Dominion Provincial Youth Training Centre

2000s: Timeline

This time line consists of local, national, and international events relevant to the Canadian experience. It serves to contextualize the growth and evolution of VIU.
Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia Online

2001

The census recorded the population of Canada as 30,007,094.

The arrival of Y2K saw little disruption.

On September 11, terrorists hijacked four jetliners, crashing two into the World Trade Centre in New York, one into the Pentagon in Washington and a fourth into a field in Pennsylvania.

2003

The March 20 invasion of Iraq was the start of the conflict known as Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Mad cow disease was discovered at a northern Alberta farm on May 20, threatening Canada's $7.6 billion beef industry.

2004

The largest undersea earthquake ever recorded occurred in the Indian Ocean creating a tsunami with 30m waves that devastated the coasts of India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia on December 26.

2005

Same-sex marriage became legal in Canada on July 20.

On August 29, hurricane Katrina hit the American Gulf Coast killing over 1,800 people.

2006

BC Ferries' Queen of the North hit a rock and sank while travelling south from Prince Rupert on March 22.

Vancouver's Stanley Park was hit by a severe storm on December 16 which destroyed thousands of trees and forced the park to close for the first time in 40 years.

2008

The Vancouver Island Conference Centre opened in Nanaimo on June 7.

2009

On January 20, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th American president and the USA's first black president.

The Tsawwassen First Nation treaty legally took effect on April 3. It was the first urban treaty ever negotiated in BC.

On June 11, the World Health Organization declared the spread of H1N1 influenza as a pandemic.