Vancouver

The major urban area of western Canada, Vancouver is the commercial, financial, and industrial center of the province of British Columbia. The city is located just north of the United States–Canada border, on a peninsula that projects into the coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean. Vancouver is the province’s largest city. The metropolitan area, which is known as Greater Vancouver, is Canada’s third largest population center after Toronto and Montreal. Greater Vancouver’s residents account for about half of British Columbia’s entire population.

Vancouver is located in the southwest corner of the Canadian mainland and occupies a beautiful site facing the mountains and the sea. A body of water known as Burrard Inlet bounds the northern and western parts of Vancouver’s peninsula. English Bay, which is part of the inlet, forms the scenic shoreline of the neighborhoods along the city’s west side. West of the peninsula, beyond the inlet and the Strait of Georgia, is a large island that shares the city’s name, Vancouver Island. The Fraser River shapes the peninsula’s southern boundary. North of the Burrard Inlet are the tall peaks of the Coast Ranges. About 120 miles (200 kilometers) south of the city is Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington.

Vancouver has mild, wet winters and moderately warm summers. The average January temperature is 38 °F (3.3 °C). In July the average temperature is about 64 °F (17.5 °C). Annual rainfall averages about 45.5 inches (115.5 centimeters), and there is an average of 19.0 inches (48.2 centimeters) of snow each year.

The city has more than 20 communities within its borders. The majority of Vancouver’s historic buildings are in the Hastings community, which includes Gastown and Chinatown, two popular tourist areas. Gastown, the original heart of the city, was restored to resemble the way it looked in the 1880s. Vancouver’s Chinatown is one of the largest in North America, though it is no longer the only Chinese neighborhood in the region. In 1971 the province designated both Gastown and Chinatown as historic districts.

Older sections of the city have undergone considerable change since 1960, when downtown high-rise office buildings and hotels were built. False Creek, a decaying downtown industrial area, was transformed into a residential development. Southeast False Creek includes Olympic Village, which was built for the 2010 Winter Olympics and later converted into residential housing.

North of Burrard Inlet, across Lions Gate Bridge, Vancouver’s suburbs extend up steep mountain slopes. Large residential suburbs are also located to the east and south of the city.

With more than 200 parks, Vancouver is noted for its recreational facilities. Stanley Park occupies about 1,000 acres (400 hectares) of the downtown area near the harbor entrance. On its grounds are a visitor center, an aquarium, gardens, lagoons, lakes, and various sports and recreational facilities. One popular attraction near the visitor center is the collection of totem poles. The park is famous for its forests of centuries-old Douglas firs and red cedars. Queen Elizabeth Park, located at the highest point in the city, was developed in the 1950s from an old stone quarry. The entire Vancouver skyline can be seen from the park’s viewing areas. Also on the grounds is the domed building that houses the Bloedel Floral Conservatory. Other public spaces within the city include VanDusen Botanical Garden and Hastings Park.

Historically, Vancouver has been British in character, with some Chinese influence. Its rich mix of nationalities has made the city one of North America’s most cosmopolitan places. People of Chinese descent form the largest minority. Greater Vancouver is also home to sizable numbers of South Asian (primarily Indian), Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Iranian, and First Nations residents.

Vancouver has long been noted as a cultural center. Important educational institutions in the area are the University of British Columbia (1908) and Simon Fraser University (1963). There are also several regional colleges and a film school. The city’s cultural institutions include the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, Science World, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, and the Vancouver Opera. Robson Square, a popular downtown destination, is the site of the Vancouver Art Gallery as well as a skating rink, shops, restaurants, and government offices.

BC Place Stadium is the home of the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League and the Vancouver Whitecaps, a soccer (football) team. Other professional sports teams based in the city include the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League, the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League, and the Vancouver Canadians of minor league baseball.

Greater Vancouver is a modern metropolitan area with a diverse economy. Most of the area’s jobs are in the service sector. Trade and transportation are the basic components of the economy. Other leading areas of employment within the service sector include health care and social assistance; professional, scientific, and technical work; financial services; tourism; and educational services. Vancouver has become a center for high-technology industries and for television and film production. Forestry and mining are also important economic activities. The chief manufacturing industries refine oil, process fish, forest products, and agricultural products, and produce metals, chemicals, boats, trucks, and machinery for sawmilling.

Referred to as Canada’s Gateway to the Pacific, Vancouver is an important trade and transportation hub. It is linked by shipping services with ports in the United States, China, and Japan, as well as in Europe and Central and South America. Products of western Canada’s farms, ranches, forests, mines, and industries are sent by rail to Vancouver and then by water to the ports of the world. The Port of Vancouver is a large, ice-free, deepwater harbor. With extensive docks and cargo facilities, it is one of Canada’s busiest ports. Exports include coal, grain, forest products, sulfur, potash, and chemicals. Vancouver is also a major port for cruise ships headed to Alaska.

The Trans-Canada Highway and major railroads connect Vancouver with other Canadian cities. Vancouver also is well connected by roads and railways with cities in the United States. Sea Island, at the mouth of the Fraser River, is the site of Vancouver International Airport. Regular ferry service connects the city with Vancouver Island.

Archaeological evidence indicates that the city site was inhabited by First Nations peoples in early times. Several Coast Salish peoples were living in the area when the Hudson’s Bay Company set up a trading post, Fort Langley, near the mouth of the Fraser River in 1827. In the late 1850s the town of New Westminster (now a suburb of Vancouver) was founded. Attracted by a gold rush in the Cariboo Mountains to the northeast, thousands of miners poured into the region in the 1860s.

Vancouver itself originated as a small sawmilling settlement, called Granville in the 1870s. In April 1886 it was incorporated as a city and renamed to honor Captain George Vancouver, an English naval officer who had navigated the coast in 1792. The city was destroyed by fire in June 1886, but it was quickly rebuilt. The next year Vancouver became the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the first trans-Canada railroad.

The depression of the mid-1890s halted Vancouver’s growth. The city soon prospered again, however, and displaced Victoria, the provincial capital, as the leading trade and commercial center on Canada’s West coast.

The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 strengthened Vancouver’s position as a seaport. The canal facilitated exports of fish, grain, and lumber from Vancouver to Europe as well as to the eastern coasts of the United States and Canada. Fish- and wood-processing industries also provided job opportunities for immigrant workers.

The metropolitan area continued to expand, and by the 1930s Vancouver had become Canada’s third largest city. During World War II the city was a center for war industries, particularly shipbuilding and repairing. A world’s fair was held in Vancouver in 1986, and in 2010 the city hosted the Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games. About half of the events were held at the winter sports area in Whistler, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of the city. Population (2021) 662,248; (2021), metropolitan area, 2,642,825.