Plans for the relay were originally announced November 21, 2008, by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).

[2] There were an estimated 12,000 torchbearers, including notable Canadian celebrities such as Shania Twain, Simon Whitfield, Silken Lauman, Alexandre Despatie, Catriona Le May Doan and John Hayman and past and present NHL hockey stars including Sidney Crosby, Wayne Gretzky, and the captains of the Vancouver Canucks teams that went to the Stanley Cup Finals, Trevor Linden (1994) and Stan Smyl (1982).

Matt Lauer and American actor, bodybuilder, and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger were also torch bearers.

Actress Maria Nafpliotou played the role of the High Priestess and ignited the flame using a parabolic mirror and the sun's ray.

Three of the four torchbearers lit the indoor Olympic Cauldron; Le May Doan remained with her torch due to a malfunction causing only three of the four arms to be raised.