Vancouver, British Columbia

Named after an English explorer, the City of Vancouver is known throughout the world for its vibrant urban setting. With its strong economy and proximity to the wilderness, it is consistently ranked one of the three most livable cities in the world. Outdoor activities like hiking, skiing and water sports are within an hour away from residential areas. Although the city is located on a peninsula and thus has limited room to grow, its new architecture has allowed the city centre to stretch out to meet the harbourfront. The 1990s have seen an explosion of downtown condominium construction, financed in large part by a huge flow of capital from Hong Kong immigrants prior to the 1997 transfer of sovereignty to China. Vancouver will be playing host to the Winter Olympics in 2010.

In contrast to its eastern counterparts, Vancouver has the look and feel of a young city. In fact, it is just over a century old. Following the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 1880s, Vancouver developed rapidly from a small lumber mill town into a metropolitan centre. The Port of Vancouver became internationally significant after the completion of the Panama Canal, which made it viable to ship export-bound grain from the Prairies. It has since become the seaport that exports more cargo than any other port in North America. Vancouver's economy has traditionally relied on British Columbia's resource sectors (forestry, mining, fishing, and agriculture) and has diversified over time with tourism and film production. It has, in fact, earned the nickname Hollywood North by becoming the third largest film production centre in North America after Los Angeles and New York City.

With more than half of its residents having a first language other than English, the city is fast growing into a multicultural metropolis of the Pacific Rim. There are many monocultural neighbourhoods (eg. Chinatown, Punjabi Market, Little Italy, Greektown, Japantown, etc.), each with a distinct character and ethnic mix. Bilingual street signs can be seen in various neighbourhoods, including Chinatown and the Punjabi Market. While not completely free of racial tension, Vancouver has relatively harmonious race relations.

Vancouver is home to two major public universities in BC: Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the University of British Columbia (UBC). Sometimes considered to be cross-town rivals, the two universities hold a popular annual football match between the SFU Clan and the UBC Thunderbirds, affectionately named "Shrum Bowl" after Gordon M. Shrum, who had been a Professor of Physics at UBC and the first Chancellor of SFU.