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History

The first North Shore Round Up was organized by a group of North Shore, North and West Vancouver, AA members, in early sobriety, at a “meeting after the meeting”, the coffee shop.

It was decided that a “roundup, convention” was needed somewhere between the BC/Yukon Convention in November and the Victoria Rally at Easter.

The first NSRU was held in a tiny church hall at 6th and Mahon in North Vancouver in February, 1972. The first year main speaker at the Roundup was Cec C. from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Approximately 30 were in attendance.

After the first couple of roundups Al-Anon was invited to the festivities, having added much to the convention the previous two years. They have since become a most welcomed addition to our convention.

Cec C was also the second year main speaker, filling in at the last moment, due to a cancellation.

The North Shore Round Up was held on the weekend closest to Valentines Day until the 30th annual Round Up held in 2002 when it moved to the Easter Weekend. 

For the 45th annual Round Up held in 2016 the Round Up moved from the Hyatt to its current location at the Vancouver Convention Centre East.

Sadly the 49th annual Round Up scheduled to be held in 2020 had to be cancelled due to the global Covid-19 Pandemic with all the speakers being moved to the 2021 Round Up.

The 49th annual Round Up was re-scheduled in 2021 and held on Zoom with the main speakers on webinar and the panels on Zoom meetings.

There have been many wonderful AA and Al-Anon speakers since that first small gathering of two plus dozen. The North Shore Round Up has grown to a “sell-out” crowd of 2,000 guests each year.