This Is Our Story

The Tibetan Cultural Society of British Columbia (TCS of BC), was incorporated in 1981 by Tibetans living in the Greater Vancouver region as a non-sectarian and charitable organization under the B.C. Societies Act. The main aim of the society is to help promote and preserve Tibetan Culture and Heritage in our jurisdiction. This has meant placing a great emphasis on ensuring that our next generation has the opportunity to appreciate and learn about their unique patrimony. These are the core values and purposes of this society along with our prime objective which is to adhere to the non-violent principles espoused by our Spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama.​​Tibetans have lived in the region since 1971 even though the government of British Columbia chose to not participate in the 1972 Tibetan resettlement program of the Canadian government. Tibetans have since flourished and are firmly entrenched in the community. The cities of Vancouver, Surrey and recently Burnaby have been designating March 10 as Tibet Day in recognition of the contributions of the Tibetan communities to their host cities.​ TCS of BC was especially honored to have hosted visits to Vancouver by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1980 and 1993 in association with the Canada Tibet Committee. We were also heavily involved with the 2004 visit where He received honorary doctorates from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Simon Fraser University (SFU). We were also privileged to have been one of the main organizers for the religious teaching by His Holiness to over 13,000 Dharma adherents. The funds raised by this event were disbursed to Tibetan schools, Monasteries and old age homes in India. A portion of the proceeds was kept to further our mandate to educate our next generation in their culture and language. An endowment was also created at the Institute of Asian Research, UBC that has helped Tibetan scholars with their studies at that institution.TCS of BC is also committed to supporting the temporary public policy announced on December 18, 2010 by the Honourable Mr. Jason Kenney, Minister for Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism, under section 25.2 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), whereby a thousand displaced Tibetans currently living in Arunachal Pradesh, India will be resettled in Canada. TCS of BC has operate as a settlement organization to help Tibetans resettle in the Greater Vancouver area. Support for this project is very high among TCS of BC members. As of December 2012, we have raised $50,000 for this project which will be used to support our first two sponsorships of Tibetan families beginning in 2013.​​To read more about the temporary public policy concerning the resettlement into Canada of Tibetans living in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India, please visit: www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/laws-policy/tibet.asp