Rotary District 5040 supports 51 clubs and almost 1500 members, in the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada. The District includes the west coast of BC from the USA border north to the Yukon Territory. The province is home to 60 different ethnic groups. A map is available on the District 5040 website, and a visual presentation of images is available in a PowerPoint file.

Vancouver, BC’s largest city, has a population of over two million people. The city was home to the Winter Olympic Games of 2010 along with the internationally known ski resort of Whistler/ Blackcomb.

There are 12 clubs within the Metro Vancouver area. The annual District 5040 conference is usually held in May.

May to September is the best time to travel to our District. The other months, we enjoy a lot of rain, and sometimes snow, which is welcomed by ski operations on local mountains and at resorts throughout the region.
Friendship Exchange visitors may wish to visit our provincial capital city of Victoria, on Vancouver Island (District 5020) by float plane or car ferry. Plan to spend two days or more on this venture after the exchange.

Ongoing Major Projects:
  • Lohs Rotary Foundation Endowment: opportunities for scholarships and vocational exchanges between District 5040 and People’s Republic of China in the fields of health care, medicine, and health care administration.
  • David and Lis Ker Endowment Fund: a three-month scholarship for a young person in Siberia to take an introductory course in Western Marketing Economic Business Practices, term 1 curriculum, through the British Columbia Institute of Technology International program.

Other District Activities:
  • Interact, Rotaract, Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA), Youth Exchange, Rotary Overseas Summer Exchange (ROSE), Vocational Exchange, Friendship Exchange, and Rotary World Peace Scholarship.
  • Skilled Volunteers: Rotary District 5040 members are active in many fellowships: Gourmet; Skiing; Travel and Hosting; Past District Governors; Convention Attendees; as well as a very active Shelter Box Program.
  • Rotary World Help Network: The original purpose of the Network was to gather and send medical supplies to hospitals around the world which had been built but could not fully operate because they lacked supplies or equipment. The Network has become a multi-District program which has expanded its focus over time to include dental and optical equipment, education materials, sports equipment and disaster relief supplies. Rotarians continually gather and store new or used items in a warehouse in the Vancouver area. When a need has been identified through the Rotary network a large group of members gathers on a scheduled day to load a shipping container bound for a developing country where need for equipment and supplies has been identified. As of 2017 358 containers have been sent to 61 countries with contents valued at replacement value of more than $125 million.

Rotary Ideas/Showcase Projects:
  • Global Grant Projects include Water and Sanitation Projects in these regions: 1. Paraguay; 2. Menkao, Congo; 3. Uganda; 4. Sinchuan, Peoples Republic of China; 5. Ngobi Village, Kenya
  • Individual Club projects:
  • Adopt-A-Village program to enhance education and deliver water filters to enable children to access the education in remote villages throughout rural Laos; replacement of a 30-year-old children’s water park play facility. Other international projects have led to work with water and sanitation, orphanages, street children, housing, schools, and student sponsorships.
 
Recent Friendship exchanges: USA, Club to Club - New Zealand and Chile.