As the Public Diplomacy arm of the U.S. Consulate General, the Office of Press and Cultural Affairs in Vancouver provides information from and about the United States to Canadians in British Columbia and Yukon Territory. For media inquiries or for information about cultural affairs only, please email pavancouver@state.gov.

NOTE: Our office does not handle visa inquiries and will not respond to visa inquiries.

The Public Affairs section at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa includes press and cultural offices. There are also public affairs sections at the U.S. Consulates in Toronto, Calgary, Halifax and Montréal.

The Vancouver Consular District, consisting of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory, would be the tenth largest trading partner of the United States, if considered as an independent economic unit. The economy of the district is greatly diversified, between traditional resource industries such as forestry, mining and fisheries, but containing important new, high technology industries such as bio-medical development, fuel cell manufacturing and film production. Agriculture, retail trade, light manufacturing, finance and hydroelectric energy generation are also important components of the district’s economy.

Tourism is also a major part of the district’s economy with over 22 million overnight visitors to the province per year. With its strategic location on Canada’s Pacific coast, Vancouver, B.C. is the economic hub of the district. The port of Vancouver is a world-class deep-water port, ideally situated to handle both exports and imports of goods to the United States and Latin America. It is also an ideal location for trade with Asia. With its highly trained work force, diverse population, outstanding resource base, and ideal location, the Vancouver Consular District offers great potential for business and trade.

The Consulate General in Vancouver has a small Economic Section which follows economic developments and advocates for U.S. economic interests in the district.

The U.S. and Canadian governments are committed to strengthening the level of cross border cooperation against the growing threat of international organized crime. In Vancouver, the U.S. Consulate General has devoted considerable time, energy and resources to this problem. We created a multi-agency law enforcement team at the consulate in Vancouver designed to increase our liaison work with our Canadian law enforcement counterparts. The creation of this Law Enforcement Hub has strengthened our ability to work with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Vancouver Police Department, Canada Border Services Agency, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia on cross border law enforcement. For the Canadian agencies, the Hub offers a one-stop-investment-shop to work international crime cases of mutual interest. Currently, the U.S. Secret Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Drug Enforcement Administration; and Diplomatic Security Service-Regional Security Office of the U.S. Department of State, all have offices in Vancouver.

We are working in tandem with our Canadian counterparts to improve the sharing of intelligence and to work cases in common. Our team members, comprised of agents from the Secret Service, ATF, FBI, ICE, DEA and State DS, meet and share intelligence on Asian organized crime groups, counterfeit U.S. currency and credit cards, passport and visa fraud, drug trafficking, illegal immigration, firearms trafficking, border issues, and terrorism. The close working relationship that has developed between the members, their Canadian counterparts, and other USG law enforcement agencies, has grown and networked into an open line of communication that stretches throughout Western Canada and extends the entire length of the I-5 corridor.