Do you know a historic place associated with the history of the Japanese Canadian community in British Columbia that is important to you or your community?

If you do, now is your chance to nominate it to be considered for formal recognition of its heritage value.

The Province is seeking nominations from the public for historic places with significance to British Columbians of Japanese descent which reflect the development and history of the province, North Vancouver-Lonsdale MLA Naomi Yamamoto announced today.

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Nominated historic places will be evaluated against specific criteria by a team that includes community and academic expertise to establish heritage significance. Historic places of the highest significance will be considered for official recognition by the Government of British Columbia and placed on the BC Register of Historic Places and the Canadian Register of Historic Places: www.historicplaces.ca

Nominations can be made and information about the project can be found at the Heritage BC website: http://heritagebc.ca/japanese-historic-places
Nominations will be open until Sept. 9, 2016.

The announcement is the first milestone in the Provincial Recognition Program’s Japanese Historic Places Project. The Provincial Recognition Program follows a highly successful 2015 pilot program which focused on historic places of heritage significance to Chinese Canadians, which resulted in the addition of 21 provincially recognized places in British Columbia to the BC Register of Historic Places.

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Heritage BC, a not-for-profit, charitable organization, is contracted to administer the nomination process. Its mandate is to support heritage conservation throughout British Columbia through advocacy, training and skills development, capacity building in heritage planning and funding through the Heritage Legacy Fund.

The BC Register of Historic Places lists more than 3,400 historic places that have been formally recognized or protected by the province or a local government. The Canadian Register of Historic Places currently includes at least 30 records for historic places in British Columbia with Japanese Canadian heritage values.

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Quotes:

Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism Teresa Wat –

“Historic places hold community memories and untold stories. This important nomination process will bring those stories to life and illustrate how Japanese Canadians helped build B.C and contributed to our province’s rich cultural mosaic.”

Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson –

“Recognizing historic places of many cultures is a testament to the diverse population that makes British Columbia what it is today.”

MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale, Naomi Yamamoto –

”As the first Canadian of Japanese descent to be elected to the B.C. government, I am thrilled to see the Japanese Canadian Historic places project get underway.”

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Quick Facts:

• One-quarter of the people in B.C. are self-identified visible minorities, and 5% identify as Aboriginal.
• B.C. is the most ethnically diverse province in Canada and welcomes nearly 40,000 new immigrants every year.

Learn More:

To nominate a historic place as part of this project: http://heritagebc.ca/japanese-historic-places

Canadian Register of Historic Places: www.historicplaces.ca