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The Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife offers programs that make learning about nature fun and fascinating! Our programs align with the BC Curriculum for science, social studies, and physical education, and our experienced educators teach outside in the natural beautiful setting of Grouse Mountain.

Wildlife Education: Pick from a range of interactive curriculum-focused activities and build an unforgettable field trip for your students. Duration: Full or Half Day

Hiwus Feasthouse Cultural Program: Step into an authentic Pacific Northwest Longhouse and let Kwel-a-a-nexw, our Squamish First nations elder, take you back in time to discover the traditional way of life of our First Nations people. Duration: Full Day.

Peak of Christmas: (December) Engage your students in the magic of the holidays: visit live reindeer, discover snow-fleas, take a scavenger hunt, play in the snow and more. Duration: Full or Half Day

Visit our PureClean initiatives.

Pretty much everyone in Metro Vancouver knows about Stanley Park. It’s world famous for its dense forest, spectacular views, seawall, beaches, and fabulous trails. The park even won the title of “World’s Greatest Park” in a TripAdvisor contest. But while the park hosts millions of people every year, very few come away from their visit with any knowledge of the park’s remarkable social history.

Stanley Park is not an untouched rainforest. It was home to local Coast Salish people for thousands of years before it became a park, and even for decades afterwards. Numerous villages dotted the shoreline, including Whoi Whoi, which hosted large potlaches and from where a delegation sailed to meet Captain George Vancouver as he explored the area in 1792.

The story of the forced eviction of indigenous people from the land that would become Stanley Park is a shocking background to the park’s creation. Some mixed race indigenous and European families were able to fight back against the City’s onslaught of lawsuits, and keep their homes in the park near Brockton Point until the 1950s. Today their memory and resilience is honoured by the statue Shore to Shore, by Salish artist Luke Marston, which we visit on the tour.

The creation of the park was also about more than creating a space for Vancouverites to enjoy afternoon strolls and picnics. The land was originally intended as a military reserve, established to protect the city should the Americans decide to invade. After it became clear that wouldn’t happen, real estate developers, the Canadian Pacific Railway, the City of Vancouver, and the Federal Government all battled for control of the land. The fact it became a park illustrates the colossal power the CPR once had in Vancouver. 

Throw into the mix the tale of Deadman’s Island, stories of true crime, smallpox pest houses, buried treasure, public art, crow shoots and poetry and you’ll find that despite its beauty, there’s a lot more to Stanley Park than meets the eye!

A unique field trip for students from Grade 5 – University:

• Duration – 2 hours
• Start and end point – Outside the Vancouver Aquarium entrance by the whale fountain at 845 Avison Way

Our Pumpkin Patch is located in Historic Fort Langley and just 3 minutes from Highway #1.  We are also a commercial dairy farm with scenic fields and pastures surrounding our Pumpkin Patch.

Jump on a bus or wrangle up some parents so you can bring your class out to the farm and pick some pumpkins!

You and your class will visit our barn that is home to over 200 animals from 10 different species.  Enjoying the colourful displays, watch cows getting milked, and learn what it takes to get milk from ‘Teat to Table’!

Classes then board a covered and fenced, tractor drawn hayride to the Pumpkin Patch and then back to the barn with the students treasured Pumpkins!.  This is a self guided tour for you and your students of the designated areas of our farm.  We promise a great experience and safety for your students and our animals.  You look after the weather please!

Participate in a “Big 6 Historical Thinking” challenge in our c̓əsnaʔəm; the city before the city virtual exhibition. Learn about the impact of colonization on the Musqueam First Nation, how they resisted assimilative policies, and the Museum’s role in the reconciliation process.

Subtopic: Stories of Resilience (45-60 minutes, $145)

Learn about the impacts of colonization on the Musqueam community, how they resisted assimilative policies, and what the Museum’s role in the reconciliation process is by exploring the c̓əsnaʔəm: the city before the city exhibition virtually.

Subtopic: The Road to Reconciliation (45-60 minutes, $145)

Learn about our shared responsibility in the reconciliation process. Through Object-Based Learning, students use their critical thinking skills and gain a deeper understanding of traditional and contemporary First Nations culture.*

*An Education Kit is available for this subtopic ($55/week)

Many of us have an idea about the importance of pollinators, and how they’re necessary for ¾ of our major food crops. But who exactly is doing all the pollinating around here? People often first think of honeybees, and that’s our starting point for this tour: visiting Loutet Farm’s two resident hives and getting the basics of pollination down. But there’s so much more to it than that! Students will get a chance to try their own hand at the process while identifying different parts of flowers, both wild and cultivated. We’ll talk about the importance of a diversity of pollinators and their associated habitats, how evolution plays a part, the struggles facing pollinators, and what we can do to help.

What's the story of the plants we eat? Students will explore the journey of a vegetable from seed to plate, studying the seeds of plants grown on the farm, learning about their unique differences. Through a guided tour, students will see plants in different stages of their reproduction and their life cycle, relating this knowledge to our choices about what we eat in which season, and why that may be. As always, there's a chance for hands to get dirty after touring our farm, where we experiment with seed saving and understanding local adaptations. Students will harvest or plant seeds either at the farm, or to take home and plant in their own gardens or patios.

On this guided tour students uncover the history of social development, crime and law enforcement in Vancouver and how it impacts modern living. Students are guided through a 45-minute tour followed by 15 minutes of self-guided exploration. Tour content and complexity can be tailored to group needs and interests.

Our museum tours delve into the origins of Vancouver's own Coroners Court, Autopsy Suite and Morgue. Our new exhibit, "Becoming Vance" explores fascinating elements of forensic science and Canada's very own Sherlock Holmes, John Vance. 

You’ll also discover our famous True Crimes exhibit, which highlights the city’s most notorious crimes and cold cases with authentic evidence and artifacts on display. And, of course, you’ll see the city’s first morgue and autopsy suite in addition to hundreds of rare artifacts, archives and photos from our own collection.

Our museum is brimming with exciting history, exhibits and artefacts that you can’t find anywhere else in the world. A designated heritage building, it was once the Coroner’s Court, Autopsy Facility and the City Analyst’s Laboratory, making it one of the most authentic museum experiences in the world.