Musqueam Creek

Vancouver was once home to 52 salmon streams that supported an annual run of over 100,000 fish. Development and pollution have destroyed all but one, Musqueam Creek. Just fifty years ago, Musqueam Creek supported a run of over 300 coho salmon a year. At its lowest point, in 1996, just six salmon returned to spawn. But today, after years of work to restore the creek to its natural state, those numbers are in the double digits, and climbing. The Musqueam Ecosystem Conservation Society used elders’ knowledge and community enthusiasm to restore the creek.

Vancity provided grants and volunteer labour to work with the David Suzuki Foundation and the Musqueam Indian Band on the creek’s restoration. Since the early 1990s, Vancity has been committed to protecting the environment through grants, products, services and actions.