IRNA � The City Council of Vancouver, southwestern Canada, added Norouz, the Persian New Year, to its official celebrations and observations calendar to recognize the spiritual heritage Iranians and other immigrants celebrate.

A motion from Vancouver councilor Jean Swanson was adopted to recognize Norouz, the Persian New Year, as an officially observed celebration day in Vancouver and to celebrate it at Vancouver City Hall.

Norouz is celebrated by hundreds of millions of people in 15 countries and is a national holiday in 10 states. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), too, has recorded it as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.

'In 2009, the Parliament of Canada passed a bill to officially add Noruz to the national calendar of Canada, and the province of British Columbia proclaimed March 20 as the day of Norouz in BC,' wrote the official website of the Vancouver City Council on Tuesday.

It added, 'Norouz is a holiday that is about connecting people of diverse cultures and backgrounds with nature, and Vancouver is proud of its diversity and its connection to nature,' and ' Persian is in the top ten non-official languages that Vancouverites speak.'

'The City reaches out to the Persian community and collaborates to hold a brief mid-day Norouz celebration on or around March 20 at City Hall, with participation from Mayor and Council.'