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Japanese Canadian Monument Park

Last updated on May 21, 2024

In partnership with the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society (JCLS), the Province of British Columbia is overseeing the design and construction of a monument park with a Japanese garden on provincial land in Victoria, B.C. This monument park will acknowledge Japanese Canadian internment and honour the 22,000 Japanese Canadians who were wrongly displaced during the 1940s.

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History and acknowledgement of Japanese Canadian internment in B.C. 

In the 1940s, over 22,000 Japanese Canadians living in British Columbia were detained under the War Measures Act and forcibly stripped of their homes, possessions and businesses. Most of these individuals were themselves Canadian citizens. 
 
Thousands were sent to internment camps far away from the coast. Others had to leave the province against their will.  
 
After the war ended, Japanese Canadians were forced to move east of the Rockies or go to Japan, a country many had never known. In 1949, four years after the end of the Second World War, Japanese Canadians were permitted to return to the West Coast. However, they were still subjected to racist policies and treatment for years, and many communities never recovered. 
 
A monument park is being established to honour the memories and legacies of the 22,000 Japanese Canadians affected during the internment era. This is part of a larger process of acknowledgement, recognition and redress announced by the Province in 2022. 

The Project: A Japanese Canadian Monument Park

The proposed monument park will serve as a historical landmark and cultural heritage site in the province’s capital, Victoria, B.C.   
 
The monument park will feature a wall of names of the 22,000 Japanese Canadians who were forcibly interned in the 1940s. Over the course of a year from January 2023-2024, a research team at the University of Victoria uncovered each of the names of these individuals and carefully checked and reorganized the names to indicate where these individuals lived before 1942.

The wall of names will form an important part of the monument park’s overall design, highlighting not just the people affected by the government’s internment policy, but also the cultural and historical significance of remembering their struggles.  
 
The monument park will also feature a Japanese garden and will be a place for many to collectively gather, remember and heal. The park and garden will be designed as a place for visitors and residents alike to learn and reflect.

This project is being jointly developed by the Ministries of Citizens' Services (CITZ) and Attorney General (AG), in consultation and collaboration with B.C.’s Japanese Canadian community, represented by JCLS.

Image description: A person stands on a curved lighted pathway in a park, reading a wall of names. To the right, another person sits, in reflection, near a Japanese maple tree. Please note this image is a rendering that was created for planning purposes and does not necessarily reflect the final design of the monument park.

Location in Victoria, B.C.

The proposed monument park will be built on provincial land located between Academy Close, at the corner of Southgate Street and Blanshard Street. This location is within walking distance of the Legislature Building and Beacon Hill Park. 

Image description: The image is a rendering of the proposed monument park location between Academy Close.

What’s next? 

This multi-phase project is still in its early stages.  
 
Next, a design team will be hired based on submitted proposals and input from other involved parties in the co-creation of this monument park.  
 
After a design team is hired, neighbourhood residents and community members will be invited to attend an information session that will be held in late fall 2024 to hear updates, provide feedback and ask questions.

Please check back here for updates as this project continues to develop or subscribe below for updates to this page.