Arts, Culture, & Heritage

Parks, Recreation & Culture

Our Cultural Landscape

Traditionally, words like "culture", "diversity", and "ethnicity" are associated with big cities like Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.

In comparison, Kamloops is much smaller with a population of 85,000. But our long standing tradition of welcoming cultural and ethnic diversity provides the benefits and cosmopolitan experience that one expects to find in a much larger urban centre.

This well-kept secret of the Southern Interior region, located in Secwepemc territory, has an impressive list of socio cultural firsts which include the first:

Mayor of Chinese descent in North America, Peter Wing,
First Nations Member of Parliament elected to the House of Commons, Senator Leonard Marchand, and
John Freemont Smith, a man from the Danish West Indies, was one of the first Black City Councillors elected in Canada.

Today, a full century after John Freemont Smith founded the Citizen's League for Social and Moral Reform, the City of Kamloops still adheres to Smith's dedication to "a healthy moral tone in civic affairs (and the discouragement of) abuses in any form".

Smith's vision of civic tolerance certainly contributes to having almost 8,500 foreign born citizens living in Kamloops today.

Drawing from its multi-faceted mosaic of First Nations peoples, long-time residents of European ancestry, and multi-generational immigrants from all over the world, Kamloops has evolved into a vibrant community of multiple ethnicities and spiritual beliefs with as many celebrated differences as similarities. Our education system at all levels encourages understanding and tolerance. Thompson Rivers University is a "globally minded campus" that hosts more than 1,000 students from over 60 countries. Our networked health and public services are available and accessible to speakers of all languages; our rate of economic development is one of the more enviable across the province.

Each year the City hosts ethnic-based, artistic, and cultural events such as Chinese New Year, Canada Day Folkfest, the Kamloopa Pow Wow, Diwali, and Ukrainian Christmas. Among the year-round benefits of living amongst such diversity is the growing selection of ethnic restaurants that invites everyone to sample traditional sights and sounds - not to mention exotic smells and tastes of homelands that have not only become a part of, but continue to enrich our City.

Logo Contact
Barbara Berger
Arts, Culture & Heritage Manager
6 Seymour Street West
Kamloops, BC V2C 1E1
ph (250) 828 3663
fax (250) 828 3619
email bberger@kamloops.ca

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