Claudia’s Trans Canada Trail: Building a Legacy of Intergenerational Support for the Trans Canada Trail
Written by Claudia Laroye
On October 12, 1998, a Trans Canada Trail pavilion was officially opened on Granville Island in Vancouver, British Columbia.
I didn’t pay much attention to the pavilion at the time. Our first child was born on April Fool’s Day that year, and for much of those first few months, I was caught up in a blurry, sleep-deprived fog of parenthood. One thing that does stand out from that summer is how we’d routinely bundle up the baby for walks on Granville Island, one of our favourite places in the city. But I didn’t give the pavilion’s quiet presence on the island’s waterfront overlooking Alder Bay a second glance back then.
My husband and I had heard about the Trans Canada Trail, about how this monumental undertaking, which began as a dream born in 1992, would ultimately connect Canada’s three oceans by a shared-use trail. That trail would be off-road as much as possible, and in urban areas like our home in Vancouver, the Trail would primarily accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, using existing and planned greenways and bikeways.
Photo credit: Claudia Laroye
The Trans Canada Trail in BC
The British Columbia portion of the Trans Canada Trail was coordinated by Trails BC, a nonprofit society formed in 1994. As the Trail winds through the Lower Mainland, it links historic sites such as Fort Langley and Stanley Park, and special places like Granville Island. This former industrial site on False Creek was transformed in the 1970s into a public market and the city’s premier arts and cultural hub, one that attracts locals and tourists from around the world.
As outdoorsy folks, we loved the idea of a trail connecting Canadians to one another via the longest multi-use trail system in the world. In his youth, my husband grew up exploring the Canadian wilderness on myriad camping holidays and extensive canoe trips with his parents in Ontario and Quebec. My in-laws immigrated to Canada from Belgium in the late 1960s and were captivated by Canada’s wide open, often unspoiled spaces. That passion was nurtured during frequent family holidays and passed along to my husband, and then on to me, very memorably during our first tent camping excursion together in a buggy Quebec summer of 1989.
Photo credit: Claudia Laroye
Giving for the next generation
After the arrival in spring 2000 of our second child, my in-laws proposed a way of celebrating both of their grandchildren in a lasting fashion — they would donate to the Trans Canada Trail in their honour. The donation would support the preservation of the Trail, and the boys’ names would be added to the donor panel on the Granville Island Pavilion.
The Trans Canada Trail has several ways of raising funds to protect and maintain the trail network, including the ability to honour loved ones past or present and to bequeath a donation in one’s will. My in-laws’ donation represents a kind of intergenerational legacy that beautifully reflects their love of Canada’s outdoors and a desire to instil that same love for its protection in their grandchildren.
We raised our kids to be active stewards of our wide-open spaces during many camping trips throughout BC and hikes on the North Shore mountains that form the spectacular backdrop to our Vancouver home. Our boys, now young adults, remain passionate about spending time exploring the beauty of their own backyards in western Canada.
A tradition of instilling a love of the outdoors continues through the generations of our family. Words on the pavilion perfectly capture what the Trans Canada Trail means to us. It is a “gift, one that Canadians bequeath to one another, to the world and to future generations.” I’m proud that my sons’ names are part of this gift, and grateful for the foresight and generosity of my in-laws in paying their love of Canada forward as a legacy for future generations.
Photo credit: Claudia Laroye
I plan to do the same, when the day comes.
Claudia Laroye is an award-winning freelance writer living in Vancouver, Canada. She writes about adventure, family, 50+ and sustainable travel for a variety of media outlets around the world, including; AFAR, NUVO Magazine, the Globe and Mail, Canadian Geographic, Toronto Star, Vancouver Sun, Saturday Evening Post, Explore and CAA Travel. Her award-winning travel anthology, ‘A Gelato a Day’ was published in fall 2022. Follow Claudia’s adventures at https://claudiatravels.com.
About the Trans Canada Trail
Stretching nearly 30,000 kilometres across every province and territory, the Trans Canada Trail is cared for locally by trail and community groups. As a charity, Trans Canada Trail advocates for and stewards this nationwide system, helping ensure people can keep finding moments in nature that support their wellbeing. We support community-led trail projects through the Trail Catalyst Fund and we share reliable trail knowledge through the Centre for Trail Excellence.
Learn more about legacy giving to Trans Canada Trail.
Thanks to the donations of hundreds of thousands of generous supporters, the Trans Canada Trail is the longest network of recreational multi-use trails in the world. Many of those early donations came from our Pavilion Inscription Program, which ended in 2012. Donors who supported the Trail through the program can use the search tool and this interactive map to find their inscription. Please refer to our FAQ page for details about changes that have been made to the program over the years.
Main photo credit: Claudia Laroye
