Opening and 20th century Construction of the stadium started in February of 1981, with
Dillingham Construction contracted to build the stadium, designed by architecture firm Studio Phillips Barratt, Ltd. was the world's largest
air-supported domed stadium until May 4, 2010, when it was deflated for the last time in preparation for the erection of its new retractable roof. Its original air-supported design was similar to the
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, which later stored pieces of the roof for reuse. The stadium held its grand opening on June 19, 1983. On June 23, 1983, the
BC Lions played their first game at the new stadium, a preseason 41–19 victory against the
Calgary Stampeders with 53,472 in attendance. A month later, on July 24, 1983, a crowd of 41,810 watched the BC Lions defeat the
Saskatchewan Roughriders 44–28 in the Lions' first regular season game at the stadium. The venue would host the
Soccer Bowl '83 and the
1983 Grey Cup game later that year. On September 18, 1984,
Pope John Paul II addressed an over-capacity crowd of 60,000 for "A Celebration of Life". The celebration was part of the papal visit to the
Archdiocese of Vancouver. It was one of the most heavily attended events in the stadium. The Pope's Celebration of Life was followed a few months later by the
Billy Graham Crusade, which drew similar numbers for eight nights. The stadium was then used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication (
Expo '86). Accepting an invitation by the
Province of British Columbia, the
Prince and
Princess of Wales presided over the opening ceremonies of the World's Fair on May 2, 1986.
2007 roof deflation On January 5, 2007, snow accumulated on the air-supported Teflon Fibreglass roof, despite strict zero accumulation of ice guidelines and ice accumulation structural warnings. The accumulation caused a tear in the roof's
ETFE-coated fabric close to Gate G on the south side where the roof meets the top of the concrete bowl. The tear grew quickly as air escaped through it, whereupon maintenance staff performed an intentional, controlled deflation to protect the integrity of the roof's intact fabric panels. As it was designed to do, the deflated roof rested on its steel support cables 6 metres (20 ft) above the seating and the field. Normally, the roof had a rise of 27 metres (90 ft) above the top of the bowl when inflated. No one was injured during the incident, although rain and melted snow flooded the bowl and subsequently had to be pumped out. An independent report indicated that an accidental rapid pressurization combined with lightly gusting wind and a location of previously undetected damage caused the tear. The damaged panel was replaced with a temporary one on January 19 and the roof was re-inflated. The BC Contractors Association held an exhibition in the stadium over the week of January 23, during which the roof leaked in several places when it rained. The temporary panel was successfully replaced with a permanent one in June 2007, just prior to the start of the
2007 CFL season.
Renovation and roof replacement On May 16, 2008, it was announced that over $150 million in major renovations would be carried out on BC Place Stadium. The work was done in two phases. The first phase involved upgrades to seating, washrooms, concessions, and luxury suites, as well as the reinforcement of the existing ring beam at the top of the building and was completed in October 2009, in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Work on the retractable roof began in May 2010, with
PCL Westcoast Constructors Inc. contracted to construct the roof designed by architecture firm Stantec Architecture Ltd. and structural engineering firm
Geiger Engineers, with
Schlaich Bergermann & Partner serving as consulting engineers and Genivar, Inc. acting as services engineers. Geiger also designed the stadium's new centre-hung scoreboard. The new roof, a
cable-supported retractable roof system first used with the
Commerzbank-Arena in
Frankfurt, Germany, is the largest of its kind. The opening measures , the same size as the field below. The fabric roof retracts into and is hidden by a pod in the centre of the opening, above the suspended videoboard. The updated stadium also features the second largest centre-hung high definition scoreboard in North America, after the one in
AT&T Stadium. In addition, a new
artificial turf developed by
Polytan was installed at an estimated cost of $1.2 million. It is designed to achieve FIFA 2-star certification, the highest rating possible. The soccer pitch is .
TSN analyst and former CFL player
Chris Schultz praised both the design and engineering of the new stadium. A new artificial turf was installed in May 2015, prior to the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015. The total cost of the turf upgrade was $1.327 million, with Canada Soccer and Rugby Canada contributing $500,000 CDN to the project. Liam Middleton, Canada's Rugby Sevens coach, stated that the new surface was "better than some natural grass surfaces they've played on."
Summary of renovations • New retractable roof is the largest cable supported retractable roof in the world. • Revolving doors replaced with clear glass doors, which allows the stadium to be accessed much more easily. • Old brown glass around building replaced with light green glass which lets more light in and makes stadium brighter. • A centre-hung high-definition scoreboard measuring . • All concourses widened and refurbished. • Wheel chair seating now at every price point and level of the stadium. • New state of the art sound system. it is widely regarded as one of the most exciting
Canadian football games of all time with McMaster winning 41–38 in double overtime. It was the first championship played in the newly renovated facility. The
2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament final between the
United States and
Canada played at the stadium was the highest attendance for a women's CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying game with 25,427 people in attendance. The
2014 NHL Heritage Classic took place March 2, 2014, in BC Place, with the
Ottawa Senators facing off against the home team
Vancouver Canucks. It was the first NHL game to be played in a
retractable roof stadium. BC Place hosted its second major international sports competition, the
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Five
group stage matches, two
round of 16 matches, and one
quarter-final were held in the stadium during June 2015, and the
Final between
Japan and the
United States was played here on July 5, 2015. The Canada women's national team played
Australia at BC Place on December 5, 2023, as part of a farewell tour for
Christine Sinclair. The stadium was temporarily renamed to Christine Sinclair Place in her honor. The stadium hosted round six of the HSBC
World Rugby Sevens Series 2015–16 series. A new overall attendance record was set on September 2, 2023, with 65,061 people attending an
Ed Sheeran concert, surpassing the previous record of 63,803 set by a
U2 concert in 2009. In April 2024,
Diljit Dosanjh became the first Punjabi artist to sell out BC Place. On December 6, 7, and 8, 2024, BC Place hosted the final three shows of
Taylor Swift's
The Eras Tour. In 2023, a naming rights partnership saw the field renamed to the "
Save-on-Foods Field at BC Place". Before the
2026 FIFA World Cup, BC Place saw minor renovations, including new hospitality spaces. ==Tenants==