• Vancouver ranks third in the world as the best city to live in – for quality of life.
• Vancouver is tied with Montreal as the 10th cleanest city in the world. Calgary came in first place.
• Vancouver is often referred to as Hollywood North as it is second only to Los Angeles in TV production and third in North America for Feature Film production. That means there are occasionally high profile movie stars floating around. Lions Gate, Paramount and Bridge Studios have set up shop here.
• Vancouver is named after Captain Vancouver.
• In 1971, Greenpeace was born – in Vancouver. It is, as you probably know, an organization known for its international environmental campaigns.
• Vancouver is Canada’s third largest city; Toronto and Montreal are bigger.
• Vancouver has the fourth largest cruise ship terminal in the world. Cruise ships begin sailing in April. October 4th is the last cruise of the year in 2011. Most of the cruises head for Alaska.
• 35% of Vancouver’s population is foreign born. It has the highest proportion of Asians in any North American city.
• Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood has the largest gay community in the west. Look for the Gay Pride Parade in August.
• Three professional major league sports team call Vancouver home – the Vancouver Canucks for hockey, the BC Lions for football and the Vancouver Whitecaps for soccer.
• The population of greater Vancouver is approximately 2.1 million.
• In an average year, Vancouver will see some sort of rainfall on 165 days in the year.
• The best time to visit Vancouver is in the summer. It’s typically sunny and in fact often suffers from drought. The winter is dark, rainy and dreary.
• On June 21st, the summer solstice, the sun rises at 5:07 am and sets at 9:21 pm. On December 21st, the winter solstice, sunrise is 8:04 am and sunset is 4:16 pm.
• You can ski, golf, bike, sail and kayak in Vancouver – all on the same day.
• There are three ski hills within a short drive of downtown Vancouver – Grouse Mountain, Cypress Mountain and Mount Seymour.
• Vancouver’s Kitsilano salt water pool holds the title of Canada’s longest pool, measuring 137.5 meters (451 feet) almost the equivalent of 3 Olympic regulation size pools. This outdoor pool maintains a constant temperature of 25C (77F) so you will always be comfortable under the grimmest of outdoor conditions.
• The Vancouver (YVR) airport has free WiFi.
• There are no freeways in downtown Vancouver.
• The Lion’s Gate Bridge, a suspension bridge over the Burrard Inlet, connecting the City of Vancouver to the north-shore communities of North and West Vancouver is 5,890 feet long. It opened to traffic on November 14, 1938. The bridge can be a traffic nightmare.
• Fortunately you can bike or walk over it, in dedicated lanes.
• Famous people who were born or have lived much of their life in Vancouver include Bryan Adams, Michael Buble, Pamela Anderson, Jason Priestly, Margaret Trudeau, Joe Sakic, David Suzuki, Sarah McLachlan, Michael J. Fox, Raymond Burr, Douglas Coupland, Arthur Erickson and Nat Bailey.
• Former rock star, Bob Geldof was the editor of the Georgia Strait in the 1960’s.
• Vancouver – along with Victoria – has the mildest climate in Canada – though one of the rainiest.
• Granville Island is Vancouver’s famous public market. It is open 7 days a week from 9am until 7pm.
• Dolphins and whales are occasionally sighted in the waters close to the city. Last year there were two whale sightings in False Creek and numerous dolphin pod sightings in Howe Sound.
• Stanley Park is a 1001 acre urban park, bordering the city. It is 10% bigger than New York City’s Central Park. A 5.5 mile path circles the seawall. It’s extensively used by walkers, runners, cyclists and rollerbladers.
• The Vancouver Aquarium ranks in the top 5 around the world.
• Vancouver has played host to the 2010 Winter Olympics and the Expo’86 World Fair.