Ownership and Use
Government House is where the Canadian Royal Family and visiting foreign dignitaries are greeted and often stay while in Victoria. It is also where numerous royal and viceroyal events take place, such as the bestowing of provincial awards or inductions into the Order of British Columbia, as well as luncheons, dinners, receptions, and speaking engagements. Among many public receptions and garden parties held annually, the lieutenant governor's New Years Day levèe remains a popular and well-attended highlight of the holiday season in Victoria. It is also at the royal residence that the lieutenant governor will drop the writs of election, swear-in new members of the Executive Council, and hold audience with his premier.
The property is owned by the Queen in Right of British Columbia; as with other Crown property, Government House is held in trust for future rulers and cannot be sold by the monarch except by her lieutenant governor with the proper advice and consent from the Executive Council of British Columbia. The management of the residence is, however, overseen by the British Columbia Government House Foundation, a charitable, non-profit organisation that was in 1987 established by Lieutenant Governor Robert Gordon Rogers, along with his Council at the time. The foundation is mandated to oversee the maintenance of Government House's property and all the structures on it; the acquisition, either on loan or permanently, of British Columbia artworks for display in the royal residence; the management of official gifts to the lieutenant governor or monarch in right of British Columbia; and public awareness of Government House, its history, and value. Besides the four honorary trustees—the lieutenant governor, the viceregal consort, the Chief Justice of British Columbia, and the Private Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor—the foundation also has trustees elected for three year terms from artistic, horticultural, historical, and legal segments of provincial society.
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