CAFE Vancouver was started in 1983 as one of the founding chapters under CAFE National. Interested in the common mandate of CAFE National, well known family business owners took on the challenge of creating and promoting an association dedicated to the well being and success of family businesses in British Columbia. CAFE Vancouver is managed by the Business Famililes Centre at UBC's Sauder School of Business.

Our membership consists of large family holding companies that may represent one to five businesses held and managed by one family to the opposite extreme of a partnership of two siblings or husband and wife team.

Our members are involved in virtually every industry imaginable. The common thread is not the size of the company, sales volumes or number of employees. It is not how many people actually work in the family business or are affected indirectly. The common thread is that our membership all have family connections and issues that directly affect their working and personal relationships within their family unit.

Our members form strong, educational and personal bonds with other people who understand the challenges and rewards of working and living with family members. Through Personal Advisory Groups and seminar/events, members are afforded the opportunity to understand the experiences of others who have found successful ways of developing and maintaining strong family business relationships. Most of our members are willing to share their successes and their mistakes, offering a wealth of information to family businesses striving to be successful on many levels.

 Advisor Members are also a significant part of CAFE Vancouver. Advisor Members are companies who offer support services to family businesses and include financial institutions, accounting firms, law firms, strategic planners, facilitators and communication specialists. Our Advisors support the CAFE mandate and do not solicit business from members. Rather, they provide a resource pool of experts who focus on family business issues that are accessible to our family business members. Advisor members also benefit from the education programming that is offered by CAFE Vancouver and the Business Families Centre at UBC.