Canada Place is a building situated on the

Burrard Inlet french: Baie Burrard , image = Burrard Inlet 201807.jpg , image_size = 250px , alt = , caption = Aerial view of Burrard Inlet , image_bathymetry = Burrard-Inlet-map-en.svg , alt_bathymetry ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. It is home to the

Vancouver Convention Centre The Vancouver Convention Centre (formerly known as the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre, or VCEC) is a convention centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; it is one of Canada's largest convention centres. With the opening of the ne ...

, the Pan Pacific Vancouver Hotel, the Vancouver World Trade Centre, and the virtual flight ride

FlyOver Canada FlyOver is a flying theater attraction. The first FlyOver attraction, FlyOver Canada, opened in 2013 at Canada Place in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. The ride takes guests on a virtual flight across Canada, utilizing ride equipment that l ...

. The building's exterior is covered by fabric roofs resembling sails. It is also the main

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

passenger terminal for the region, where cruises to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

originate. The building was designed by architects Zeidler Roberts Partnership in joint venture with Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership and DA Architects + Planners. Canada Place can be reached via the SkyTrain line at the nearby Waterfront Station terminus or via West Cordova Street in Vancouver. The structure was expanded in 2001 to accommodate another cruise ship berth. In 2009/10, for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Canada Place served as the Main Press Centre.

History

Canada Place was built on the land which was originally the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

's Pier B-C. Built in 1927, its primary purpose was to serve CPR and other shipping lines trading across the Pacific Ocean. In 1978 Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments commenced planning for development of convention, cruise ship and hotel facilities. Four years later, the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

created a crown corporation, the Canada Harbour Place Corporation (known as Canada Place Corporation until 2012), to develop the Canada Place project on the Pier B-C site. Construction began when

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

arrived on the

Royal Yacht Britannia Her Majesty's Yacht ''Britannia'', also known as the Royal Yacht ''Britannia'', is the former royal yacht of the British monarchy. She was in service from 1954 until 1997. She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the th ...

with

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Hou ...

and

William R. Bennett William Richards Bennett, (April 14, 1932 – December 3, 2015) was the 27th premier of British Columbia from 1975 to 1986. He was a son of Annie Elizabeth May (Richards) and former Premier, W. A. C. Bennett. He was a 3rd cousin, twice removed, ...

, Premier of BC to initiate the first concrete pour. During

Expo 86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...

, the Canada Pavilion at Canada Place was opened by

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

and

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...

, Prime Minister of Canada. Among the largest and most elaborate pavilions presented by any nation at any World's Fair, the Canada Pavilion hosted more than 5 million visitors prior to the October 13, 1986 closing date. Canada Place Corporation (CPC), a Crown agent, continues to act as the coordinating landlord for Canada Place facilities.

Events

Throughout the year many community events are held at and hosted by Canada Place.

Pan Pacific Vancouver

The Pan Pacific Vancouver opened in January 1986 and has 503 rooms and suites, two restaurants, and a lounge. The Hotel is operated by

Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts The Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts (泛太平洋酒店及度假村) is a hospitality company headquartered in Singapore and founded in 1975. It is a subsidiary of developer UOL Group and operates more than 20 luxury hotels, resorts and serviced s ...

. File:Pan Pacific Vancouver Lobby.jpg, Pan Pacific Vancouver lobby File:CanadaPlaceByNight.JPG, Canada Place, night view

Heritage Horns

The Heritage Horns, formerly known as the 12 O'clock Horn, sound the first four notes of

O Canada "O Canada" (french: Ô Canada, italic=no) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the mus ...

every day at noon and can be heard throughout Downtown Vancouver and beyond. The ten horns have five facing north and five facing east on the roof of the Pan Pacific hotel and have an output of 115

Decibels The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a Power, root-power, and field quantities, power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose ...

. They were originally on the roof of the BC Hydro building (now The Electra) and were silent when the headquarters was converted to condominiums in the early 1990s. The horns started sounding again on November 8, 1994 after being acquired, refurbished, and relocated to Canada Place. Due to complaints, the timer was changed from mechanical to electrical soon after to make them accurate. They sounded 26 times during the

2010 Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

, once for each medal won by Canada. The first was at 7:30pm on February 13 for a silver won by

Jennifer Heil Jennifer Heil (born April 11, 1983) is a Canadians, Canadian freestyle skiing, freestyle skier from Spruce Grove, Alberta. Heil started skiing at age two. Jennifer Heil won the first gold medal for Canada in the 2006 Winter Olympics games in Turi ...

. The Heritage Horns were also sounding at 7:00 p.m. each evening from March 26 to April 16, 2020 in support of essential service workers across Canada. Another notable

time signal A time signal is a visible, audible, mechanical, or electronic signal used as a reference to determine the time of day. Church bells or voices announcing hours of prayer gave way to automatically operated chimes on public clocks; however, audi ...

in the area is the

9 O'Clock Gun The 9 O'Clock Gun is a cannon located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, that is ordinarily fired daily at 21:00 (9 p.m.) PT. The gun is a 12-pound muzzle-loaded naval cannon, cast in Woolwich, England in 1816. The monograms (err ...

across the harbour in

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and Coal ...

Heritage Horns at the Pan Pacific Vancouver

References

External links