Vancouver

==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of Vancouver}}
With its location on the [[Pacific Rim]] and at the western terminus of Canada's [[Trans-Canada Highway|transcontinental highway]] and rail routes, Vancouver is one of the nation's largest industrial centres.<ref name="aboutvancouver" /> [[Port of Vancouver|Port Metro Vancouver]], Canada's largest and most diversified port, does more than $172{{nbsp}}billion in trade with over 160 different trading economies annually. Port activities generate $9.7{{nbsp}}billion in gross domestic product and $20.3{{nbsp}}billion in economic output.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.portmetrovancouver.com/about/factsandstats.aspx |title=Port Metro Vancouver |publisher=Port Metro Vancouver |date=June 4, 2013 |access-date=March 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210012845/http://www.portmetrovancouver.com/about/factsandstats.aspx |archive-date=February 10, 2010}}</ref> Vancouver is also the headquarters of [[forestry|forest product]] and mining companies. In recent years, Vancouver has become a centre for [[software development]], [[biotechnology]], [[aerospace]], [[video game development]], [[List of animation studios|animation studios]] and television production and [[Cinema of Canada|film industry]].<ref name="Economy">{{cite web |url=http://wn.com/s/vancouvercity/index4.html |title=Economy |publisher=World New Network |work=Vancouver WN City Guide |access-date=July 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131015805/http://wn.com/s/vancouvercity/index4.html |archive-date=January 31, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> Vancouver hosts approximately 65 movies and 55 TV series annually and is the third largest film and TV production centre in North America, supporting 20,000 jobs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vancouvereconomic.com/film-television/ |title=Film and Television Production in Vancouver |website=Vancouver Economic Commission |access-date=March 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313092942/http://www.vancouvereconomic.com/film-television/ |archive-date=March 13, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> The city's strong focus on lifestyle and health culture also makes it a hub for many lifestyle brands with [[Lululemon Athletica|Lululemon]], [[Arc'teryx]], [[Kit and Ace]], [[Mountain Equipment Co-op]], [[Herschel Supply Co.]], [[Aritzia]], [[Reigning Champ]], and [[Nature's Path|Nature's Path Foods]] all founded and headquartered in Vancouver. Vancouver was also the birthplace of [[1-800-GOT-JUNK?]] and [[Western Canada]]'s largest online-only publication, ''[[Daily Hive]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boardoftrade.com/events/individual-events/1314-6270 |title=Discovery Series: Exclusive Roundtable and Office Tour with Daily Hive Vancouver |website=Greater Vancouver Board of Trade |access-date=January 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129081219/https://www.boardoftrade.com/events/individual-events/1314-6270 |archive-date=November 29, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:PortOVan.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Port of Vancouver]] is the largest port in Canada and the third-largest port in the Americas (by tonnage).]] Conversely, since the onset of the global [[COVID-19 pandemic]] in 2020, multiple media organizations and economists have continued to warn of a severe long-term economic [[economic collapse|doom loop]] impending for Vancouver, similar to the decline noted in [[San Francisco, California]].<ref name=VancouverDoomLoop>{{cite news|url=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/sabrina-maddeaux-toronto-vancouver-doomed-as-they-chase-away-the-middle-class/wcm/465fb960-186a-43de-856f-1fc58f0b8952/amp/|title=Sabrina Maddeaux: Toronto, Vancouver doomed as they chase away the middle class|author=Sabrina Maddeaux|newspaper=National Post|date=18 June 2023|access-date=26 March 2024}}</ref>

Vancouver's scenic location makes it a major tourist destination. Over 10.3{{nbsp}}million people visited Vancouver in 2017. Annually, tourism contributes approximately $4.8{{nbsp}}billion to the Metro Vancouver economy and supports over 70,000 jobs.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tourismvancouver.com/media/corporate-communications/vancouvers-tourism-industry-fast-facts/ |title=Fast Facts about Vancouver's Tourist Industry |website=Tourism Vancouver |access-date=March 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313093721/https://www.tourismvancouver.com/media/corporate-communications/vancouvers-tourism-industry-fast-facts/ |archive-date=March 13, 2018}}</ref> Many visit to see the city's gardens, [[Stanley Park]], [[Queen Elizabeth Park, British Columbia|Queen Elizabeth Park]], [[VanDusen Botanical Garden]] and the mountains, ocean, forest and parklands which surround the city. Each year over a million people pass through Vancouver on [[cruise ship]] vacations, often bound for [[Alaska]].<ref name="Economy" />

Vancouver is the most stressed city in the spectrum of [[Affordable housing in Canada|affordability of housing in Canada]].<ref name="RBC 2012">{{cite report |author=RBC Economics |date=May 2012 |title=Housing Trends and Affordability |url=http://www.rbc.com/economics/market/pdf/house.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813174549/http://www.rbc.com/economics/market/pdf/house.pdf |archive-date=August 13, 2006}}</ref> In 2012, Vancouver was ranked by Demographia as the second-most unaffordable city in the world, rated as even more severely unaffordable in 2012 than in 2011.<ref name="Demographia2012">{{cite report |url=http://www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf |title=8th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: 2012 Ratings for Metropolitan Markets |year=2012 |first1=Wendell |last1=Cox |first2=Hugh |last2=Pavletich |access-date=June 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123080849/http://www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf |archive-date=January 23, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Frances |last=Bula |title=Vancouver is 13th least affordable city in world |work=Vancouver Sun |date=January 22, 2007 |url=http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=c9fa8fe2-22b1-4de1-8b5e-643090903411 |access-date=January 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717113449/http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=c9fa8fe2-22b1-4de1-8b5e-643090903411 |archive-date=July 17, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.demographia.com/dhi-ix2005q3.pdf |title=Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: 2006 |publisher=Wendell Cox Consultancy |access-date=November 12, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061111074531/http://www.demographia.com/dhi-ix2005q3.pdf |archive-date=November 11, 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Housing Affordability |url=http://www.rbc.com/economics/market/pdf/house.pdf |publisher=RBC Financial Group |access-date=September 27, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813174549/http://www.rbc.com/economics/market/pdf/house.pdf |archive-date=August 13, 2006}}</ref> The city has adopted various strategies to reduce housing costs, including [[housing cooperative|cooperative housing]], legalized [[secondary suite]]s, increased density and [[smart growth]]. As of April 2010, the average two-level home in Vancouver sold for a record high of $987,500, compared with the Canadian average of $365,141.<ref>{{cite news |title=Survey of Vancouver housing price increase exceeds rest of Canada |work=BIV Daily Business News |date=April 9, 2010 |url=http://www.bivinteractive.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2357&Itemid=46 |access-date=April 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728024337/http://www.bivinteractive.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2357&Itemid=46 |archive-date=July 28, 2011}}</ref> A factor explaining the high property prices may be policies by the Canadian government which permit [[snow washing]], which allows foreigners to buy property in Canada while shielding their identities from tax authorities, making real estate transactions an effective way to conduct [[money laundering]].<ref name="twsEconomist1">{{cite news |date=January 4, 2018 |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/news/business/21734034-identity-checks-obtain-library-card-are-more-onerous-those-form-private |title=Snow washing: Canada frets about anonymously owned firms – Identity checks to obtain a library card are more onerous than those to form a private firm |access-date=February 14, 2018 |quote=...{{nbsp}}2009 the national police force estimated that up to C$15bn ($12bn) was being laundered in the country each year (an estimated annual $2trn is laundered globally). |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215023451/https://www.economist.com/news/business/21734034-identity-checks-obtain-library-card-are-more-onerous-those-form-private |archive-date=February 15, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Since the 1990s, the development of high-rise [[Condominiums in Canada|condominiums]] in the downtown peninsula has been financed, in part, by an inflow of capital from Hong Kong immigrants due to the former colony's 1997 handover to China.<ref name="bbcasianfuture">{{cite news |first=Ayesha |last=Bhatty |title=Canada prepares for an Asian future |work=BBC News |date=May 25, 2012 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-radio-and-tv-18149316 |access-date=May 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529001447/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-radio-and-tv-18149316 |archive-date=May 29, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Such development has clustered in the [[Yaletown]] and [[Coal Harbour]] districts and around many of the [[SkyTrain (Vancouver)|SkyTrain]] stations to the east of the downtown.<ref name="Economy" /> The city's selection to co-host the [[2010 Winter Olympics]] was also a major influence on economic development. Concern was expressed that Vancouver's increasing [[homelessness]] problem would be exacerbated by the Olympics because owners of single-room occupancy hotels, which house many of the city's lowest-income residents, converted their properties to attract higher-income residents and tourists.<ref>{{cite news |title=Homelessness could triple by 2010: report |work=CBC News |date=September 21, 2006 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/homelessness-in-vancouver-could-triple-by-2010-report-1.581724 |access-date=January 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613000122/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/homelessness-in-vancouver-could-triple-by-2010-report-1.581724 |archive-date=June 13, 2009}}</ref> Another significant international event held in Vancouver, the [[Expo 86|1986 World Exposition]], received over 20{{nbsp}}million visitors and added $3.7{{nbsp}}billion to the Canadian economy.<ref name="Can Encyc - Expo 86">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/expo-86 |title=Expo 86 |access-date=September 9, 2012 |author=O'Leary, Kim Patrick |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica-Dominion |year=2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111228071533/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0002692 |archive-date=December 28, 2011}}</ref> Some still-standing Vancouver landmarks, including the SkyTrain public transit system and [[Canada Place]], were built as part of the exposition.<ref name="Can Encyc - Expo 86" />