The Tin Soldier was modeled after a Sergeant Major of the Royal Engineers Columbia Detachment. The Royal Engineers, also known as the Sappers surveyed and established the City of New Westminster.

Commissioned by the Simon Fraser Society for Community Living (now Kinsight), the Tin Soldier was first unveiled to the public on November 29, 2000 at the Royal Westminster Regiment Armoury as part of the first annual Festival of Trees, a fundraising event to support children with developmental disabilities.  A year later it was disassembled and relocated to its current location. A dedication ceremony for the Tin Soldier took place on February 14, 2001 at the Westminster Quay. At this event, a time capsule was placed inside the tin soldier with contributions from numerous community members, including children. The time capsule was scheduled to be opened in 2025.

Designed and built by Austin Metal Fabricators, all labour and materials were donated by the Sheet Metal Workers Local 280 and SMACNA-BC. 

In 2011, the Simon Fraser Society for Community Living (now Kinsight) gifted the Tin Soldier to the City of New Westminster. 

Learn More

The Tin Soldier was meant to represent kindness and inclusion but it was modeled after a Royal Engineer who came to New Westminster to establish the city, colonize the lands and harmed Indigenous peoples.

On February 14, 2025, Kwantlen artist Brandon Gabriel responded to the Tin Soldier. Through light projection, Gabriel reimagined it as a the World's Largest Coast Salish Welcome Figure to remind us of Coast Salish presence and history on these lands.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We recognise and respect that New Westminster is on the unceded and unsurrendered land of the Halkomelem speaking peoples.  We acknowledge that colonialism has made invisible their histories and connections to the land. As a City, we are learning and building relationships with the people whose lands we are on.

This is a living statement that will evolve as relationships continue to develop with the local First Nations.

The City of New Westminster acknowledges its history of violence against the First Peoples of this land and is embracing and prioritizing reconciliation with local First Nations and the urban Indigenous community. Learn more about the City’s actions to date around reconciliation here.