Saint Paul's Roman Catholic Church National Historic Site of Canada

Saint Paul’s Roman Catholic Church was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1980 because:

• this oldest surviving mission church in the Vancouver area has long been a focal point of the Mission Reserve;
• it is an example of the Gothic Revival Style in Canada.

Saint Paul’s is associated with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a Roman Catholic missionary order that played an important role in the introduction of Catholicism to western Canada and the lower mainland of British Columbia. Established in 1864, this mission reserve was the first permanent settlement in the area now known as North Vancouver. The original chapel dating from the mid-1860s was replaced in 1884 by a larger frame church with a projecting front steeple. The current St. Paul’s church, which incorporates the walls of the 1884 church, was extensively remodeled and expanded with the addition of twin spires in 1909.

Saint Paul’s is a fine example of Gothic Revival ecclesiastical architecture in Canada. The walls of the 1884 building were retained but lofty 26-metre-high corner towers replaced the original central tower. The addition of transcepts and a vestry, along with circular-shaped chapels, created a sophisticated cruciform shape that was without precedent among Oblate mission churches in British Columbia. Apart from two chancel columns retained from the 1884 structure, decoration was confined to fret-sawn trim, largely removed in later renovations. The church was reopened in 1910 and named St. Paul’s in memory of Father Durieu, the first Oblate missionary in the area. St. Paul’s was the last mission church of this scale and complexity to be built on a First Nation mission in British Columbia, and is the last surviving example.