We have received your nominations and our consultant is now in the process of reviewing them and will provide a report later in the year.
This will help us to update the Heritage Register and work on the Heritage Action Plan.
The Vancouver Heritage Register is a valuable record of our heritage
The Heritage Register is a list of about 2,200 sites with architectural or heritage value, such as:
Buildings and structures
Streetscapes
Landscape resources (parks and landscapes, trees, monuments, public works)
Archaeological sites
This list documents key examples of Vancouver’s heritage and is a planning tool to help manage our heritage resources.
While sites on the register aren't legally protected, they're acknowledged as Vancouver’s special places that link to our city's past and should be retained.
The Vancouver Heritage Register was formally adopted by City Council in 1994.
Themes for our Heritage Register
The following themes have been prepared to inform the Vancouver Heritage Register upgrade.
They'll be reviewed and updated as part of the Heritage Action Plan.
These themes will help us understand the heritage value of sites on the register and of sites you nominate.
Addresses Vancouver’s rich and enduring history of the Northwest Coast First Nation peoples spanning more than 10,000 years
Coastal Geography
Examines the unique geological, hydrological, and climatic events that underpin the evolution of Vancouver’s current form and its past and present patterns of development
The Developing City
Encompasses the settlement of Vancouver, including the development of the city’s neighbourhood enclaves and influences on settlement patterns up to the present day
Encompasses Vancouver’s role as a regional hub for communications and transportation
The story of Vancouver is intertwined with history of the CPR, an organization which has had a truly a profound effect in shaping the city's overall development, and whose influence continues to the present day.
Resource Extraction and Industrial Production
Explores Vancouver’s early industrial development
Early development of Vancouver included large industrial concerns along the shore of Burrard Inlet and False Creek, followed by the establishment of entertainment districts, including Hogan’s Alley and the hotels, restaurants, and pubs in Gastown, Hastings Street, Granville Street, and later along Main Street.
Infrastructure and Transportation
Addresses Vancouver’s transformation through the development and application of technological and engineering achievements, including transportation, communication, technological, and engineering advances and public works
Labour
Articulates the role of multicultural labourers in Vancouver’s economy
Organizations were established that served many different interests, adding to the richness of community life across the city.
Fraternal Associations
In response to harsh conditions, there was often a need to develop groups of self-interest. In the Chinese community, these groups formed along family lines. Many in the European communities banded together to promote common goals and assist group members during adverse times.
Social Movements
Addresses Vancouver’s significant pioneering role in environmental, social and political movements, and its continuing legacy for global and community action
Religious Institutions
From the first establishment of the City, settlers brought their belief systems, and places of worship sprang up across the city. The diversity of sacred places grew as the city's population expanded, reflecting many different denominations and their evolution over time.
Education
Articulates the activities associated with teaching and learning by children and adults and encompasses both public and private education
Health Care
Focuses on activities and processes associated with the provision of health care services by the government or philanthropic organizations
City of Neighbourhoods
Examines the numerous social and cultural communities that were instrumental in the development and growth of Vancouver's neighbourhoods
Sites, people, and events notable in the political life of Vancouver are included under this subtheme, including the development of Vancouver’s municipal government.
Provincial and Federal Connections
Includes the development of the law courts and federally administered facilities such as post offices
Planning the City
Focuses on the development of city planning in Vancouver
Encompasses the early boom years of the 20th century, when the City of Vancouver focused its planning efforts on safety issues such as fire and sanitation, the City Beautiful movement, the first Town Planning Commission, and the formalization of planning
Law, Order, and Security
Highlights law enforcement, the development of the Fire Department, and national defence interests
Examines Vancouver’s cultural milieu, which developed from an imposed, rigid, homogeneous, British-dominated colonial cultural framework, to a home-grown expression that recognized the wide diversity of the city’s population
Architecture
Focuses on senior government in various spheres, particularly the influence and connections between the federal and provincial level and the City of Vancouver.
Explores the development of Vancouver’s built environment, which represents a rapid and dramatic evolution of architecture, construction, form, style, and use of materials from rudimentary frontier settlement, to elaborate late Victorian architecture, an embrace of the Arts and Crafts and Neoclassical movements, renewed interest in Period Revival styles and the popularity of postwar contemporary design
Planning the City
Focuses on the development of city planning in Vancouver
Encompasses the early boom years of the 20th century, when the City of Vancouver focused its planning efforts on safety issues such as fire and sanitation, the City Beautiful movement, the first Town Planning Commission, and the formalization of planning
Law, Order, and Security
Highlights law enforcement, the development of the Fire Department, and national defence interests
The Haywood Bandstand, located in Alexandra Park in the West End, is on the Heritage Register and is also a Municipally Designated heritage resource.
The Malkin Bowl, located Stanley Park, is not on the Heritage Register.