Fast Facts

Business Hours -- Vancouver banks are open Monday through Thursday from 10am to 5pm and Friday from 10am to 6pm. Some banks, like Canadian Trust, are also open on Saturday. Stores are generally open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm. Last call at restaurant bars and cocktail lounges is 2am.

Child Care -- If you need to rent cribs, car seats, play pens, or other baby accessories, Cribs and Carriages (tel. 604/988-2742; www.cribsandcarriages.com) delivers them right to your hotel.

Consulates -- The U.S. Consulate is at 1075 W. Pender St. (tel. 604/685-4311). The British Consulate is at 800-1111 Melville St. (tel. 604/683-4421). The Australian Consulate is at 1225-888 Dunsmuir St. (tel. 604/684-1177). Check the Yellow Pages for other countries' consulates.

Currency Exchange -- Banks and ATMs have a better exchange rate than most foreign exchange bureaus.

Dentists -- Most major hotels have a dentist on call. Vancouver Centre Dental Clinic, Vancouver Centre Mall, 11-650 W. Georgia St. (tel. 604/682-1601), is another option. You must make an appointment. The clinic is open Monday through Wednesday 8:30am to 6pm, Thursday 8:30am to 7pm, and Friday 9am to 6pm.

Doctors -- Hotels usually have a doctor on call. Vancouver Medical Clinics, Bentall Centre, 1055 Dunsmuir St. (tel. 604/683-8138), is a drop-in clinic open Monday through Friday 8am to 4:45pm. Another drop-in medical center, Carepoint Medical Centre, 1175 Denman St. (tel. 604/681-5338), is open daily from 9am to 8pm (Mon-Wed until 9pm). See also "Emergencies," below.

Electricity -- As in the U.S., electric current is 110 volts AC (60 cycles).

Emergencies -- Dial tel. 911 for fire, police, ambulance, and poison control. This is a free call.

Hospitals -- St. Paul's Hospital, 1081 Burrard St. (tel. 604/682-2344), is the closest facility to downtown and the West End. West Side Vancouver hospitals include Vancouver General Hospital Health and Sciences Centre, 855 W. 12th Ave. (tel. 604/875-4111), and British Columbia's Children's Hospital, 4480 Oak St. (tel. 604/875-3163). In North Vancouver, there's Lions Gate Hospital, 231 E. 15th St. (tel. 604/988-3131).

Hotlines -- Emergency numbers include Crisis Centre (tel. 604/872-3311), Rape Crisis Centre (tel. 604/255-6228), Rape Relief (tel. 604/872-8212), Poison Control Centre (tel. 604/682-2344), Crime Stoppers (tel. 604/669-8477), SPCA animal emergency (tel. 604/879-7343), Vancouver Police (tel. 604/717-3535), Fire (tel. 604/665-6000), and Ambulance (tel. 604/872-5151). See also "Emergencies," above.

Internet Access -- Free Internet access is available at the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch, 350 W. Georgia St. (tel. 604/331-3600). Cyber Space Internet Café, 1741 Robson St. (tel. 604/684-6004), and Internet Coffee, 1104 Davie St. (tel. 604/682-6668), are both open until at least midnight.

Laundry & Dry Cleaning -- Davie Laundromat, 1061 Davie St. (tel. 604/682-2717), offers self-service, drop-off service, and dry cleaning. Laundry & Suntanning, 781 Denman St. (tel. 604/689-9598), doesn't have dry-cleaning services, but you can work on your tan while you wait. Also, almost all hotels have laundry service.

Liquor Laws -- The legal drinking age in British Columbia is 19. Spirits are sold only in government liquor stores, but beer and wine can be purchased from specially licensed, privately owned stores and pubs. Most LCBC (Liquor Control of British Columbia) stores are open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm, but some are open until 11pm.

Lost Property -- The Vancouver Police have a lost property room (tel. 604/717-2726), open 8:30am to 5pm Monday through Saturday. If you think you may have lost something on public transportation, call Translink (B.C. Transit) 8:30am to 5pm at tel. 604/682-7887.

Luggage Storage & Lockers -- Most downtown hotels will gladly hold your luggage before or after your stay. Lockers are available at the main Vancouver railway station (which is also the main bus depot), Pacific Central Station, 1150 Station St., near Main Street and Terminal Avenue south of Chinatown (tel. 604/661-0328).

Mail -- Letters and postcards up to 30 grams cost C93¢ (US75¢/40p) to mail to the U.S. and C$1.78 (US$1.50/80p) for overseas airmail service; C52¢ (US45¢/25p) within Canada. You can buy stamps and mail parcels at the main post office or at any of the postal outlets inside drugstores and convenience stores. Look for a POSTAL SERVICES sign.

Newspapers & Magazines -- The two local papers are the Vancouver Sun (www.vancouversun.com), published Monday through Saturday, and the Province (www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince), published Sunday through Friday mornings. The free weekly entertainment paper, the Georgia Straight, comes out on Thursday.

Pharmacies -- Shopper's Drug Mart, 1125 Davie St. (tel. 604/685-6445), is open 24 hours. Several Safeway supermarket pharmacies are open late; the one on Robson and Denman is open until midnight.

Police -- For emergencies, dial tel. 911. This is a free call. Otherwise, the Vancouver City Police can be reached at tel. 604/717-3535.

Post Office -- The main post office, 349 W. Georgia St. at Homer Street (tel. 800/267-1177) is open Monday through Friday from 8am to 5:30pm. You'll also find post office outlets in Shopper's Drug Mart and 7-Eleven stores with longer opening hours.

Restrooms -- Hotel lobbies are your best bet for downtown facilities. The shopping centers like Pacific Centre and Sinclair Centre, as well as the large department stores like The Bay, also have restrooms.

Smoking -- Smoking is prohibited in all public areas, including restaurants, bars, and clubs.

Taxes -- Hotel rooms are subject to a 10% tax. The provincial sales tax (PST) is 7% (excluding food, restaurant meals, and children's clothing). For specific questions, call the B.C. Consumer Taxation Branch (tel. 604/660-0858; www.sbr.gov.bc.ca/ctb). Most goods and services are subject to a 6% federal goods and services tax (GST). Note: The GST Visitors Rebate Program was eliminated in 2007, so it's no longer possible to get a rebate on goods and services purchased in Canada.

Time Zone -- Vancouver is in the Pacific time zone, as are Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Daylight saving time applies the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.

Tipping -- Tipping etiquette is the same as in the United States: 15% to 20% in restaurants, C$1 (US85¢/50p) per bag for bellboys and porters, and C$1 to C$4 (US85¢-US$3.40/50p-£1.80) per day for the hotel housekeeper. Taxi drivers get a sliding-scale tip -- fares under C$4 deserve a C$1 (US85¢/50p) tip; for fares over C$5, tip 15%.

Weather -- Call tel. 604/664-9010 for weather updates. Each local ski resort has its own snow report line: Cypress Ski area tel. 604/419-7669; Whistler/Blackcomb tel. 604/687-7507.