Mountain View Cemetery is the only cemetery within the city limits of Vancouver. It contains the oldest Jewish cemetery on the mainland and is the final resting place of many of our community’s founders. We are pleased to offer walking tours of this cemetery. The Jewish section of Mountain View Cemetery was consecrated in 1892, and since that time over 450 people have been interred there.
In the mid-twentieth century, other local Jewish cemeteries opened, each operated by one of the local synagogues. As a result, Mountain View was used less frequently, and fell into disrepair. In 2012, a few instances of vandalism brought the cemetery back to the community’s attention and a restoration committee was struck. Through a three-year project led by the Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board and involving the partnership of the JMABC and many other community organizations, the site was restored to its former elegance, gravestones were cleaned and stabilized, and thorough research yielded much information about the people buried at Mountain View. A rededication ceremony was held on May 3rd, 2015. Watch the video below to learn more about this project.
Cemetery records are an invaluable resource when researching local history. There are several Jewish cemeteries throughout BC, each administered by a synagogue or burial society, as listed below.
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Sunshine Coast Jewish Burial Society – 604.886.4906
Beth Israel – 604.731,4161
Beth Tikvah – 604.271.6262
Har El – 604.925.6488
Schara Tzedeck (three locations: Mountain View, New Wesminster, and Surrey) – 604.733.2277
Temple Sholom – 604.266.7190
Jewish Cemetery of Victoria Resource Page
Congregation Emanu El (Victoria) – 250.382.0615
Oceanside Jewish Kvarot Memorial Society (Cedar) – oceanside.jewish.burial@gmail.com