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Canada Place and the IMAX Theatre

One of Vancouver’s most photographed landmarks Canada place served as the Canada Pavilion during Expo '86 in Vancouver. Contains the Five Sails restaurant and the worlds first permanent IMAX 3d theater with daily showings.

Where is Canada Place and the IMAX Theatre?

Canada Place and the IMAX Theatre are situated in Vancouver city center on the northern waterfront of the downtown peninsula, jutting out into Vancouver Harbour. It’s within walking distance of the city center, or take the SkyTrain and get off at the end of the line – Waterfront station.

What is Canada Place?

Canada Place is mixed-use facility, though primarily used for exhibitions and large scale events at the Vancouver Conference and Exhibition Centre, plus it is also famously the cruise ship terminal for Vancouver. In addition there are offices, the Pan Pacific Hotel, and of course the CN IMAX Theatre.

This may make Canada Place seem a little uninteresting for the common leisure tourist, but there is actually more here than meets the eye!

Canada Place Attractions

Canada Place is one of Vancouver’s most photographed landmarks and is easily recognizable with its five tall sails, in fact the whole building has been designed to resemble a huge ship. Probably the main visitor attraction here at Canada Place is the location. Canada Place is a huge pier, jutting out into the harbor so that cruise ships can easily moor here. Because it’s open to the public this means you can walk the whole length of it (for free!) and get some wonderful views from the end in particular. For many visitors this is enough, but if you’d like to spend longer here you can do so with the following…

Canada Place Highlights

Promenade Into History Self Guided Walking Tour

Around the outer promenades of Canada Place look out for the 44 historical points of interest which you’ll find on interpretive plaques. By following and reading all of them you will complete a fascinating self-guided walking tour which gives you both an historical and interesting insight to the area.

Vancouver Port Authority Interpretive Centre

The Interpretative Centre is at the North End of Canada Place underneath the IMAX Theatre and is open to the public Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm. At the Centre you can find out all sorts of interesting facts and figures about shipping in Canada and it’s a great hands-on kind of place which the kids will definitely enjoy too! Visit the Vancouver Port Authority Interpretative Centre website for more information.

CN IMAX Theatre

For the most amazing big screen experience, visit the IMAX Theatre at Canada Place! Here you can watch incredible documentary movies which are usually around 45 minutes to an hour long. The movies showing do vary, but you can expect shows like Dinosaurs 3D and African Adventure 3D; occasionally, popular feature movies which have been converted for the IMAX screen are shown. You can buy tickets in advance from the IMAX Theatre website, by telephone (604-682-IMAX) or in person at the box office, and the IMAX is located towards the end of Canada Place.

For further information about all the attractions and events available here, visit the Canada Place website.