The University of British-Columbia Liquid-Mirror Observatory was established in 1995 at Maple Ridge, approximately 60 kilometres east of Vancouver. The goal of the observatory is to develop and test new liquid mirror telescopes. Liquid mirror telescopes are part of the next generation of super telescopes.

A liquid mirror is made of a strongly reflective liquid (like mercury, for example) that rotates so that its surface curves and takes the shape of a paraboloid, which will direct and concentrate light to the focal point of a telescope. This type of mirror has a major advantage over conventional mirrors in that it is much cheaper to build (up to 100 times less expensive).

In 1982, Ermanno Franco Borra, a professor in the Physics Department at Laval University in Quebec, revived the historical proposal of creating liquid mirror telescopes and sought to demonstrate the feasibility of such a project. Several liquid mirrors were subsequently developed at Laval University in the 1980’s.