Vancouver’s Chinese Canadian Museum gets $5M from feds
Posted May 23, 2023 3:07 pm.
The Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver has received just over $5 million in new federal funding ahead of its opening on July 1.
Federal International Trade and Economic Development Minister Mary Ng announced the new funding on Tuesday. She says the cash will go toward the renewal of the museum’s permanent space at the Wing Sang Building in Vancouver’s Chinatown, as well as supporting the facility’s first exhibit.
Protecting Chinese Canadian heritage is crucial to the preservation of our history. Our government is investing over $5 million to support the preservation and celebration of Chinese culture by funding the first ever Chinese Canadian Museum! pic.twitter.com/uuQJ8W276a
— Mary Ng (@mary_ng) May 23, 2023
Melissa Karmen Lee, CEO of the Vancouver museum, says the funding comes at a “pivotal juncture” in its development.
“The funds will assist the museum with finishing its first renovation phase and exhibition preparations. We are thrilled to open this summer to present historic exhibitions and significant public programs that honour the diverse Chinese Canadian communities across the country,” she said in a statement.
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The museum will feature an exhibition titled “The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act,” with the July 1 opening date coinciding with the centennial of the passing of the act which effectively halted all immigration from China.
It’s all part of a three-phase, multi-year plan to revitalize the museum, which will include upgrading more than 21,000 square feet of building space. The museum has held five temporary exhibitions at two sites in Vancouver and Victoria since it was established in 2020.
The exterior of the Chinese Canadian Museum on Pender Street in Vancouver. (CityNews Image)
Ng made the funding announcement on the sidelines of the U.S.-Canada Chinatown Cultural Preservation and Revitalization Conference, which is hosting representatives from 18 Chinatowns from across North America.
Ng says efforts such as the museum and the conference are key to keeping a crucial part of North American history alive and to allow people to “appreciate the diversity of our society.”
The Chinatown conference is taking place Tuesday and Wednesday in Vancouver, gathering representatives from other Canadian cities including Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto, as well as U.S. cities including San Francisco, Philadelphia and New York.
