About PoCo Heritage

Our Vision

Vision – A community enriched by its culture and connected to its past.

Mission – To celebrate and preserve Port Coquitlam’s diverse heritage and culture through community engagement.

Non-Profit Organization

The Port Coquitlam Heritage and Cultural Society is a volunteer driven non-profit organization that operates Port Coquitlam’s only museum and archives and is dedicated to celebrating and preserving Port Coquitlam’s diverse heritage and culture.

We are a registered BC not for profit society, CRA Registered Charity Number 89326 7526 RR 0001. We are thankful to The City of Port Coquitlam for providing support.

History

Formed in 1988
The Port Coquitlam Heritage and Cultural Society (PoCo Heritage) was founded in 1988 by Ada Con and Lois Milne, and charter member Councillor Ron Talbot, with the goal of advocating for the preservation of Port Coquitlam’s rich heritage. In these early years PoCo Heritage focused primarily on the preservation of heritage homes and buildings in the City, and community outreach and education.

Heritage Display Center
In 1997, after many years campaigning for permanent space, the City of Port Coquitlam provided support for PoCo Heritage in the form of storage space on the upper floor of the #2 Fire Hall, which allowed us to start curating a small collection of Port Coquitlam’s heritage objects. A few years later in 1999, PoCo Heritage opened Port Coquitlam’s first “mini museum” named the Heritage Display Centre on Mary Hill Road.

Leigh Square Community Arts Village
The City’s opening of the Leigh Square Community Arts Village in 2007, created another opportunity for PoCo Heritage to expand and offer more to our community. With space provided in the Outlet building, Port Coquitlam’s old post office, PoCo Heritage opened and managed the Community Archives with a collection of City records and our own archival collection.

POCO HERITAGE MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES

PoCo Heritage’s crowning achievement has been the successful realization of the collaborative project which led to the opening of the PoCo Heritage Museum and Archives. Port Coquitlam’s only museum was officially opened on March 7th, 2013, alongside the City of Port Coquitlam’s centennial celebrations. In the subsequent years the PoCo Heritage Museum and Archives has become an important pillar in the Port Coquitlam community through our exhibits, events, programming, and community collaborations and outreach.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Port Coquitlam Heritage Society is committed to creating an inclusive and respectful environment where visitors of all ages, genders, racial origins, religions, sexual orientations, medical conditions, or levels of ability feel welcome. We recognize that cultural societies and institutions play an important role in both recording and telling community stories and acknowledge that as a heritage society, we have a responsibility to:

  • reflect the diversity within our community, both past and present
  • recognize and make visible any biases in our work, particularly those that have led to the loss and/or erasure of parts of our collective history
  • ensure that our exhibits, programs, collections, and events are inclusive of the stories of underrepresented groups within our community and that these stories are told in a respectful and culturally-sensitive fashion  
  • invite collaboration with members of underrepresented groups wherever possible
  • tell stories that are inclusive of the multiplicity of different voices and perspectives within our community

STAFF

Alexander Code
Museum Manager


[email protected]

[email protected]
(604) 927-8403

Tuesday – Thursday, Saturday

Alex started work with PoCo Heritage in 2020 and since then he’s been busy creating new exhibitions, programs, and keeping our museum running. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in History from Queen’s University and is passionate about sharing community history.

Lauren J.
Museum Assistant

[email protected]
(604) 927-8403

Lauren is a former volunteer, and will be completing her work experience placement at the museum. She recently graduated from Douglas College and is looking forward to learning new things.

Paisley McKenzie
Museum Assistant

Paisley standing in a hall full of lanterns at an aquarium in Japan. She is wearing a grey shirt with a Chinook salmon on it, and jeans.

[email protected]

[email protected]
(604) 927-8403

Tuesday – Thursday, Saturday

Paisley is a new Museum Assistant at PoCo Heritage, who will be helping with tours, cataloguing, exhibits, and other parts of the museum’s operation. Paisley recently graduated with a BA in History and Linguistics from UBC, where she also enjoyed playing on the Quidditch team, and drawing the displays at the Museum of Anthropology.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

                        (2024/2025)

L to R : Lily Liu, Aynsley Wong-Meldrum, Linda Sliworsky, Brian Hubbard, Julie Schmidt

President: Jack Choules ([email protected])
Vice President: VACANT
Past President: Julie Schmidt ([email protected])
Treasurer: Aynsley Wong ([email protected])
Secretary: Marg Owens ([email protected])
Director: Pam Murray
Director: Lily Liu
Director: Mio Oi Si Tou
Director: Emily Douglass
Director: Meg McLaughlin
Director: Pippa Van Velzen

Strategic Plan

Strategic Plan 2018 – 2020

Annual Reports

Annual Report 2022 – 2023

Annual Report 2021 – 2022

Annual Report 2020 – 2021

Annual Report 2019 – 2020

Annual Report 2018 – 2019

Annual Report 2017 – 2018

Annual Report 2016 – 2017

Annual Report 2015 – 2016