Yosef Wosk received Vancouver’s highest award, Freedom of the City, from Mayor Kennedy Stewart on March 1, 2022. The first recipient was the Lord Mayor of London in 1936. Yosef Wosk and his father Morris Wosk [below] are the only father-son duo to be accorded the City of Vancouver’s highest civilian honour.

Morris Wosk in front of The Surfside Apartments, 1962

Freedom of the City certificate (Click)

line
line
line
line
line
line
line
line
line
line
line
line
line
line
line

In this clip Yosef Wosk cites the nature of Vancouver as a “garden city.”

line
He reflects upon… “thieves and lovers among the woods and the waters of Lotusland.”

line
“What then is freedom?”

line
A blessing for the City of Vancouver

Freedom of the City Award from the City of Vancouver — See citation about Yosef Wosk

PRECEDING RECIPIENTS (since 1936)

Cornelia Oberlander

Awarded May 18, 2021, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander was a pioneer in landscape architecture and a beloved member of Vancouver’s Jewish community.

Margaret Mitchell

Awarded October 18, 2016. Margaret Anne Mitchell was a social activist, community developer, and a courageous feminist.

Vancouver Police Pipe Band

Awarded January 23, 2014. The Vancouver Police Pipe Band is a musical ensemble of 35 pipers and drummers made up of current and retired police members and civilian volunteers. The band started in 1914 and has performed on behalf of the city around the world, winning awards and recognitions for excellence.

Judy Graves

Awarded January 23, 2014. Judy Graves has been an extraordinary force for positive change as a pioneer and leader working to end homelessness. Throughout her 33-year career with the City, she cultivated caring connections with people living on the streets and in shelters, and served as a tireless advocate on behalf of those marginalized by homelessness.

Jim Pattison

Awarded January 23, 2014. Jim Pattison is one of  Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs and a generous philanthropist who has always remained true to his Vancouver upbringing. The Jim Pattison Group, of which he is chairman, CEO and president, is headquartered in Vancouver and employs over 35,000 people in more than 400 locations worldwide.

Jim Green

Awarded February 27, 2012. Whether it was as a city councillor, developer, university lecturer, opera lover, author, union organizer, or community advocate, social justice advocate Jim Green has demonstrated an unbounded love for our city and all its citizens. Vancouver is better for it and countless Vancouver residents have been touched by his work.

Milton Wong

Awarded August 1, 2011. Throughout his professional career, Business Leader Milton Wong has shown remarkable business acumen combined with a strong sense of social responsibility. He has made tremendous contributions across a wide spectrum of fields – finance, arts and culture, sustainability, community development, multiculturalism, academia, and philanthropy.

Art Phillips

Awarded July 6, 2010. Former Vancouver Mayor Art Phillips is a champion of livability and inclusivity. During his time in office, he fundamentally changed the political and social direction of our city. He has made an indelible mark on Vancouver, and his leadership and achievements continue to influence and inspire the City today.
Book of Freedoms of the City of Vancouver

Michael Harcourt

Awarded February 28, 2017, Mike Harcourt is a former Mayor of Vancouver, Premier of British Columbia, and a published author, community activist, lawyer by trade and the former British Columbia Treaty Commission federal commissioner.

Dr. David Suzuki

Awarded June 23, 2015. Dr. David Suzuki, co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, is an award-winning scientist, environmentalist, and broadcaster.

List of recipients previous to 2010:

Morris J. Wosk and Yosef Wosk are also the only father/son combination to named Museum of Vancouver City Legacy Award Honourees. The official citations for these Legacy Awards in 2014 are:

Morris J. Wosk
Born in Odessa, Morris J. Wosk (1917–2002) moved to British Columbia with his family in 1928. He was part of the growth and development of Vancouver as a businessman, community leader, and philanthropist for seventy-five years. Having faced innumerable challenges, his hard work and strict adherence to honesty, fairness and respect for all earned him deep admiration and success in a number of areas. For four decades he was co-owner of Wosk’s Ltd.—one of the city’s premier furniture and appliances businesses—with his brother, Ben. He then turned his talents to the hotel and residential sectors. He became one of Vancouver’s largest and most highly regarded landlords. In his latter years he became a revered mentor to the next generation of businessmen and women. Success in business led to his work on behalf of community organizations, giving of both his time and resources in British Columbia, across the country and internationally. Among the numerous causes he championed were education, health care, social services, libraries and the arts. Privately, he also assisted elderly and indigent tenants, persons needing medical equipment or assistance, and employees with financial problems. We will never know the full extent of his generosity. Morris J. Wosk achieved the rare distinction of being awarded the highest recognition from all three levels of government—the federal, provincial and municipal: he was appointed a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia, as well as a Freeman of the City of Vancouver. Besides numerous awards from several organizations worldwide, he was also presented with honorary doctorates from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Simon Fraser University. Married to Dena for 54 years, they raised four children—Miriam, Yosef, Mordehai and Kenny, and had six grandchildren. Morris is remembered as a man of immense joy and wisdom, a gift to the city that welcomed him so many years ago.

Yosef Wosk
Morris and Dena’s son, Dr. Yosef Wosk, is an ordained rabbi, Harvard graduate, holder of five post-graduate degrees and two honorary doctorates. He is appreciated as a master teacher of over five thousand students from kindergarten through adult education and has lectured at universities and institutes of higher learning throughout the world. He was Director of Interdisciplinary Programs in Continuing Studies at Simon Fraser University where he developed seminal programs such as The Philosophers’ Café and The Canadian Academy of Independent Scholars. He still serves as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Humanities. Yosef is a community activist who is recognized as a public speaker, media commentator and published author. He has also been deeply involved in heritage conservation, education, parks and gardens, social services, interfaith dialogue, business, books, and art. He served on numerous government, communal, academic, business and professional boards including the Museum of Vancouver, the Vancouver Public Library, and the Museum of Anthropology.

A major art collector who has curated exhibitions and donated art to many institutions, Yosef is also a champion of literacy, design and the book arts. He has founded and supported almost five hundred libraries worldwide, endowed Vancouver’s Poet Laureate, funded the reflecting pond to complete Arthur Erickson’s iconic MOA architecture, and is the principal benefactor of the Carter-Wosk BC Creative Achievement Award for Applied Art & Design as well as the Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada.

Identified as one of the top ten thinkers and most thoughtful citizens in the province, Yosef is also widely travelled. He has been fortunate to visit all seven continents as well as both the North and South Poles. Appointed to The Order of British Columbia and awarded a BC Community Achievement Award in recognition of outstanding community service, Yosef is included in the Canadian Who’s Who. He is also a recipient of the Mayor’s Art Award for Philanthropy, the Community Champion Special Award from the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, a Spirit of Vancouver Award from the Vancouver Board of Trade, an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Canadian Museums Association, and the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals.

Next: PUBLICATIONS