Duty Done: Memories of Fairmont Barracks

In 1920, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police became the stewards of a large Tudor Revival-style building sitting on several hectares of land in what is now known as the Cambie corridor. Built in 1914 on the ancestral lands of the Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam, and Squamish First Nations, among others, the building began its life as a private boy’s school and later became a military hospital before the Mounties built their barracks and took up residence there.

In the past century, Fairmont Barracks has been our home, our training facility, our post garage, our stables, and much more. In the NCOs’ and Officers’ messes, our police officers have swapped stories and kept our traditions alive. Over the years, thousands of our employees have worked in the building’s offices, solving complex crimes—sometimes highly publicized, but often not—in a communal effort to keep all Canadians safe.