Hold your fire: Why Vancouver's iconic Nine O'Clock Gun is going silent

Evenings in Vancouver’s Stanley Park will be quiet for a while, thanks to supply shortages of the black powder that fuels the Nine O’Clock Gun.

A statement from the City of Vancouver says the familiar boom from the old cannon won’t return until further notice. The City gave no indication of when that might be. 

“This shortage is not unique to Canada; BP is in short supply throughout North America and Europe due to supply chain challenges and a decrease in manufacturing,” the statement said.

“Since the Park Board’s long-time supplier closed last fall, staff were only able to secure enough powder to fire until today.”

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The gun has fired almost every night for around 100 years, so some residents are sure to miss its nightly bellows. 

The City says it’s looking for something to replace the black powder and will get it back to its regular schedule as soon as possible.

The firing of the Nine O’Clock Gun in #StanleyPark will temporarily pause after today due to a shortage of the powder the cannon uses. Staff are continuing to explore other options. https://t.co/CQgLXy1faP pic.twitter.com/S1dVFhKFcT

— Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation (@ParkBoard) February 10, 2022

The Nine O’Clock Gun went down in October 2021 as well after being damaged by a large tree in a storm. That took about a month to fix.

While crews were working on repairs, a Twitter user made an account for the gun, tweeting “BOOM” at 9 pm every night until the cannon was restored.

BOOM!

— Nine O’Clock Gun (@the9oclockgun) October 18, 2021

Unfortunately, it has been inactive since August 2020.

When the boom does come back, you’ll be able to hear it throughout the West End and Coal Harbour.