Vancouver is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Greater Vancouver area had a population of 2.6 million in 2021, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada. Greater Vancouver, along with the Fraser Valley, comprises the Lower Mainland with a regional population of over 3 million. Vancouver has the highest population density in Canada, with over 5,700 people per square kilometre, and fourth highest in North America.
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a 511 km2 (197 sq mi) national park located in British Columbia, Canada, which comprises three separate regions: Long Beach, the Broken Group Islands, and the West Coast Trail. Its the Pacific Coast Mountains, are characterized by rugged coasts and temperate rainforests.
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. Much of the country's tourism is centred in the following regions: Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver/Whistler, Niagara Falls, Vancouver Island, Canadian Rockies, British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, Churchill, Manitoba and the national capital region Ottawa. The large cities are known for their culture, diversity, as well as the many national parks and historic sites.
Stanley Park is a 405-hectare (1,001-acre) 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 Harbour to its southeast, and is connected to the North Shore via the Lions Gate Bridge. The historic lighthouse on Brockton Point marks the park's easternmost point. While it is not the largest of its kind, Stanley Park is about one-fifth larger than New York City's 340-hectare (840-acre) Central Park and almost half the size of London's 960-hectare (2,360-acre) Richmond Park.
Kitsilano is a neighbourhood located in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Kitsilano is named after Squamish chief August Jack Khatsahlano, and the neighbourhood is located in Vancouver's West Side along the south shore of English Bay, between the neighbourhoods of West Point Grey and Fairview. The area is mostly residential with two main commercial areas, West 4th Avenue and West Broadway, known for their retail stores, restaurants and organic food markets.
Sunset Beach is situated in the West End near the Burrard Street Bridge and Vancouver International Hostel. The Vancouver Aquatic Centre lies at the East end of Sunset beach right next to the North end of Burrard Street Bridge. The beach has lifeguards on duty in the warm months. Public washrooms and concession stands are nearby. Biking, walking and inline skating paths wind above the beach area, leading to Stanley Park in one direction and Yaletown in the other. There is an off leash area to the south of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre, an Olympic size natatorium. It is a popular location for watching Vancouver fireworks.
English Bay is an open bay northwest of the Burrard Peninsula in British Columbia, Canada, extending from the headland between Siwash Rock and Prospect Point on Vancouver's Downtown peninsula in the northeast, to the northwestern tip of Point Grey in the southwest. The bay encompasses the coasts of Stanley Park, the West End, Kitsilano, West Point Grey and the University Endowment Lands, and makes up the southeastern portion of the outer Burrard Inlet. There is a narrow inlet named False Creek at its eastern end.
Kitsilano 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 English Bay.
French Beach Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada.
Kitty Coleman Provincial Park, also known as Kitty Coleman Beach Provincial Park, is a Class C provincial park located in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on Vancouver Island, in the Comox Valley, south of the mouth of the Oyster River just northeast of Courtenay.
Miracle Beach Provincial Park is a provincial park on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Located between Comox and Campbell River, the park includes a foreshore area in the Strait of Georgia, much of the Black Creek estuary, and a forested area. According to its Master Plan, it fulfills primarily a recreational role with a focus on beach play, picnicking, nature appreciation, and camping, and a secondary conservation role with a focus on the natural shoreline and estuary. I support of its recreational focus the park is developed with a day-use parking area with accessible trails leading to the shoreline and a camping area with 200 drive-in sites. The park is also hosts a nature centre building and a sheltered group picnic shelter. Vegetation in the park is typical for the region's second-growth forests with Douglas-fir most prominent. Common associates include Western hemlock, Sitka spruce, red alder and bigleaf maple. Salal and sword fern are the most abundant shrub. Black Creek, which flows through the park, is a spawning area for coho salmon.
Montague Harbour Marine Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located on Galiano Island, one of the Gulf Islands off BC's South Coast in Canada. It is accessible by BC Ferries from Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island or Tsawwassen on the Mainland. The Island's ferry terminal is at Sturdies Bay, about 6 km (3.7 mi) from Montague.
Sproat Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park near Port Alberni in British Columbia, Canada's Vancouver Island. Its name derives from a lake named after 19th century entrepreneur and colonial official Gilbert Malcolm Sproat.
West Point Grey is a neighbourhood in the northwest of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located on Point Grey and is bordered by 16th Avenue to the south, Alma Street to the east, English Bay to the north, and Blanca Street to the west. Notable beaches within the West Point Grey boundary include Spanish Banks, Locarno and Jericho. Immediately to the south is Pacific Spirit Regional Park and to the east is Kitsilano.
Spanish Banks are a series of beaches in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located along the shores of English Bay in the West Point Grey neighbourhood. Spanish Banks is located between Locarno Beach to the east and the grounds of the University of British Columbia to the west.
The Vancouver Pride Parade and Festival is an annual LGBT Pride event, held each year in Vancouver, British Columbia, to celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies. It is run by the Vancouver Pride Society (VPS), a not-for-profit, volunteer-run organization that seeks to "produce inclusive, celebratory events, and advocacy for LGBTQAI2S+". Vancouver's Pride Parade is the largest parade of any kind in Western Canada.
Jericho Beach, known originally as iy'a'l'mexw in Squamish, a Vancouver beach, is located west of the seaside neighbourhood of Kitsilano. It is surrounded by Jericho Beach Park, a grassy area with a pond, which is a picnic destination. Jericho Beach is the home of the Jericho Sailing Centre Association.
The Craigflower Manor and Craigflower Schoolhouse are National Historic Sites of Canada located in View Royal, British Columbia and Saanich near Victoria. The centerpiece of each historic site is a 19th-century building — a manor and schoolhouse commissioned by the Hudson's Bay Company to provide education and lodging for their employees. Built as part of the agricultural community Craigflower Farm, the buildings served as a focal point for the community into the modern era; they remain open to the public today as museums devoted to the colonial history of Victoria.
Marine Drive is the name for three major roadways in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The roads are known for running parallel to major bodies of water, with some sections being a major arterial road, while other serve local traffic. Marine Way is the name applied to a section of Marine Drive that was bypassed in the early 1980s.
