CANADA

Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area in Western Canada. It has been ranked one of the most livable cities in the world for more than a decade. While forestry remains its largest industry, Vancouver is well known as an urban centre surrounded by nature, making tourism its second-largest industry. It has hosted many international conferences and events, including the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, Expo 86, and the World Police and Fire Games in 1989 and 2009. The 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics were also held in Vancouver.

Canada Place
Canada Place is a building situated on the Burrard Inlet waterfront of Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the home of the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Pan Pacific Hotel, Vancouver's World Trade Centre, and the world's first permanent IMAX 3D theatre. It is also the main cruise ship terminal for the region, where most of Vancouver's famous cruises to Alaska originate. The building was designed by architect Eberhard Zeidler. It can be reached via the SkyTrain line at the nearby Waterfront Station terminus. The white sails of the building have made it a prominent landmark for the city. Throughout the year many community events are held at and hosted by Canada Place including Canada Day.

Vancouver Public Library
The Vancouver Public Library is the third largest public library system in Canada, with more than 2.5 million items in its collections. The building is located in the eastern portion of the Vancouver Central Business District. The address of the library is 350 West Georgia Street. The Library Square occupies a city block in Downtown Vancouver. The building's exterior resembles the Flavian Amphitheatre in Rome. Centred on the block, the library is a nine-story rectangular box containing book stacks and services, surrounded by a free-standing, elliptical, colonnaded wall featuring reading and study areas that are accessed by bridges spanning skylit light wells. The glass-roofed concourse serves as an entry foyer to the library and the more lively pedestrian activities at ground level.

Science World
Science World at Telus World of Science, Vancouver is a science centre located at the end of False Creek and features many permanent interactive exhibits and displays, as well as areas with varying topics throughout the years.

H. R. MacMillan Space Centre
The H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, founded 1968, is an astronomy museum in Vancouver. Inside the building, there are live demonstrations on science in the GroundStation Canada Theatre, exhibits and games in the Cosmic Courtyard, and shows about astronomy in the Planetarium Star Theatre. Next to the building is the Gordon MacMillan Southam Observatory. This centre of astronomy is a popular attraction in Vancouver.

Vancouver Museum and Space Centre
Photo: Bobanny

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
The Vancouver Symphony Orchestrais a Canadian orchestra performing in Vancouver. Over 240,000 people attend its live performances each year. It was founded in 1930 and plays in 12 venues. Its home is the Orpheum theatre. With an annual operating budget of $9.5 million, it is the third largest symphony orchestra in Canada. It performs 140 concerts per season. Every concert is exciting!

Arts Club Theatre Company
The Arts Club Theatre Company is a professional theatre company in Vancouver. Major themes from this company are new works, comedies, musicals, drama, and revues, with an emphasis on developing Canadian talent in productions appealing to the general public. Stages include: the Seymour Street Stage, the Granville Island Stage, the New Revue Stage and the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage.

Vancouver Art Gallery
The Vancouver Art Gallery is the fifth-largest art gallery in Canada and the largest in Western Canada. It is located at 750 Hornby Street in Vancouver. Its permanent collection of about 10,000 artworks includes more than 200 major works by Emily Carr, the Group of Seven, Jeff Wall and Marc Chagall. It is a principal repository of works produced in this region, as well as related works by other Canadian and international artists. Its collections grows by several hundred works every year.

Robson Square
It is the site of the Provincial Law Courts, UBC Robson Square, government office buildings, and public space connecting the newer development to the Vancouver Art Gallery. In addition to the water features, there are trees and numerous other plantings as well as gradually inclining stairs with integrated ramps.The open design allows for relatively unobstructed natural light and fresh air, and the waterfall divert from the noise of downtown traffic. Robson Square is the only public outdoor skating rink in Vancouver. It is free to use, rentals are $3.00.

Museum of Anthropology
The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus in Vancouveris renowned for its displays of world arts and cultures, in particular works by First Nations peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations. The Museum is located at 6393 Northwest Marine Drive, on the campus of the University of British Columbia. As well as being a major tourist destination, MOA is also a teaching museum, used in a number of courses at UBC, and a research museum. The MOA holds 36,000 ethnographic objects, as well as 535,000 archaeological objects in its building alone. The most iconic object in the Museum is probably the yellow cedar sculpture The Raven and the First Men by Bill Reid, which is depicted on the Canadian twenty-dollar bill.

Harbour Centre
Harbour Centre is a notable skyscraper in the central business district of Downtown Vancouver. The "Lookout" tower atop the office building makes it one of the tallest structures in Vancouver and a prominent landmark on the city's skyline. It has an impressive 360-degree viewing deck, it also serves as a tourist attraction, offering a physically unobstructed view of the city. Glass elevators whisk visitors 168 meters (553 feet) skyward from street level to the Observation Deck in 40 seconds.