{"id":533879,"date":"2026-03-13T14:52:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/533879\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T14:52:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:52:36","slug":"is-a-new-vancouver-canucks-training-facility-coming-to-east-vancouver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/533879\/","title":{"rendered":"Is a new Vancouver Canucks training facility coming to East Vancouver?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Are the Vancouver Canucks closing in on an agreement with the City of Vancouver to build their long sought after practice facility in East Vancouver?\u00a0<\/p>\n

And if so, will that facility be replacing the aging Britannia Rink that’s served Commercial Drive and surrounding neighbourhood communities since 1976?<\/p>\n

The answers, according to hockey reporter Irfaan Gaffar are yes, and yes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gaffar, co-host of Rink Wide Vancouver, published the scoop<\/a> on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we know is that they’re close to an agreement and we shall see what happens here over the course of the next few days, months,\u201d said Gaffar, speaking to CBC News.<\/p>\n

Along with a sheet of ice, Gaffar reported the new facility will contain a state of the art gym, off-ice training, lounge, locker room and office space for the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proximity to Rogers Arena is about a 10-minute drive. A lot of the players live either in downtown Vancouver or in and around that area, so just having the close proximity to Rogers Arena is a huge bonus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"FrancescoFrancesco Aquilini, chairman and governor for Vancouver Canucks, left, and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford. (Tijana Martin\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n

Last year, Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said after failed partnership talks with a handful of area rinks, the only option left for the club was to build on their own.<\/p>\n

Rutherford said the club needed<\/a> 20,000 square feet of space attached to a rink for the practice facility.<\/p>\n

The Canucks declined comment on Gaffar\u2019s report. The City of Vancouver said it does not comment on the status of any discussions related to specific sites or land-use matters.<\/p>\n

“The Britannia site is jointly owned by the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver School Board. Britannia Rink is a City\u2011owned facility,” said the city in an emailed statement. “The City regularly speaks with a range of organizations about potential ideas and opportunities.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Britannia Community Services Centre Society told CBC News it only recently became aware of a tentative agreement between the city and Canucks.<\/p>\n

The society is responsible for managing the 17-acre Britannia complex, in partnership with the Vancouver School Board, Vancouver Public Library Board, Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation and the City of Vancouver. The complex houses a number of gyms, a pool, the rink, a library, an elementary and high school, and various other facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Britannia Community Services Centre Society has been serving this community for 50 years. Because of that, we think it\u2019s important that the local community be part of the discussion as ideas develop,” said the society in an emailed statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cA new facility could represent an exciting opportunity for investment in community recreation and public space.\u2026 At the same time, it will be important to understand how any proposal fits with the needs of the neighbourhood and current plans for future use of the space.\u201d <\/p>\n

Underground parking for players<\/p>\n

According to Gaffar, plans for the Canucks\/Britannia facility involve moving the footprint of the existing rink to the parking lot to the west, along with excavating to make room for player parking underground.<\/p>\n

Bound to arise are questions around whether plans include a second sheet of ice to replace the one the community is losing, and what happens to the Britannia Master Plan<\/a>, which imagines a new public ice rink with rooftop sports park and attached midrise non-market housing.<\/p>\n

\"ArtistArtist rendering from the Britannia Master Plan showing a new ice rink (building 2) with midrise non-market housing attached (Britannia Master Plan\/City of Vancouver)<\/p>\n

The Aquilini family, owners of the Vancouver Canucks, have deep-seated connections to the Britannia neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

The club has sponsored a number of area initiatives over the years, including the Canucks Family Education Centre, a programming and literacy space located on the Britannia grounds since 2002.<\/p>\n

City Coun. Pete Fry said he’s hopeful details of the practice rink concept are released soon, and said it could both add amenities to the community and be a legacy for the Aquilinis’ East Vancouver roots.<\/p>\n

“I hope people are going to like what they see,” said Fry.<\/p>\n

The Canucks will be the only one of 32 NHL team without a dedicated practice rink once construction of the Calgary Flames’ new arena and practice facility is completed in 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533880,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-533879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}