of the
Canadian ForcesThe Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
Land Forces Western Area headquarters of the
39 Canadian Brigade GroupThe 39 Canadian Brigade Group is part of Land Force Western Area of the Canadian Army. It is composed of Canadian Forces Primary Reserve units which are based in British Columbia. No. 39 CBG is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the Jericho Garrison on West 4th Avenue...
, at
Jericho BeachJericho Beach, a popular Vancouver beach, is located west of the seaside neighbourhood of Kitsilano. It is surrounded by Jericho Beach Park, a large grassy area with a pond, which is a good picnic destination. In the local Indigenous Sḵwxwú7mesh language, Jericho Beach is iy'a'l'mexw meaning "good...
. Local primary reserve units include
The Seaforth Highlanders of CanadaThe Seaforth Highlanders of Canada is a light infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces Primary Reserve based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The regiment is subordinate to 39 Canadian Brigade Group, Land Forces Western Area...
and The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own), based at the
Seaforth ArmouryThe Seaforth Armoury is a Canadian Forces armoury located at 1650 Burrard Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the home of The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, a Primary Reserve Infantry unit...
and the
Beatty Street Drill HallThe Beatty Street Drill Hall is a Canadian Forces armoury located at 620 Beatty Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the home of The British Columbia Regiment , an armoured reconnaissance reserve regiment, the oldest military unit in Vancouver, and the most senior militia in the province...
, respectively, and the 15th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery. The Naval Reserve Unit
HMCS DiscoveryHMCS Discovery is a Royal Canadian Navy Reserve division and shore facility based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Created during World War II from the Vancouver Half Company of the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve, Discovery was used for recruitment and training, and provided almost 8,000...
is based on
Deadman's IslandDeadman Island is a 3.8 ha island to the south of Stanley Park in Coal Harbour in Vancouver, British Columbia. The indigenous Sḵwxwú7mesh name is "skwtsa7s", meaning simply "island." Officially designated "Deadman Island" by the Geographical Names Board of Canada in 1937. it is commonly referred to...
in Stanley Park.
RCAF Station Jericho BeachRCAF Station Jericho Beach, originally known as the Jericho Beach Air Station, was one of the first Canadian air stations opened by the Canadian Air Board. Jericho Beach is located in Vancouver, British Columbia....
, the first air base in Canada, was taken over by the
Canadian ArmyThe Canadian Army , previously called Land Force Command, is responsible for army operations within the Canadian Forces. The current size of the Army is 19,500 regular soldiers and 16,000 reserve soldiers, for a total of around 35,500 soldiers...
in 1947 when sea planes were replaced by long-range aircraft. Most of the base facilities were transferred to the City of Vancouver in 1969 and the area renamed "Jericho Park".
Education
The
Vancouver School BoardVancouver School Board is a school district based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A board of nine trustees manage this district that serves the city of Vancouver and the University Endowment Lands....
enrolls more than 110,000 students in its elementary, secondary, and
post-secondaryHigher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
institutions, making it the second-largest
school districtSchool districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
in the province. The district administers about 74 elementary schools, 17 elementary annexes, 18 secondary schools, 7
adult educationAdult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. Adult education takes place in the workplace, through 'extension' school or 'school of continuing education' . Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning centers...
centres, 2 Vancouver Learn Network schools, all which include 18
French immersionFrench immersion is a form of bilingual education in which a child who does not speak French as his or her first language receives instruction in school in French...
, a
MandarinStandard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
bilingual, a
fine arts schoolByng Arts Mini School is a School District 39 Vancouver Mini School program for literary, media, visual, music, and performing arts. The school is located within Lord Byng Secondary School in West Point Grey in Vancouver, British Columbia....
, gifted, and
MontessoriMontessori education is an educational approach developed by Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori. Montessori education is practiced in an estimated 20,000 schools worldwide, serving children from birth to eighteen years old.-Overview:...
. More than 46 independent schools of a wide variety are also eligible for partial provincial funding and educate approximately 10% of pupils in the city.
There are five public universities in the Greater Vancouver area, the largest being the
University of British ColumbiaThe University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
(UBC) and
Simon Fraser UniversitySimon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
(SFU), with a combined enrollment of more than 80,000 undergraduates, graduates, and professional students in 2008.
UBC consistently ranks among the 40 best universities in the world, and is among the 20 best public universities,
and SFU ranked as the best comprehensive university in Canada by Maclean’s University Rankings in 2009 and among the 200 best universities in the world.
UBC's main campus is located on the
University Endowment LandsThe University Endowment Lands is an unincorporated area that lies to the west of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada surrounding the University of British Columbia...
on Point Grey, the tip of Burrard Peninsula, with the city-proper adjacent to the east. SFU's main campus is in Burnaby. Both also maintain campuses in Downtown Vancouver.
The other public universities are Capilano University in North Vancouver, the Emily Carr University of Art and Design on
Granville IslandGranville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in False Creek directly across from Downtown Vancouver's peninsula, under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge....
in Vancouver, and
Kwantlen Polytechnic UniversityKwantlen Polytechnic University is a public degree-granting undergraduate polytechnic university with four campuses located in the South Fraser region of British Columbia’s Lower Mainland...
with four campuses all outside the city proper. Four private institutions also operate in the region:
Trinity Western UniversityTrinity Western University is a private, Christian liberal arts university located in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.The school was founded in 1962 as Trinity Junior College, and now enrolls approximately 4000 students and sits on a campus....
in Langley, and
University Canada WestUniversity Canada West is a private for-profit educational institution in British Columbia, Canada. University Canada West was established by David Strong, a former president of University of Victoria. Dr. Verna Magee Shepherd, a former vice-president of British Columbia Institute of Technology ,...
,
NYIT CanadaNew York Institute of Technology is a private, non-sectarian, co-educational research university in New York City. NYIT has five schools and two colleges, all with a strong emphasis on technology and applied scientific research...
, and
Fairleigh Dickinson UniversityFairleigh Dickinson University is a private university founded as a junior college in 1942. It now has several campuses located in New Jersey, Canada, and the United Kingdom.-Description:...
, all in Vancouver.
Vancouver Community CollegeVancouver Community College is a public post-secondary institution in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1965, it is the largest and oldest community college in British Columbia, with over 140 certificate and diploma programs...
and
Langara CollegeLangara College is a public degree-granting college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which serves approximately 20,000 students annually through its university, career, and continuing studies programs...
are publicly funded college-level institutions in Vancouver, as is
Douglas CollegeEstablished in 1970, Douglas College is one of the largest public colleges in British Columbia, Canada serving 14,000 credit students, 9,000 continuing education students and 1,000 international students each year.-Programs:...
with three campuses outside the city. The
British Columbia Institute of TechnologyThe British Columbia Institute of Technology , is a public, coeducational, academic institution of higher education in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The polytechnic has five campuses located in the Metro Vancouver region, with the main campus in Burnaby...
in Burnaby provides polytechnic education. These are augmented by private institutions and other colleges in the surrounding areas of Metro Vancouver that provide career, trade, and university-transfer programs, while the
Vancouver Film SchoolVancouver Film School is a private entertainment arts school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1987, it has achieved international recognition. The Vancouver Film School has campus locations around Downtown Vancouver and comprises six buildings...
provides one-year programs in film production and video game design.
International students and English as a Second Language (ESL) students have been significant in the enrolment of these public and private institutions. For the 2008–2009 school year, 53% of Vancouver School Board's students spoke a language other than English at home.
Theatre, dance and film
Prominent theatre companies in Vancouver include the Arts Club Theatre Company and Vancouver TheatreSports League on
Granville IslandGranville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in False Creek directly across from Downtown Vancouver's peninsula, under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge....
, the
Vancouver Playhouse Theatre CompanyThe Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company is a regional theatre company, producing plays since 1962. Its first production was The Hostage by Brendan Behan, which opened on October 2, 1963...
, and
Bard on the BeachBard on the Beach is Western Canada's largest professional Shakespeare festival, which is held every year in open-ended tents on the waterfront in Vanier Park in Kitsilano, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
. Smaller companies include
Touchstone TheatreTouchstone Theatre is a professional theatre company in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 1976 by a group of University of British Columbia theatre graduates. Touchstone's focus is on the development and production of Canadian works. The current Artistic Director is Katrina Dunn, who...
,
Studio 58Studio 58 is an intensive theatre school located in Vancouver, British Columbia. A part of Langara College's Theatre Arts Program, the school offers professional theatre training for actors and production personnel. It is the only conservatory-style theatre training program in Western Canada...
, Pacific Theatre, the Firehall Arts Centre,
Carousel TheatreCarousel Theatre is a professional theatre company for young audiences located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company stages plays for young people, families and educators at the Waterfront Theatre and Performance Works on Granville Island and tours to elementary schools across...
, and the United Players of Vancouver.
Theatre Under the StarsTheatre Under The Stars, commonly referred to as TUTS, is one of Vancouver's largest musical theatre companies. The society presents two musicals during the summer season at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park, British Columbia.-History:...
produces shows in the summer at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. Annual festivals that are held in Vancouver include the
PuSh International Performing Arts FestivalThe PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is held in Vancouver, British Colombia each year. Produced over 20 days each January, the PuSh Festival presents work in the live performing arts: theatre, dance, music and various hybrid forms of performance...
in January and the
Vancouver Fringe FestivalThe Vancouver Fringe Festival is an annual alternative theatre festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada established in 1985. This event is organized and sponsored by the First Vancouver Theatrespace Society, a volunteer not-for-profit society...
in September.
The Scotiabank Dance Centre, a converted bank building on the corner of Davie and Granville, functions as a gathering place and performance venue for Vancouver-based dancers and choreographers. Dances for A Small Stage is a semi-annual dance festival held on Commercial Drive, in East Vancouver.
The
Vancouver International Film FestivalThe Vancouver International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for two weeks in late September and early October...
, which runs for two weeks each September, shows over 350 films and is one of the larger film festivals in North America. The
Vancouver International Film CentreThe Vancouver International Film Centre houses the 175-seat Vancity Theatre, along with a production room and offices for the Vancouver International Film Festival...
venue, the Vancity Theatre, runs independent non-commercial films throughout the rest of the year, as do the
Pacific CinémathèquePacific Cinémathèque is a not-for-profit Canadian film society and centre established in 1972. The mandate of the organization is to further the understanding of film and moving images in both Canadian and international contexts, foster critical media literacy, and advance cinema as art and a vital...
, the Festival Cinemas theatres, and the Hollywood and Rio theatres.
Libraries and museums
Libraries in Vancouver include the
Vancouver Public LibraryThe Vancouver Public Library is the third largest public library system in Canada, with more than 2.5 million items in its collections, 22 branches, approximately 375,000 cardholders, and nearly nine million item borrowings annually...
with its main branch at Library Square, designed by
Moshe SafdieMoshe Safdie, CC, FAIA is an architect, urban designer, educator, theorist, and author. Born in the city of Haifa, then Palestine and now Israel, he moved with his family to Montreal, Canada, when he was 15 years old.-Career:...
. The central branch contains 1.5 million volumes. Altogether there are twenty-two branches containing 2.25 million volumes.
The
Vancouver Art GalleryThe Vancouver Art Gallery is the fifth-largest art gallery in Canada and the largest in Western Canada. It is located at 750 Hornby Street in Vancouver, British Columbia...
has a permanent collection of nearly 10,000 items and is the home of a significant number of works by
Emily CarrEmily Carr was a Canadian artist and writer heavily inspired by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. One of the first painters in Canada to adopt a post-impressionist painting style, Carr did not receive widespread recognition for her work until later in her life...
. However, little or none of the permanent collection is ever on view.
In the
KitsilanoKitsilano is an upmarket neighbourhood on the West Side of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Known colloquially as "Kits", this neighborhood is home to many yuppies, young families and students as well as yoga studios, organic markets, cafes and Vancouver's Greektown. The primary...
district are the
Vancouver Maritime MuseumThe Vancouver Maritime Museum is a Maritime museum devoted to presenting the maritime history of Vancouver, British Columbia, and the Canadian Arctic. Opened in 1959 as a Vancouver centennial project, it is located within Vanier Park just west of False Creek on the Vancouver waterfront. The main...
, the H. R. MacMillan Space Centre, and the
Vancouver MuseumThe Museum of Vancouver is a local museum located in Vanier Park, Vancouver, British Columbia. The MOV is the largest civic museum in Canada. The museum was founded in 1894 and recently went through a major re-visioning process in 2008. It shares facilities with the H. R...
, the largest civic museum in Canada. The
Museum of Anthropology at UBCThe Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is renowned for its displays of world arts and cultures, in particular works by First Nations peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations...
is a leading museum of
Pacific Northwest CoastThe Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
First NationsFirst Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
culture. A more interactive museum is
Science WorldScience World at Telus World of Science, Vancouver is a science centre run by a not-for-profit organization in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
at the head of
False CreekFalse Creek is a short inlet in the heart of Vancouver. It separates downtown from the rest of the city. It was named by George Henry Richards during his Hydrographic survey of 1856-63. Science World is located at its eastern end and the Burrard Street Bridge crosses its western end. False Creek is...
. The city also features a diverse collection of Public Art.
Visual art
The
Vancouver SchoolThe Vancouver School of conceptual or post-conceptual photography is a loose term applied to a grouping of artists from Vancouver starting in the 1980s...
of
conceptualConceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
photography (often referred to as photoconceptualism) is a term applied to a grouping of artists from Vancouver who achieved international recognition starting in the 1980s. No formal "
schoolAn art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time, or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined within a number of years...
" exists and the grouping remains both informal and often controversial even among the artists themselves, who often resist the term. Artists associated with the term include
Jeff WallJeffrey "Jeff" Wall, OC, RSA is a Canadian artist best known for his large-scale back-lit cibachrome photographs and art-historical writing. Wall has been a key figure in Vancouver's art scene since the early-1970s...
,
Ian WallaceIan Wallace in Shoreham, England, is a Canadian artist based in Vancouver. He won the 2004 Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts...
,
Ken LumKen Lum is a Canadian artist of Chinese heritage who lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia. Working in a number of media including painting, sculpture and photography, his art is conceptually oriented, and generally concerned with issues of identity in relation to the categories of...
,
Roy ArdenRoy Arden is a Vancouver artist.Arden has had solo exhibitions at the Ikon Gallery, Galerie Tanit and Vancouver Art Gallery. Other exhibitions at the Kunstmuseum Basel, and the Museum of Modern Art, Antwerp . His work is included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art - was featured in...
,
Stan DouglasStan Douglas is an artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has exhibited internationally, including Documenta IX, 1992, Documenta X, 1997, Documenta XI, 2002 and the Venice Biennale in 1990, 2001 and 2005...
and
Rodney GrahamRodney Graham is an artist and musician born in Abbotsford, British Columbia. He is most often associated with the Vancouver School...
.
Music and nightlife
Musical contributions from Vancouver include performers of classical, folk and popular music. The
Vancouver Symphony OrchestraThe Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra performing in Vancouver, British Columbia. Over 240,000 people attend its live performances each year. It was founded in 1930 and plays in 12 venues. Its home is the Orpheum theatre. With an annual operating budget of $9.5 million, it is the...
is the professional orchestra based in the city. The
Vancouver OperaVancouver Opera is the second largest performing arts organization in British Columbia and the largest opera company in western Canada.It performs in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre accompanied currently by the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, one of two specialized opera orchestras in Canada...
is a major opera company in the city.
The city is home to a number of Canadian composers including
Rodney SharmanRodney Sharman is a Canadian composer and flutist based in Vancouver. His music has been performed in over 30 countries worldwide. He has won several international and national awards, including First Prize in the 1984 CBC Competition for Young Composers...
,
Jeffrey RyanJeffrey Ryan is a Canadian composer. His compositional style ranges from opera, art song, and choral music to chamber ensemble and orchestral works. Ryan has been commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra, the Windsor Symphony, Esprit Orchestra, Tapestry New Opera Works, the Arditti Quartet, and...
, and
Alexina LouieAlexina Louie, OC, FRSC is a Canadian composer of Chinese descent who has written many pieces for orchestra, as well as pieces for solo piano.-Biography:Alexina Louie was born in Vancouver and received an...
.
The city produced a number of notable
punk rockPunk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
bands, including the pioneering
hardcoreHardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
band
D.O.A.D.O.A. is a hardcore punk band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They are often referred to as the "founders" of hardcore punk, along with Black Flag, Bad Brains, Teen Idles, and Minor Threat. Their second album Hardcore '81 was thought by many to have been the first actual reference to...
. Other early Vancouver punk bands included the
SubhumansThe Subhumans are a punk band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that formed in 1978.Known by pejorative, punk rock nicknames, original members were known simply as "Useless" , "Dimwit" , "Wimpy" and "Normal" .-History:Dimwit quit the band shortly after their first 7" was released to join...
, the
Young CanadiansYoung Canadians were a Vancouver punk rock band active for just under two years. The YC's were influenced not only by the other punk bands in town at that time such as D.O.A. and the Pointed Sticks, but also by the Dolls, the Stooges, and 1960s garage rock...
, the
Pointed SticksPointed Sticks are a Canadian punk rock/power pop band from Vancouver. Originally active from 1978 to 1981, they reunited to perform in 2006 and have remained together since then....
, and
UJ3RK5U-J3RK5 was a Vancouver based band from the late 1970s. Their style was post punk/new wave, but was more art rock than synth pop. U-J3RK5's short lived local success was influenced by the music industry's infatuation with Martha and the Muffins styled male-female bands...
.
When
alternative rockAlternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
became popular in the 1990s, several Vancouver groups rose to prominence, including
54-4054•40 is a Canadian alternative rock group from Tsawwassen, British Columbia.The band takes their name from the slogan "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!", coined to express the expansionist agenda of James K...
,
OddsOdds are a Canadian alternative rock band. The band's power pop style has been frequently compared to that of contemporaries such as Squeeze, Elvis Costello, Weezer, Tom Petty, Sloan, The Clash, XTC, Franz Ferdinand, and The Tubes.-Odds :...
, Moist, the
Matthew Good BandMatthew Good Band was a Canadian alternative rock band formed by Matthew Good that existed from 1993 to 2002. The band consisted of Good , Dave Genn , Ian Browne and Geoff Lloyd from 1995 to 1999...
and
Econoline CrushEconoline Crush is a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada formed in 1992. Originally formed in Seattle, they eventually moved back to Vancouver...
. Recent successful Vancouver bands include
GobGob is a Canadian punk band from Langley, British Columbia formed in 1993, The Band consists of Tom Thacker, Theo Goutzinakis, Gabe Mantle and Steven Fairweather. Gob's most successful album is World According to Gob and their most successful song to date is I Hear You Calling...
and
StabiloStabilo are a rock band from Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. Formed around 1999, they are best known for their songs "Everybody", One More Pill, "Don't Look In Their Eyes", "Flawed Design", and "Kidding Ourselves"....
. Today, Vancouver is home to a number of popular independent bands such as
The New PornographersThe New Pornographers is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia.-History:The band's first four albums each ranked in the top 40 on The Village Voices Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers' album or a...
,
DestroyerDestroyer is a Canadian indie pop band fronted by singer-songwriter Dan Bejar.- Overview :Daniel Bejar is an independent pop singer-songwriter from Vancouver who formed Destroyer in 1995. He self-produced his first album, the lo-fi We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge, which was recorded at his in...
,
Tegan and SaraTegan and Sara are a Canadian indie band composed of identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin . Both Tegan and Sara play guitar and keyboard and write songs.-History:...
, and independent labels including
NettwerkThe Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...
and
MintMint Records is a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based independent record label founded in January 1991, by friends and campus radio enthusiasts Randy Iwata and Bill Baker....
. Vancouver also produced influential metal band
Strapping Young LadStrapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing...
and pioneering
electro-industrialElectro-industrial is a music genre drawing on EBM and post-industrial that developed in the mid-1980s. While EBM has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial has a deep, complex and layered sound. The style was pioneered by Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, and other groups,...
bands
Skinny PuppySkinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
and
Front Line AssemblyFront Line Assembly is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. Influenced by early Industrial acts such as Cabaret Voltaire, Portion Control, D.A.F., Test Dept, SPK, and Severed Heads, FLA has developed its own unique sound while combining...
; the latter's
Bill LeebBill Leeb is an electronic musician.He moved to Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada with his family when he was 13...
is better known for founding ambient pop super-group
DeleriumDelerium is a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act, Front Line Assembly...
. Other popular musical artists who made their mark from Vancouver include
Bryan AdamsBryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
,
Sarah McLachlanSarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
,
HeartHeart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
,
PrismPrism is a Canadian rock band originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They were active from 1977 to 1984 and are active again from 1988 to present. The band's sound is a mix of Album-Oriented Rock and pop rock. They have released a total of 13 albums to date...
,
TrooperTrooper is a Juno Award winning Canadian rock band that developed from a group formed by vocalist Ramon McGuire and guitarist Brian Smith in 1975...
,
ChilliwackChilliwack are a Canadian rock band that had their heyday during the 1970s and 1980s. Although they are a Canadian band, the members were all born in, as well as reside in, the United States of America. They are perhaps best remembered for their five biggest songs "My Girl ", "I Believe", "Whatcha...
, Payolas,
Images in VogueImages in Vogue was a Canadian New Wave group in the 1980s.The band was formed in 1981 in Vancouver, and originally consisted of vocalist Dale Martindale, guitarist Don Gordon , synth players Joe Vizvary and Glen Nelson, bassist Gary Smith and percussionist Kevin Crompton...
,
Michael BubléMichael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...
, Marianas Trench and
Spirit of the WestSpirit of the West are a Canadian folk rock band, who were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which made them one of Canada's most successful alternative rock acts in the 1990s.-Early years:The band began...
.
Larger musical performances are usually held at venues such as Rogers Arena,
Queen Elizabeth TheatreThe Queen Elizabeth Theatre is a performing arts venue in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Along with the Orpheum and the Vancouver Playhouse, it is one of three facilities operated by the Vancouver Civic Theatres Department .Formerly the home of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, which...
,
BC Place StadiumBC Place is a multi-purpose stadium located at the north side of False Creek, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the home field for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer . Originally opened on June 19, 1983 as the...
or the
Pacific ColiseumPacific Coliseum is an indoor arena, at Hastings Park, in Vancouver, British Columbia.Completed in 1968, at the former site of the Pacific National Exhibition, the arena currently holds 16,281, for ice hockey, though capacity at its opening was 15,713....
, while smaller acts are held at places such as the
Commodore BallroomThe Commodore Ballroom is a renowned music venue, dance floor, and nightclub located on 800 block of Granville Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. The building was built in the Art Deco style of the late 1920s by George Conrad Reifel and designed by architect H.H. Gillingham. Best known for...
, the
Orpheum Theatre The Orpheum is a theatre and music venue in Vancouver, British Columbia. Along with the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and the Vancouver Playhouse, it is part of the Vancouver Civic Theatres group of live performance venues...
and the
Vogue TheatreLocated in the heart of downtown Vancouver on 918 Granville Street, the Vogue Theatre has been one of the defining architectural achievements in Vancouver since its opening in 1941...
. The
Vancouver Folk Music FestivalThe Vancouver Folk Music Festival is an outdoor multistage music festival. It takes place annually, on the third weekend of July. Founded in 1978, this annual festival uses eight outdoor stages, located at Jericho Beach Park on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia.In the past it has...
and the
Vancouver International Jazz FestivalThe Vancouver International Jazz Festival is an annual summer event in Vancouver, Canada.The festival grew out of a local jazz scene that centred around Vancouver Co-op Radio , a community radio station, in the early 1980s...
showcase music in their respective genres from around the world.
Vancouver's Chinese population has produced several
CantopopCantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...
stars. Similarly, various Indo-Canadian artists and actors have a profile in
BollywoodBollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
or other aspects of
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
's entertainment industry.
Vancouver has a vibrant nightlife scene, whether it be food and dining, or bars and nightclubs. The
Granville Entertainment DistrictThe Granville Entertainment District is an area in Downtown Vancouver known for its vast assortment of bars, danceclubs and nightlife. The entertainment district centred on a seven-block stretch of the Granville Mall and immediately surrounding streets....
has the city's highest concentration of bars and nightclubs with closing times of 3am, in addition to various after-hours clubs open until late morning on weekends. The street can attract large crowds on weekends and is closed to traffic on such nights.
GastownGastown is a national historic site in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the northeast end of Downtown adjacent to the Downtown Eastside. Its historical boundaries were the waterfront , Columbia Street, Hastings Street, and Cambie Street, which were the borders of the 1870 townsite survey, the proper...
is also a popular area for nightlife with many upscale restaurants and nightclubs, as well as the
Davie VillageDavie Village is a neighbourhood in the West End of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is the home of the city's gay subculture, and, as such, is often considered a gay village or "gaybourhood". It is centred on Davie Street and roughly includes the area between Burrard and Jervis streets...
which is centre to the city's gay and lesbian
LGBTLGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
community.
Media
Vancouver is a major film and television production centre. Nicknamed
Hollywood NorthHollywood North, an allusion to Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States, a notable film centre in the world, is a colloquialism used to describe film production industries and or film locations north of its namesake...
, the city has been used as a film making location for nearly a century, beginning with the
Edison Manufacturing CompanyEdison Studios was an American motion picture production company owned by the Edison Company of inventor Thomas Edison. The studio made close to 1,200 films as the Edison Manufacturing Company and Thomas A. Edison, Inc. until the studio's closing in 1918...
. In 2008 more than 260 productions were filmed in Vancouver, making it the third-largest film centre in North America - after Los Angeles and New York City - and second only to Los Angeles in television production in the world.
A wide mix of local, national, and international newspapers are distributed in the city. The two major
English-languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
daily newspapers are
The Vancouver SunThe Vancouver Sun is a daily newspaper first published in the Canadian province of British Columbia on February 12, 1912. The paper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. It is published six days a week, Monday to Saturday...
and
The ProvinceThe Province is a daily, tabloid format newspaper published in British Columbia by Postmedia. It has been a daily newspaper since 1898.According to a recent NADbank survey, The Provinces average weekday readership was 520,100, making it British Columbia's most read newspaper...
. Also, two national newspapers distributed in the city are
The Globe and MailThe Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, which began publication of a "national edition" in B.C. in 1983 and recently expanded to include a three-page B.C. news section, and the
National PostThe National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
which centres around national news. Other local newspapers include
24H (a local free daily), the Vancouver franchise of the national free daily
MetroMetro International is a Swedish media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the Metro newspapers. Metro International's advertising sales have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 41% since launch of the first newspaper edition in 1995. It is a freesheet, meaning that distribution is...
, the twice-a-week
Vancouver CourierThe Vancouver Courier is a Canadian semiweekly local newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia by Postmedia Network Inc. Currently, it is Canada's largest distributed community newspaper, with a weekly distribtuion of 265,000...
, and the independent newspaper
The Georgia StraightThe Georgia Straight is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp...
. Three Chinese language daily newspapers,
Ming PaoMing Pao is a Chinese language newspaper published by Ming Pao Group in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, Ming Pao established four overseas branches in North America, each provides independent reporting on local news and collect local advertisements. Currently, only the two Canadian editions remain: Ming...
,
Sing Tao and
World JournalWorld Journal is a daily Chinese language newspaper serving overseas Chinese in North America. The newspaper has its headquarters in Whitestone, Queens, New York City....
cater to the city's large Cantonese and Mandarin speaking population. A number of other local and international papers serve other multicultural groups in the Lower Mainland.
Some of the local television stations include
CBCCBUT-DT is the CBC's television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and the flagship CBC Television station for the Pacific Time Zone. The station transmits its main terrestrial signal from a tower atop Mount Seymour....
, Citytv, CTV and Global BC. OMNI British Columbia produce daily newscasts in Cantonese, Mandarin,
PunjabiPunjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
and
KoreanKorean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
, and weekly newscasts in
TagalogTagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
, as well as programs aimed at other cultural groups.
Fairchild GroupThe Fairchild Group is a business conglomerate in Canada, with headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Fairchild Group operates various media properties under the Fairchild Media Group name. Fairchild operates Fairchild TV , Fairchild Radio , and Mandarin broadcaster TalentVision...
also has two television stations:
Fairchild TVFairchild TV or FTV is a Canadian Cantonese language Category A specialty channel. It is co-owned by majority owner Fairchild Media Group and Television Broadcasts Limited which owns 20% of the business...
and
TalentvisionTalentvision is a Canadian Mandarin Chinese Category A specialty channel. It is owned by the Vancouver based Fairchild Media Group and Television Broadcast Limited. Talentvision's studios are located in Richmond, British Columbia.Talentvision features programming from Mainland China as well as...
, serving Cantonese and Mandarin speaking audiences respectively.
Radio stations with news departments include
CBC Radio OneCBU is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts the programming of the CBC Radio One network in Vancouver, British Columbia. The station broadcasts from Steveston on 690 AM and from Mount Seymour on 88.1 FM....
, CKNW and News 1130. The
Franco-ColumbianFranco-Columbians or Franco-Colombiens are French Canadians or French speaking Canadians living in the Canadian province of British Columbia....
community is served by
Radio-CanadaThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
outlets
CBUFTCBUFT-DT is Radio-Canada's television station in Vancouver, serving the French-speaking population of British Columbia.The station also has rebroadcast transmitters in Chilliwack, Dawson Creek, Kamloops, Kelowna, Kitimat, Lillooet, Logan Lake, Prince George and Terrace.CBUFT was launched on...
channel 26 (
Télévision de Radio-CanadaTélévision de Radio-Canada is a Canadian French language television network. It is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, known in French as Société Radio-Canada. Headquarters are at Maison Radio-Canada in Montreal, which is also home to the network's flagship station, CBFT-DT...
),
CBUF-FMThe transmitter in Whitehorse is not owned by the CBC, but is licensed to the Association Franco-Yukonnaise.-External links:** at Canadian Communications Foundation...
97.7 (Première Chaîne) and
CBUX-FMCBUX-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts SRC's Espace musique network at 90.9 FM in Vancouver, British Columbia.The station broadcasts from the CBC Regional Broadcast Centre on Hamilton Street in Downtown Vancouver.-Programming:...
90.9 (
Espace musiqueEspace musique is the French-language music radio service of Canada's national public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation...
).
Media dominance is a frequently discussed issue in Vancouver as newspapers,
The Vancouver Sun,
The Province, the
Vancouver Courier and other local newspapers such as the
Surrey Now, the
Burnaby Now and the
Richmond News, are all owned by
Postmedia NetworkPostmedia Network Canada Corp. is a Canadian media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in newspaper publishing, news gathering and Internet operations....
. The concentration of single owned corporate media has spurred alternatives, making Vancouver a centre for independent online media including
The TyeeThe Tyee is an independent Canadian online web magazine, which focuses on coverage of news and media issues in British Columbia.The Tyee was launched in November 2003 by David Beers, a journalist who had previously been associated with the Vancouver Sun...
and
NowPublicNowPublic is a user-generated social news website. The company is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and was founded by Michael Tippett, Leonard Brody and Michael E. Meyers in 2005. On Sept. 2, 2009 the company was acquired by Clarity Digital Group, LLC, wholly owned by The Anschutz...
., as well as
hyperlocalThe term hyperlocal can be used as a noun in isolation or as a modifier of some other term . It connotes having the character of being oriented around a well defined, community scale area with primary focus being directed towards the concerns of its residents...
online media, like
Vancouver Is Awesome, which provide coverage of community events and local arts and culture.
Transportation
Vancouver's
streetcarA tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
system began on June 28, 1890 and ran from the (first)
Granville Street BridgeThe Granville Street Bridge is an eight lane bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia. It spans False Creek and is 27.4 metres above Granville Island. It is part of Highway 99.-History:...
to Westminster Avenue (now
Main StreetMain Street is a major north-south thoroughfare bisecting Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It runs from Waterfront Road by Burrard Inlet in the north, to Kent Avenue alongside the north arm of the Fraser River in the south.-Route:...
and
KingswayKingsway is a major road that crosses through the Canadian cities of Vancouver and Burnaby, British Columbia. Originally called Westminster Road, it was renamed Kingsway in 1913....
). Less than a year later, the Westminster and Vancouver Tramway Company began operating Canada's first interurban line between the two cities and beyond to
ChilliwackChilliwack is a Canadian city in the Province of British Columbia. It is a predominantly agricultural community with an estimated population of 80,000 people. Chilliwack is the second largest city in the Fraser Valley Regional District after Abbotsford. The city is surrounded by mountains and...
, with another line, the Lulu Island Railroad, from the Granville Street Bridge to
StevestonSteveston was originally a small town near Vancouver, British Columbia, but has since been absorbed into the city of Richmond, British Columbia....
via
KerrisdaleKerrisdale is a neighbourhood in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Kerrisdale is a neighbourhood featuring a mix of newer houses and older bungalows as well as various low and mid-rise rental and condo apartment buildings in its northern section. The neighbourhood is an ethnic mix of...
, which encouraged residential neighbourhoods outside the central core to develop. The
British Columbia Electric RailwayThe British Columbia Electric Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in southwestern British Columbia.Originally the parent company, and later a division, of BC Electric, the BCER operated public transportation in southwestern British Columbia from its establishment in the...
became the company that operated the urban and
interurban rail systemAn interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
, until 1958 when its last vestiges were dismantled in favour of "trackless"
trolleyA trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" overhead wire to the control and propulsion equipment of a tram or trolley bus. The use of overhead wire in a system of current collection is reputed to be the 1880 invention of Frank J....
and gasoline/diesel
busA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es. Vancouver currently has the second-largest
trolleybusA trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
fleet in North America, after San Francisco.
Successive city councils in the 1970s and 1980s prohibited the construction of freeways as part of a long term plan. As a result, the only major freeway within city limits is Highway 1, which passes through the north-eastern corner of the city. While the number of cars in Vancouver proper has been steadily rising with population growth, the rate of car ownership and the average distance driven by daily commuters have fallen since the early 1990s. Vancouver is the only major Canadian city with these trends. Despite the fact that the journey time per vehicle has increased by one-third and growing traffic mass, there are 7% fewer cars making trips into the downtown core. Residents have been more inclined to live in areas closer to their interests, or use more energy-efficient means of travel, such as mass transit and cycling. This is, in part, the result of a push by city planners for a solution to traffic problems and pro-environment campaigns.
Transportation demand managementTransportation demand management, traffic demand management or travel demand management is the application of strategies and policies to reduce travel demand , or to redistribute this demand in space or in time.In transport as in any network, managing demand can be a cost-effective alternative to...
policies have imposed restrictions on drivers making it more difficult and expensive to commute while introducing more benefits for non-drivers.
TransLink is responsible for roads and public transportation within Metro Vancouver. It provides a bus service, including the B-Line rapid bus service, a foot passenger and bicycle ferry service (known as
SeaBusThe SeaBus is a passenger-only ferry service in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It crosses Burrard Inlet to connect the cities of Vancouver and North Vancouver. The SeaBus is owned and operated by the Coast Mountain Bus Company and is an important part of TransLink's integrated public...
), an automated rapid transit service called
SkyTrainSkyTrain is a light rapid transit system in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. SkyTrain has of track and uses fully automated trains on grade-separated tracks, running mostly on elevated guideways, which helps SkyTrain to hold consistently high on-time reliability...
, and
West Coast ExpressWest Coast Express is the interregional commuter railway in British Columbia, Canada. Opened in 1995, it links Mission, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, and Port Moody with Waterfront Station in Downtown Vancouver, where it interchanges with SkyTrain rapid transit, SeaBus and...
commuter rail. Vancouver's SkyTrain system is currently running on three lines, the
Millennium LineThe Millennium Line is the second rapid transit line built in the SkyTrain light metro rapid transit system in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The line is owned and operated by TransLink. Millennium Line uses the colour yellow on route maps, wayfinding and station signage.-History:When...
, the Expo Line and the
Canada LineCanada Line is a rapid transit line in the Metro Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada. Opened in August 2009, it is the third line in TransLink's SkyTrain metro network, servicing Vancouver, Richmond, and the Vancouver International Airport...
.
Changes are being made to the regional transportation network as part of Translink's 10-Year Transportation Plan. The recently completed
Canada LineCanada Line is a rapid transit line in the Metro Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada. Opened in August 2009, it is the third line in TransLink's SkyTrain metro network, servicing Vancouver, Richmond, and the Vancouver International Airport...
, opened on August 17, 2009, connects
Vancouver International AirportVancouver International Airport is located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, about from Downtown Vancouver. In 2010 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements and passengers , behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, with non-stop flights daily to...
and the neighbouring city of
RichmondRichmond is a coastal city, incorporated in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Part of Metro Vancouver, its neighbouring communities are Vancouver and Burnaby to the north, New Westminster to the east, and Delta to the south, while the Strait of Georgia forms its western border...
with the existing SkyTrain system. The Evergreen Line is planned to link the cities of Coquitlam and Port Moody with the SkyTrain system by 2014. There are also plans to extend the SkyTrain
Millennium LineThe Millennium Line is the second rapid transit line built in the SkyTrain light metro rapid transit system in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The line is owned and operated by TransLink. Millennium Line uses the colour yellow on route maps, wayfinding and station signage.-History:When...
west to
UBCThe University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
as a subway under
BroadwayBroadway is a major east-west thoroughfare in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Vancouver's numbered avenue grid system, it runs in place of a 9th Avenue, between 8th and 10th. The street has four lanes for most of its course...
and capacity upgrades and an extension to the Expo Line. Several road projects will be completed within the next few years, including a replacement for the
Port Mann BridgeThe Port Mann Bridge is a steel tied arch bridge that spans the Fraser River connecting Coquitlam to Surrey in British Columbia near Vancouver. The bridge consists of three spans with an orthotropic deck carrying five lanes of Trans-Canada Highway traffic, with approach spans of three steel plate...
, as part of the Provincial Government's Gateway Program.
Other modes of transport add to the diversity of options available in Vancouver. Inter-city passenger rail service is operated from Pacific Central Station by
Via RailVia Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
to points east;
Amtrak CascadesThe Amtrak Cascades is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in partnership with the states of Washington and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and the province of British Columbia in Canada...
to Seattle; and
Rocky MountaineerRocky Mountaineer is a Canadian tour company offering Western Canadian vacation packages that operates trains on four rail routes through British Columbia and Alberta.-Background:...
rail tour routes. Small passenger ferries operating in False Creek provide commuter service to Granville Island, Downtown Vancouver and Kitsilano. Vancouver has a city-wide network of bicycle lanes and routes, which supports an active population of cyclists year-round. Cycling has become Vancouver's fastest growing mode of transportation.
Vancouver is served by
Vancouver International AirportVancouver International Airport is located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, about from Downtown Vancouver. In 2010 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements and passengers , behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, with non-stop flights daily to...
(YVR), located on
Sea IslandSea Island is located in the city of Richmond, British Columbia, directly across the river from Vancouver and fifteen kilometres from Vancouver's downtown core. The island is in the estuary of the Fraser River, giving it a unique ecological environment...
in the City of Richmond, immediately south of Vancouver. Vancouver's airport is Canada's second-busiest airport, and the second-largest gateway on the west coast of North America for international passengers.
HeliJetHelijet International is a helicopter airline and charter service based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It operates scheduled services and has a charter division servicing the film, television, aerial tour and general charter markets, as well as air ambulance services...
and float plane companies operate scheduled air service from Vancouver harbour and YVR south terminal. The city is also served by two
BC FerryBritish Columbia Ferry Services Inc. or BC Ferries is a de facto Crown Corporation that provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry services for coastal and island communities in the Canadian province of British Columbia...
terminals. One is to the northwest at
Horseshoe BayHorseshoe Bay is a West Vancouver community of about 1,000 permanent residents. Situated right on the western tip of West Vancouver, at the entrance to Howe Sound, the village marks the western end of Highway 1 on the British Columbia mainland....
(in West Vancouver), and the other is to the south, at
TsawwassenTsawwassen is a suburban, mostly residential community located on a peninsula in the southwestern corner of the Corporation of Delta, British Columbia, Canada. Tsawwassen provides the only road access to the community of Point Roberts, Washington via 56th Street...
(in
DeltaDelta is a district municipality in British Columbia, and forms part of Metro Vancouver. Located south of Richmond, it is bordered by the Fraser River to the north, the United States to the south and the city of Surrey to the east...
).
Sports and recreation
The mild climate of the city and close proximity to ocean, mountains, rivers and lakes make the area a popular destination for outdoor recreation. Vancouver has over 1,298 hectares (3,200 acres) of parks, of which,
Stanley ParkStanley Park is a 404.9 hectare urban park bordering downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was opened in 1888 by David Oppenheimer in the name of Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada....
, at 404 hectares (1,000 acres), is the largest. The city has several large beaches, many adjacent to one another, extending from the shoreline of Stanley Park around False Creek to the south side of English Bay, from Kitsilano to the
University Endowment LandsThe University Endowment Lands is an unincorporated area that lies to the west of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada surrounding the University of British Columbia...
, (which also has beaches that are not part of the city proper). The 18 kilometres (11.2 mi) of beaches include Second and Third Beaches in Stanley Park, English Bay (First Beach), Sunset,
Kitsilano BeachKitsilano Beach is one of the most popular beaches in Vancouver, especially in the warm summer months. Located at the north edge of the Kitsilano neighbourhood, the beach faces out onto Burrard Inlet...
, Jericho, Locarno, Spanish Banks, Spanish Banks Extension, Spanish Banks West, and
Wreck BeachWreck Beach is a popular clothing-optional beach located in Pacific Spirit Regional Park, which is in turn part of the University Endowment Lands just west of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
. There is also a freshwater beach at
Trout LakeJohn Hendry Park is 27 hectare park in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Trout Lake is located in the center of the park and is operated by the Vancouver Parks Board and the Grandview Community Association. The park is often referred to, by the locals, as Trout Lake.- History :The...
. The coastline provides for many types of water sport, and the city is a popular destination for boating enthusiasts.
Within a 20-to-30-minute drive from downtown Vancouver are the
North Shore MountainsThe North Shore Mountains are a mountain range overlooking Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. Their southernmost peaks are visible from most areas in Vancouver and form a distinctive backdrop for the city....
, with three ski areas:
Cypress Mountain- External links :* *...
,
Grouse MountainGrouse Mountain is one of the North Shore Mountains of the Pacific Ranges in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Exceeding 1,200 m in altitude at its peak, is the site of an alpine ski area in the winter season overlooking Greater Vancouver with four chairlifts facilitating 26 runs...
, and
Mount SeymourMount Seymour is a mountain located in Mount Seymour Provincial Park in the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia. It is a part of the North Shore Mountains, rising to the north from the shores of Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm to a summit of above the Indian River and Deep Cove neighbourhoods...
.
Mountain bikersMountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...
have created world-renowned trails across the North Shore. The
Capilano RiverThe Capilano River flows from north to south through the Coast Mountains on Vancouver's North Shore and empties into Burrard Inlet, opposite Stanley Park. The river is one of three primary sources of drinking water for residents of Greater Vancouver. The Cleveland Dam, built in 1954, impounds a...
, Lynn Creek and Seymour River, also on the North Shore, provide opportunities to
whitewaterWhitewater is formed in a rapid, when a river's gradient increases enough to disturb its laminar flow and create turbulence, i.e. form a bubbly, or aerated and unstable current; the frothy water appears white...
enthusiasts during periods of rain and spring melt, though the canyons of those rivers are more utilized for hiking and swimming than whitewater.
Running races include the
Vancouver Sun RunThe Vancouver Sun Run, sponsored by The Vancouver Sun newspaper, is a 10-km race held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada each year on the third Sunday in April since 1985...
(a 10 km (6.2 mi) race) every April; the
Vancouver MarathonThe BMO Vancouver Marathon is an annual race held on the first Sunday of May each year in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada . As the 2nd largest international marathon event in Canada, it has a certified running distance of 26 miles and 385 yards long. The most recent marathon saw over 14,000...
, held every May; and the Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon held every June. The Grouse Grind is a 2.9 kilometres (1.8 mi) climb up
Grouse MountainGrouse Mountain is one of the North Shore Mountains of the Pacific Ranges in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Exceeding 1,200 m in altitude at its peak, is the site of an alpine ski area in the winter season overlooking Greater Vancouver with four chairlifts facilitating 26 runs...
open throughout the summer and fall months, including the annual Grouse Grind Mountain Run. Hiking trails include the
Baden-Powell TrailThe Baden-Powell Trail is a rugged but well-maintained trail that traverses Greater Vancouver's North Shore region. It was named after Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the world Scouting Movement.- Geography :...
, an arduous 42 kilometres (26.1 mi) long hike from West Vancouver's
Horseshoe BayHorseshoe Bay is a West Vancouver community of about 1,000 permanent residents. Situated right on the western tip of West Vancouver, at the entrance to Howe Sound, the village marks the western end of Highway 1 on the British Columbia mainland....
to
Deep CoveDeep Cove refers to both the community in the easternmost part of the District of North Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada, and also the geographic name of the small bay beside the town. It is affectionately referred to as "The Cove" by local residents. Located at the foot of Mount Seymour,...
in the District of North Vancouver.
In 2009, Metro Vancouver hosted the
World Police and Fire GamesThisWorld Police and Fire Games are a biennial athletic event open to active and retired law enforcement and fire service personnel throughout the world...
.
Swangard StadiumSwangard Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Central Park in Burnaby, British Columbia. Primarily used for soccer, football, and athletics, the stadium is home to the Simon Fraser Clan football team. The stadium was home to the Vancouver Whitecaps of the NASL...
, in the neighbouring city of Burnaby, hosted games for the
2007 FIFA U-20 World CupThe 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the sixteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup , hosted by Canada from June 30 to July 22, 2007. Argentina defeated Czech Republic in the title game by the score of 2–1, thus managing a back-to-back world title, its fifth in the past seven editions, and sixth...
.
Vancouver, along with Whistler and Richmond, was the host city for the 2010 Winter Olympic and the Paralympic Games. On June 12, 2010, it played host to
Ultimate Fighting Championship 115UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 12, 2010 at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.-Background:...
(UFC 115) which was the fourth UFC event to be held in Canada (the other 3 were held in
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
).
In 2011, Vancouver will be hosting the
Grey CupThe Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
, the
Canadian Football LeagueThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
(CFL) championship game which is awarded every year to a different city which has a CFL team. The BC Titans of the
International Basketball LeagueThe International Basketball League was a short lived professional basketball league in the United States. The IBL was headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The league started in 1999 and ended in 2001.-History:...
played their inaugural season in 2009, with home games at the
Langley Event CentreThe Langley Events Centre is a multipurpose facility in the Township of Langley. The LEC debuted in April of 2009, hosting the 2009 BC Gymnastics Championships. It boasts an arena bowl with a 5,300 capacity for hockey games, and 6,696 capacity for concerts or other events, including 24 individual...
. Vancouver is a centre for the fast-growing sport of
UltimateUltimate is a sport played with a 175 gram flying disc. The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to an end zone in American football or rugby...
. During the summer of 2008 Vancouver hosted the World Ultimate Championships.
Vancouver has an adult
obesityObesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
rate of 12% compared to the
Canadian averageObesity in Canada is a growing health concern with health officials stating that it is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in Canada...
of 23%. 51.8% of Vancouverites are
overweightOverweight is generally defined as having more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being overweight is a common condition, especially where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary...
, making it the fourth thinnest city in Canada after
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
,
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, and Halifax.
| Club |
League |
Sport |
Venue |
Established |
Defunct |
Championships |
Vancouver CanucksThe Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
|
National Hockey LeagueThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
NHL |
Ice hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
|
Rogers Arena |
1970 |
– |
0 |
BC LionsThe BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team competing in the West Division of Canadian Football League . Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Lions play their home games at BC Place Stadium in Downtown Vancouver, having previously played at Empire Stadium in East Vancouver from 1954...
|
Canadian Football LeagueThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
CFL |
FootballCanadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...
|
BC Place StadiumBC Place is a multi-purpose stadium located at the north side of False Creek, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the home field for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer . Originally opened on June 19, 1983 as the...
|
1954 |
– |
6 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
MLS |
Association Football |
BC Place StadiumBC Place is a multi-purpose stadium located at the north side of False Creek, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the home field for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer . Originally opened on June 19, 1983 as the...
|
2011 |
- |
0 |
Vancouver CanadiansThe Vancouver Canadians are a minor league baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Canadians are the Northwest League affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. The C's have previously affiliated with the Oakland Athletics between 2000-2010. They are the only Canadian team in the...
|
Northwest League The Northwest League of Professional Baseball is a Class A-Short Season minor baseball league. The league is the descendant of the Western International League which ran as a class B league from 1937-1951 and class A from 1952-1954...
NWL |
Baseball (Single A Short Season) |
Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey StadiumScotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium is home to the Vancouver Canadians of the Northwest League and also plays host to the University of British Columbia baseball team.-Stadium history:...
|
2000 |
- |
1 |
Vancouver Whitecaps WomenThe Vancouver Whitecaps FC women are a Canadian women's soccer team founded in 2001 and a part of the greater Vancouver Whitecaps FC club. Originally called the Vancouver Breakers in 2001-02, the team is a member of the W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada...
|
W-League The USL W-League is a national women's soccer league in the United States on the 2nd level of women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, alongside the Women's Premier Soccer League and below Women's Professional Soccer....
|
Association Football |
Swangard StadiumSwangard Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Central Park in Burnaby, British Columbia. Primarily used for soccer, football, and athletics, the stadium is home to the Simon Fraser Clan football team. The stadium was home to the Vancouver Whitecaps of the NASL...
|
2003 |
- |
2 |
Vancouver GiantsThe Vancouver Giants are a major junior ice hockey team playing in the Western Hockey League . Inaugurated in 2001–02, the Giants have won one President's Cup in 2006 and one Memorial Cup in 2007 in their ten-season history...
|
Western Hockey LeagueThe Western Hockey League is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League as the highest level of junior hockey in Canada...
WHL |
Ice hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
|
Pacific ColiseumPacific Coliseum is an indoor arena, at Hastings Park, in Vancouver, British Columbia.Completed in 1968, at the former site of the Pacific National Exhibition, the arena currently holds 16,281, for ice hockey, though capacity at its opening was 15,713....
|
2001 |
– |
1 |
| BC Titans |
International Basketball League The International Basketball League was a short lived professional basketball league in the United States. The IBL was headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The league started in 1999 and ended in 2001.-History:...
IBL |
Basketball |
Langley Event Centre The Langley Events Centre is a multipurpose facility in the Township of Langley. The LEC debuted in April of 2009, hosting the 2009 BC Gymnastics Championships. It boasts an arena bowl with a 5,300 capacity for hockey games, and 6,696 capacity for concerts or other events, including 24 individual...
|
2009 |
2011; Ceased operations |
0 |
| Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a professional basketball team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1995, along with the Toronto Raptors, as part of the NBA's...
|
National Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
NBA |
Basketball |
Rogers Arena |
1995 |
moved 2001
to MemphisThe Memphis Grizzlies are a professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. The team is part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . Along with the Toronto Raptors, the Grizzlies were established in 1995 as part of the NBA's...
|
0 |
Sister cities
The City of Vancouver was one of the first cities in Canada to enter into an international sister cities arrangement. Special arrangements for cultural, social and economic benefits have been created with these sister cities.
| City |
Country |
Year of Partnership |
OdessaOdessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
|
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
|
1944 |
Yokohamais the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
|
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
|
1965 |
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
|
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
|
1978 |
GuangzhouGuangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
|
People's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
|
1985 |
| Los Angeles Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
|
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
|
1986 |
See also
- East Vancouver
East Vancouver is a region within the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Geographically, East Vancouver is bordered to the north by Burrard Inlet, to the south by the Fraser River, and to the east by the city of Burnaby...
- Garibaldi Lake volcanic field
- Mount Cayley volcanic field
The Mount Cayley volcanic field is a remote volcanic zone on the South Coast of British Columbia, Canada, stretching from the Pemberton Icefield to the Squamish River. It forms a segment of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt, the Canadian portion of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, which extends from Northern...
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