St. Paul's Lights of Hope

Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Foundation celebrates the 28th anniversary of its annual Lights of Hope hospital fundraising event over the Christmas season in 2025.

This article includes the following information about Lights of Hope:

Lights of Hope Launch Night | St. Paul’s Christmas Lights | About the Lights of Hope Lights | About St. Paul’s Hospital | Other Information

Vancouver’s Lights of Hope Christmas Lights

If you’ve ever driven down Burrard Street at night between late November and the beginning of January you’ve no doubt noticed the amazing Christmas lights on St. Paul’s Hospital. During the winter holiday season, illuminated stars light up the front of the giant brick building from top to bottom, making it a Vancouver landmark.

The hospital lights up and celebrates with fireworks and live entertainment during the launch event, which happens each November.

Last year, launch night was on Wednesday, November 27th, and the lights stayed on until January 3rd, 2025. There were photo opportunities with Santa, craft activities and free hot chocolate at the event.

The venue for the launch celebrations is outside of St. Paul’s Hospital, at 1081 Burrard Street.

St. Paul's Lights of Hope — St. Paul’s on Burrard Street at Night

Lights of Hope Launch Night

The launch night for Lights of Hope was on Wednesday, November 27th last year. On that day, beginning at 6:00 pm, Christmas illuminations lit up St. Paul’s Hospital.

The launch event usually runs from around 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm with the lights going on and fireworks taking off a little later in the evening. There are food trucks, a few speeches, the recognition of major donors and performances by local choirs.

Click Lights of Hope Community Celebration for the most up-to-date information.

St. Paul’s Christmas Lights

If you look closely at the lights on the hospital during the Christmas season you’ll notice numerous star decorations and the names of people and corporations. That’s because the Lights of Hope is a major fundraising event for the St. Paul’s Foundation which raises money for major hospital purchases.

Donors buy “stars” on the building which make up the decorations on the hospital. The cost of each star ranges from about $1,000 to $50,000, and the larger the donation, the bigger the star.

For $1,000, the hospital honours donors as “Friends” and lists their names in the building’s courtyard. “Partners” donate $2,500 and get their names on a shared star in the hospital’s archway, and $5,000 “Bronze” donors get individual stars that are three-feet in size.

“Silver” donors get a four-foot star for contributing $10,000, “Gold” sponsors get a six-foot star in exchange for $25,000, and “Platinum” donors get their names and logos in massive 15-foot stars for contributions of $50,000 or more. Major donors in these categories generally comprise large corporations, media organizations and affluent local families.

Last year people could donate by purchasing a star for their home from St. Paul’s Hope At Home website.

Over the course of a typical year the St. Paul’s Foundation raises between about $20 million and $30 million, with a significant portion of that coming from the Lights of Hope campaign.

About the Lights of Hope Lights

The Lights of Hope fundraising event has been lighting up St. Paul’s Hospital and Vancouver’s Burrard Street and Helmcken intersection since 1998.

The annual event usually takes 150 volunteers about a month-and-a-half to set up. The display includes over 100,000 light bulbs and hundreds of illuminated donor stars.

Each year, from mid to late November until around the first week in January, the lights and star decorations illuminate the area.

Click St. Paul’s Donations to donate to the Lights of Hope campaign.

St. Pauls Hospital Nativity — St. Paul’s Nativity Scene from Previous Years

About St. Paul’s Hospital

St. Paul’s Hospital is an acute care hospital built in 1912 and located at 1081 Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver. Founded originally in 1894 by the Sisters of Providence, it’s a Roman Catholic faith-based health care provider that serves patients of all economic and faith backgrounds.

Today St. Paul’s has over 400 beds and provides health care services to over 380,000 patients every year. The hospital is also a world-class teaching and research facility.

Click Story of Providence Health Care to learn more about the hospital’s history.