Vancouver Technical Secondary School, often referred to as Van Tech, is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
secondary school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
located on the East Side of
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. Vancouver Technical currently offers Advanced Placement, Summit, Flex Humanities, and French Immersion programs.
History
Vancouver Technical School opened in September 1916 as a boys-only school and was located in the basement of King Edward High School at 12th and Oak. It was the province's first
vocational school
A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...
and was led by J. George Lister, who would later be called the "Founder of Technical Education in BC. The school then moved to the Labour Temple, located on the corner of Homer and Dunsmuir.
As enrollment grew, plans were developed for a modern technical school along
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
. The building was designed by architects Townley and Matheson to include large technical shops, laboratories, cafeteria, auditorium, gymnasium, and swimming pool. However, the swimming pool was never completed due to lack of funds. The school moved to the new building in 1928, where it is located to this day. Girls were admitted into the school starting in 1940 and were given their own wing on the eastern side of the school.
Major seismic upgrades to the school's five buildings began in 2005 and was completed in 2008 at a cost of $40 million. The seismic upgrades reduced the available floorspace, leading to the relocation of classroom and workshops. Classrooms and workshops were relocated or replaced during the upgrade as there was less floor space available. this reduced the school's capacity from 2,100 students to 1,700. The auditorium's interior was also renovated during the upgrade, with the funds being raised by students' parents.
One of the school's founders (and principal from 1930 until 1944), James George Sinclair, is also the great-grandfather of 23rd
Canadian Prime Minister
The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons; as such, the prime minister typically sits as a ...
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...
.
Mini Schools
Vancouver Technical offers two mini school programs.
Summit is a five-year mini school program as of 2018, which focuses on enriching the four academic courses: Math, Science, Social Studies and English. The Summit program offers accelerated sciences and mathematics, with students completing Chemistry 11 and Pre-Calculus 11 in grade 10. Students in the Summit program engage in many extra-curricular activities including a three-day camp at the beginning of the school year, and opportunities to travel to Europe.
Flex Humanities is a mini-school that integrates Philosophy, World Literature, History, Fine Arts, Film and Media Studies, and Integrated Arts and Technology from grades 8 – 12. In grade 12, the students have the opportunity to participate in a major culminative field study; in past years, this trip has involved Quebec City/Montreal or New York.
Facilities
With its seismic upgrade from 2005 - 2008, many classrooms were moved and their 500 wing was demolished. With this, Vancouver Technical was a recipient to a $1,000,000 artificial turf field that was approved in 2006. Tennis courts were built off Slocan Street. and Vancouver Technical is set to receive Vancouver's first regulation Track and Field Training Facility as of May 2020.
Notable alumni
*
Greg Joy
Gregory Andrew Joy (born April 23, 1956) is an American-born Canadian high jumper who stood 6' 4" tall and weighed 157 lbs while competing from 1973 to 1982 for Canada.
Biography
Born in the U.S. to Canadian parents, Joy lived in Vancouver, Brit ...
, Olympic medalist - track and field
* Lori Fung, Olympic Gold medalist - rhythmic gymnastics
*
Sam Sullivan
Sam C. Sullivan (born November 13, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the MLA for Vancouver-False Creek. Previously, he served as the Minister of Communities, Sport, and Cultural Development with responsibility for Translink in the ...
, former mayor of the city of Vancouver, former MLA for Vancouver False Creek
*
Bowinn Ma
Bowinn Ma, is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2017 provincial election.John Ferguson (1938–2007), NHL player/coach
*
Dean Malkoc
Dean Malkoc (born January 26, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who spent four seasons in the National Hockey League between 1995 and 1999 with the Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, and New York Islanders. The rest of his c ...
, NHL player for the Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, and New York Islanders
*
Julia Grosso
Julia Angela Grosso (born August 29, 2000) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Chicago Stars FC and the Canada women's national team. She attained international pro ...
, Soccer player for Canadian women's national team and 2020 Olympic Gold Medallist
*
Milton Wong
Milton Wong (born February 12, 1939 - December 31, 2011) was a Canadian businessman, financier, and philanthropist. Wong became one of Canada's most prolific money managers and was the Chairman of HSBC. Many of his peers consider him one of the mo ...
, Member of the Order of Canada, Order of British Columbia, Chancellor, Simon Fraser University, Business Laureates of British Columbia Hall of Fame, philanthropist
Popular culture
*Exterior shots of the school were used in
the CW
The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
's television series ''
Smallville
''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...
'' to represent Smallville High School,
Clark Kent
Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
's ''
alma mater
Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...
'' during adolescence. The school was also used as a filming location in ''
Scary Movie
''Scary Movie'' is a 2000 American parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written by Marlon Wayans, Marlon and Shawn Wayans (who both also star), alongside Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Starring Jon ...
'', ''
Paycheck
A paycheck is traditionally a paper document (cheque) issued by an Employment#Employer, employer to income, pay Employment#Employee, employee for services rendered. In recent times, the physical paycheck has been increasingly replaced by elect ...
'', ''
Supernatural
Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...
Psych
''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened o ...
'', ''
Supergirl
Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. Th ...
She's the Man
''She’s the Man'' is a 2006 American romantic comedy teen sports film directed by Andy Fickman and starring Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey, Vinnie Jones, and David Cross. Loosely inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Twe ...
'' starring
Amanda Bynes
Amanda Laura Bynes (born April 3, 1986) is an American actress. Bynes began her career as a child actor, appearing on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series '' All That'' (1996–2000) and its spin-off series '' The Amanda Show'' (1999–2002). ...
and
Channing Tatum
Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his Breakthrough role, breakthrough with the sports comedy film ''She's the Man'' (2006) and t ...
, and
Ernest Goes to School
''Ernest Goes to School'' is a 1994 American comedy film directed and co-written by Coke Sams. It stars Jim Varney, Linda Kash and Bill Byrge. It is the seventh film to feature the character Ernest P. Worrell, and the sixth film in the ''Ernest ...