Welcome to Roedde House Museum, a uniquely restored Heritage house in the heart of the West End.

Take a stroll through the peaceful, leafy Barclay Heritage Square; sit under the gazebo or on one of the many benches and take in the sights of Roedde House and its Victorian neighbours, such as Barclay Manor, standing proudly amidst the apartment buildings.

Reflecting the City: Vintage Movies from the City of Vancouver Archives
Vancity Theatre Screening
(Canada, 120 mins, Digital Betacam)

Showtimes: Nov 24 02:00 pm
Vancity Theatre

With commentary provided by historian Michael Kluckner, this screening includes home movies, City-commissioned films, television shows produced by local stations and the community, and local advertisements. Those movies originally produced without sound will be accompanied live by pianist Wayne Stewart.

Experience Vancouver’s outdoor pastimes in the 1940s. Flash back to the 1960s with a rain dance in Kitsilano. Ride through 1970s Vancouver from the perspective of a cyclist. Witness the city’s transition leading up to Expo ’86. Spend an afternoon with us and relive Vancouver’s past.
Buy Tickets

Happy Birthday!  54 years old today!

On July 5, 1959 the Queen Elizabeth Theatre opened to the public.  The Montreal-based architecture firm Affleck, Desbarats, Dimakopoulos, Lebensold, Michaud, and Sise won the open competition put on by the city for a new theatre.   Visit website

GATINEAU, June 11, 2013 - The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, today introduced a series of new measures to help promote Canadian history, including the first ever Government of Canada History Awards.

“Canadians want to know more about our history, and these new measures will make our history more accessible to all Canadians, particularly our youth,” said Minister Moore. “This is especially important as we approach Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017, which provides an unprecedented opportunity to celebrate our history and the achievements that contributed to the united, strong, and free Canada we know today.”

New measures being announced today include the following:

• A Canada History Fund will connect youth to their history through the first ever Government of Canada History Awards, which will honour outstanding students and teachers who show an interest in celebrating Canadian history. The awards will be administered by Canada’s History, an independent national organization with a mandate to make our nation’s past relevant and accessible to all Canadians.
• The Harper Government will partner with the Historica-Dominion Institute to create two new Heritage Minutes per year between now and Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017.
• Existing programs at Canadian Heritage will be strengthened to improve access to funding for local organizations that wish to promote Canadian history in their communities, including local museums and youth groups.
• Starting in 2013, July 1 to 7 will become Canada History Week, an opportunity for Canadians from coast to coast to coast to get actively involved in learning about our country’s history.

“History teaches us how we got to where we are as a country, along with a sense of where we are headed. These new measures give Canadians important new tools to discuss and debate those lessons from our past. We at the Historica–Dominion Institute fully support these important initiatives,” said Anthony Wilson-Smith, President of the Historica–Dominion Institute.

“With so many significant anniversaries in the coming years, the historical community has a unique opportunity to change a whole generation of Canadians’ attitudes toward their past in much the same way Expo 67 transformed our view of Canadian arts and culture,” said Deborah Morrison, CEO and President of Canada’s History. “The Canada History Fund will provide us with the resources we need to seize that opportunity—to create new content and actively engage young Canadians in the telling of our stories.”

“Canadian history is all around us. However it is rarely taught in schools; it is not seen, not heard, and is forgotten by most Canadians. These new measures will greatly help bring our history alive,” said John G. McAvity, Executive Director of the Canadian Museums Association. “This includes not just formal or academic history, but more importantly the stories of Canada, pleasant and unpleasant as they are, of everyday Canadians, whether it is found in our art, artifacts, or documents.”

A description of all of the measures announced today is included in the attached backgrounder. The total investment, funded from existing resources, is $12 million annually. To learn more about what the Government of Canada is doing to enhance Canadians’ access to their history, visit www.canadianheritage.gc.ca.

Follow us on Twitter: @CdnHeritage

For more information (media only), please contact: Sébastien Gariépy
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage
and Official Languages
819-997-7788

Media Relations
Canadian Heritage
819-994-9101
1-866-569-6155
media@pch.gc.ca

BACKGROUNDERThe Harper Government will invest $12 million in existing funds to promote Canadian history. Today’s announcement includes the following measures:

I.          Canada History Fund ($4.3 million per year in 2013–2014, $6.3 million per year as of 2014–2015)

• The Canada History Fund will connect youth to their history through the first ever Government of Canada History Awards, which will honour outstanding students and teachers who show an interest in celebrating Canadian history.
• Up to 225 secondary school students and up to 30 secondary school teachers will receive awards of $1,000 and $2,000, respectively, and winners will be selected from across Canada.
• The awards will be administered by Canada’s History, an independent national organization with a mandate to make our nation’s past relevant and accessible to all Canadians. Canada’s History will draw on its experience in administering the Governor General’s History Awards.
• The Awards will be provided across the country, with fair distribution for all provinces and territories. They do not interfere with provincial and territorial educational systems, but rather promote an appreciation of Canadian history by rewarding excellence from teachers and students who choose to compete.
• The Canada History Fund will also provide increased funding to the Historica-Dominion Institute for the production of new Heritage Minutes ($400,000).
• The Speakers Bureau of the Memory Project, also administered by the Historica-Dominion Institute, will receive an increase in funding to allow for more veterans and serving soldiers with students in the classroom. The investment in this program will increase from $100,000 to twice this amount. For more information on this program, visit www.thememoryproject.com.
• Programs like the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and The Canadian Encyclopedia will receive enhanced total support from $2.25 million to $2.61 million for additional Canadian history content. For information on these programs, visit www.biographi.ca and www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com.

II.       Canada History Week

Beginning in 2013, July 1 to 7 will become Canada History Week. Starting on Canada Day, this week is an opportunity for Canadians to learn more about their history through local and national activities and events.

Also, Canada History Week will be an opportunity to get Canadians actively involved in learning more about our country’s history by providing them with access to information on history-related activities and events, starting on July 1 with local and the national Canada Day celebrations organized by those in our country most passionate about the subject. Canada History Week will be a special occasion to create a focus and opportunity to celebrate and experience Canada’s history.

III.    Support for Existing Canadian Heritage Programs

Five existing programs at Canadian Heritage will be strengthened to improve access to funding for local organizations that wish to promote Canadian history in their communities, including local museums and youth groups.

a)      Exchanges Canada Program – $3.6 million per year

The Exchanges Canada Program will provide young Canadians with more opportunities to take part in history-themed events. The program will also support enhanced historical content during all reciprocal exchanges and forums attended by youth so they can discover the people, places, and events that make our country unique.

b)      Canada Book Fund – Up to $200,000 per year

The Canada Book Fund will encourage collective projects with a dedicated focus on promoting Canadian history titles. These projects will provide opportunities for Canadians to enhance their knowledge and experience of Canadian history through books.

c)      Canada Periodical Fund – Up to $375,000 per year

Through the Business Innovation and Collective Initiatives components, the Canada Periodical Fund will support the promotion of and access to history magazines and history content, as well as the creation of new history content.

d)     Museums Assistance Program – Up to $1 million per year as of 2014–2015

The Museums Assistance Program will make it easier for institutions to create and share history exhibits by eliminating the requirement that they must circulate beyond their province or territory of origin. The program will also support museums, including small museums that wish to borrow objects for exhibition from the national collection of the future Canadian Museum of History.

e)      Virtual Museum of Canada – Up to $500,0000 toward key historical milestones

The Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC) will fund 2017-themed online exhibits and podcasts through its Virtual Exhibits Investment Program. The VMC will also renew its Teachers’ Centre to make lesson plans accessible through tools such as tablets and smart boards, and add new historical content for teachers and students.
Heritage Canada Website

Tickets $20
Hop on your bike and tour the political and natural storms of Stanley Park. Brand new for 2013 we’ll be offering guided bike tours. Take a ride through our bike friendly city and learn some history while you’re at it!

Please bring a bicycle, safety equipment, water and anything else you may need to enjoy your ride.

Don’t have a bike? No problem! Spokes Bicycle Rentals is generously offering a 30% discount on bike and equipment rentals to anyone attending one of our Bike Tours. Rental includes a bike, helmet and lock. Please note BC laws require all riders to wear bike helmets.

HUB Members are eligible for a 20% discount! Make sure you bring your membership card with you to the tour.

STANLEY PARK
June 15, July 20, and August 17  9:30am - 11:30am

Meet at Devonian Park at the Northwest corner of Denman and Georgia

Vancouver's urban forest holds a complex history of destroyed First Nations villages and squatters' cabins, military unrest and forgotten burial places, British enclaves, sports and cultural venues, and of course, renowned natural endowments, some more recent than you might think. Due to its natural popularity, Stanley Park has become an engineered landscape, with many tourist draws such as the totems, blow-down amusement parks, and preserved reminders of the raw force of nature.  Enjoy a leisurely paced cycle while digging into the storms and controversies that have formed this majestic park.
More Historic Tours

Workers at cultural and heritage sites protest government cuts CBC News May 30, 2013

Some of the U.K.'s most visited cultural and tourism spots are closing their doors Thursday or Friday as part of a one-day strike to protest recent cuts.

Approximately half of the National Gallery in London, one floor of the National Portrait Gallery and the entire Tate Liverpool museum were closed to the public on Thursday — to name just a few of the high-profile sites participating.

On Friday, the strike will affect the British Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, according to the Public and Commercial Services Union.

Meanwhile, workers at popular heritage site Stonehenge will walk out on Sunday.

According to the PCS union, the U.K.'s largest civil service union, the industrial action is part of a three-month campaign by its members to protest government cuts to pay, pensions and jobs.

A national walkout is also planned for the end of June. CBC News

Grand Hotel Walking Tours on Sundays! From humble structures hugging the shoreline on the edge of a forest, to the grandeur and elegance of the iconic railroad hotel along with today’s luxury offerings, this tour takes a look at the fascinating history of spending the night in Vancouver. Tours will depart the Hornby Street entrance to the Vancouver Art Gallery Sunday mornings at 10:30 am from May to the end of August 2013.

Please note there are no tours on May 12, 26, June 23, 30, July 14, 28

Tickets can be purchased half an hour before the tour at the Gallery’s admission desk in the main lobby. Private tours for families or groups can also be arranged.

$35 includes walking tour & express entry ticket to the exhibition.

Tickets can be purchased just for the walking tour at $15 Read More

The Star By: Christopher Hume Urban Issues, Published on Fri Apr 26 2013
First came the mass demolitions of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s that reduced whole swaths of the downtown core to a giant parking lot. Today many of the buildings under construction are on the asphalt spaces for which so many historic structures were destroyed. If the city hadn’t been so free with the wrecking ball back then, we wouldn’t need to build today’s Toronto seemingly from scratch. Even the great Union Station came close to being razed. Designed to impress, it was conceived as one of the great train terminals in Canada, if not North America. When finally unveiled in 1927 — railway and bureaucratic bickering delayed its opening by fully seven years — it ranked right up there on the growing city’s list of landmarks. As Edward, Prince of Wales, said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, “You build your stations like we build our cathedrals.” Yet less than 50 years later, Union Station had been declared obsolete and was threatened with demolition. In 1972, train travel was in decline and the country’s two main railroads — Canadian Pacific and Canadian National — declared their intention to build a massive convention centre on the site. The building was saved by the huge outcry that greeted the announcement; city council voted to reject the redevelopment proposal. Today Union Station, the busiest transit hub in the country, is undergoing a massive $665-million revitalization $665-million revitalization. More than 250,000 commuters use it daily, which means its role in the life of the city has never been more critical. Of course, not all buildings are Union Station; most of the heritage structures we tear down are more modest in their architecture and purpose. But unlike the grand terminus, they can be altered to meet changing needs and tastes. Read more.