A Totem Pole

Totem Pole outside Kits Beach

Totem poles are an iconic symbol for the First Nations Peoples along the North-West coast of North America, which includes BC, and to an extent, Alaska and Washington State in the USA.

They feature a number of symbolic animals, mythic creatures, and heroic people sculpted one on top of each other from a single log, normally of cedar. Each figure is symbolic of a concept, a family clan or an individual. Assembled on the pole together, the whole thing is meant to tell a story, or record an event. Traditionally, the meaning of a particular totem pole is meant to belong to a family, clan or community, and is not meant to be divulged to outsiders, so is kept secret. Villages along the coast would often have dozens of the things, though many of the old ones were removed from the original sites to museums around Canada and the rest of the world.
They are also a common form of public art not only in Vancouver, but in towns, cities, and smaller communities all along the coast.

Here's a profile of the same pole:





And here's a full-frontal photo: