Canada · British Columbia

Vancouver

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  • Population:~660,000 (city), ~2.8M (Metro Vancouver)
  • Timezone:PT/PDT
  • IATA:YVR

Overview

Vancouver is the largest city in British Columbia and the centre of Canada's third-largest metropolitan region — around 660,000 people in the city itself and roughly 2.8 million across Metro Vancouver. The city sits on the Burrard Peninsula between the saltwater Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River, the Strait of Georgia and the Coast Mountains, with Stanley Park's 405 hectares of rainforest five minutes from downtown, three ski areas inside forty minutes by car and BC Place — a 2010 Winter Olympics venue — directly above the SkyTrain.

Travel

Vancouver occupies the Burrard Peninsula on the southwest coast of mainland British Columbia, framed by the saltwater Burrard Inlet to the north, the Fraser River to the south, the Strait of Georgia to the west and the Coast Mountains rising directly behind the harbour skyline. The combination of ocean, river, mountain forest and a compact downtown peninsula sets Vancouver apart from the rest of Canada's major cities: Stanley Park's 405 hectares of mature rainforest sit five minutes from the downtown core, the North Shore mountains carry three ski areas within forty minutes of the city by car, and the Pacific lapping the Kitsilano and English Bay beaches is part of the daily urban view. Three layers structure the experience: the downtown peninsula (Coal Harbour, West End, Yaletown, Gastown, Chinatown, the central business district), the established residential west side (Kitsilano, Point Grey and the University of British Columbia at the far western tip), and the wider Metro Vancouver footprint (Richmond's large Chinese-Canadian community south of the city, Burnaby and Surrey east and southeast, the North Shore municipalities across Burrard Inlet). Vancouver is one of the most multicultural cities in Canada, with significant Chinese, South Asian, Filipino, Korean and Japanese populations shaping everyday food, retail and cultural life — Richmond in particular has the highest Chinese-Canadian population share of any Canadian municipality. The city stands on the traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. BC Place — the downtown retractable-roof stadium, a venue of the 2010 Winter Olympics — sits directly above the SkyTrain Stadium-Chinatown station, a few minutes' walk from much of the downtown peninsula.

Stanley Park — a 405-hectare oceanfront park at the northern end of the downtown peninsula, almost a fifth larger than New York's Central Park — defines Vancouver's everyday outdoor character. The Seawall, a continuous 9-kilometre paved path around the park's perimeter, gives near-360-degree views of the harbour, Lions Gate Bridge, Burrard Inlet and the North Shore mountains, and connects further into a 28-kilometre uninterrupted waterfront cycling and walking route across False Creek to Spanish Banks. Inside the park, the Brockton Point totem poles, the Vancouver Aquarium, Beaver Lake, the rose garden and Prospect Point overlook the bridge. The park is reached on foot from downtown's West End in under fifteen minutes.

Frequently asked questions

In spring, yes. Three ski areas on the North Shore — Grouse Mountain, Cypress and Mount Seymour — sit within about 40 minutes of downtown, while the city beaches at Kitsilano and English Bay are right in town. Fresh snow in the morning, sand in the afternoon is a genuine Vancouver boast.

Diplomatic missions in Vancouver

7 embassies based in this city, grouped by region.

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