Christ Church is a daughter church of St. James' Anglican Church. The first service was held, without a church building, on December 23, 1888, at 720 Granville Street. On February 14, 1889, a building committee was formed to collect the necessary funds for the erection of the church. It would be located on land bought from the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR); Henry John Cambie, chief engineer of CPR's Pacific Division and People's Warden of the new church, was a key negotiator in acquiring the property.