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23-522: View Royal is a town in Greater Victoria and a member municipality of the Capital Regional District of British Columbia , Canada. View Royal has a population of 11,575 residents. With over 700 hectares (1,700 acres) of parkland, View Royal includes Thetis , McKenzie, Pike, and Prior Lakes and portions of Esquimalt Harbour and Portage Inlet . View Royal's history is closely linked to

46-509: A fishery to the Malahat and Saanich First Nations for centuries, and many Indian reserves are situated on the shoreline. Since the arrival of Europeans, the inlet has also provided a recreational and commercial fishery. It has also been popular with SCUBA divers. For several years, a port existed on the western shore at Bamberton , servicing a cement works. For most of the year the deep waters are anoxic , and hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S)

69-599: A Price Waterhouse study presented three options: status quo, union with Esquimalt, or incorporation as a town. The town’s incorporation became official on December 5, 1988. Many historic sites still exist in View Royal, including: Several changes have gone on in View Royal in recent years, including the completion of the Island Highway Improvement Project in 2011, which included new cycle lanes, sidewalks, turning lanes, and planted medians. Beginning in 2013,

92-580: A median population age of 44.1 years, which compares to the CRD at 44.8. According to the 2021 census , religious groups in View Royal included: Greater Victoria, British Columbia Greater Victoria (also known as the Greater Victoria Region ) is located in British Columbia , Canada, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island . It is usually defined as the thirteen municipalities of

115-402: A socio-economic effect in terms of: attractiveness as a place of residency, low unemployment, high real estate development potential for profit, increasing immigration of new people(s), and expanding opportunities for business or economic development. High-profile international attention performs its duty as a marketing, public relations, and sales catalyst for further activity. Boaters from around

138-586: Is the oldest and largest of all the Greater Victoria local fair venues; it is considered a de facto regional fair because of its greater size, content, and famous reputation. The Saanich Fair has the largest number of attendees of all the Victoria area fairs. There is a wide variety of entertainment and recreational facilities and activities. The mild coastal climate ensures less extreme weather changes. Outdoor and indoor recreational areas are abundant throughout

161-407: The 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , View Royal had a population of 11,575 living in 4,915 of its 5,175 total private dwellings, a change of 11.2% from its 2016 population of 10,408. With a land area of 14.33 km (5.53 sq mi), it had a population density of 807.7/km (2,092.1/sq mi) in 2021. In 2011, there were almost 4,140 housing units in the town with

184-653: The British Columbia Legislative Assembly , paid the Hudson's Bay Company $ 5 per acre for hundreds of acres of land between Esquimalt Harbour and what is now Victoria General Hospital. The land was cleared for Victoria's growth. In 1912, the Island Investment Company bought 80 acres (32 ha) of land below Four Mile Hill, fronting the harbour, from Dr. Helmcken’s son James. They marketed lots as “View Royal” because of their "royal view", which gave

207-402: The Capital Regional District (CRD) on Vancouver Island as well as some adjacent areas and nearby islands. The Capital Regional District administers some aspects of public administration for the whole metro region; other aspects are administered by the individual member municipalities of Greater Victoria. Roughly, Greater Victoria consists of all land and nearby islands east of a line drawn from

230-581: The Royal Canadian Navy celebrated its 100th anniversary with a fleet review in the waters off of Greater Victoria, by Canada's former Governor General Michaëlle Jean . The review was attended by warships from Canada, France, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, the United States along with United States Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard vessels. These celebration activities coincided with

253-562: The Esquimalt Buccaneer Days Fair and the 2010 FIFA World Cup activities in local bars. The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay started in Greater Victoria and proceeded to other communities across Canada. The conclusion of the torch relay began the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver . ( Department of National Defence ) Greater Victoria is served by three provincial highways Saanich Inlet The inlet has been of importance as

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276-734: The Town of View Royal and District of Saanich replaced the 80-year-old Craigflower Bridge and approach roads, and construction began on the new Public Safety Building, completed in fall 2014. View Royal is divided into eight neighbourhoods based on topography, transportation corridors, natural environment, and the age of housing stock. These neighbourhoods are Atkins, Burnside, Craigflower, Harbour, Helmcken, Hospital, Thetis, and Wilfert. View Royal has 70 municipal parks and 25 kilometres (16 mi) of trails. View Royal's shoreline includes sandy beaches with small caves, large driftwood, and rocks, which are home to starfish, crabs, seals, and other marine life. In

299-570: The Victoria area may differ. Other sources may give different boundaries as well. The Greater Victoria region has a combined population of 397,237 according to the 2021 Canadian census . The region comprises two of the fifteen most populous municipalities in British Columbia (Saanich, at number seven, and Victoria at number thirteen). The Canadian census ranks Greater Victoria as the 12th largest population centre in Canada . The combined population of

322-555: The cities, municipalities, unincorporated areas and First Nations reserves in the region are as follows: In comparison to the Lower Mainland ( Vancouver and environs), the region does not have a great deal of racial diversity. Most of the population is of Euro-Canadian descent. A substantial community of those of Chinese descent has existed in Greater Victoria since the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858–60, which saw

345-540: The entire region. The Esquimalt First Nation , a Coast Salish indigenous peoples, have occupied View Royal since time immemorial. It began when early inhabitants of today's Esquimalt Harbour crossed an isthmus, now Portage Park, to harvest seafood in Portage Inlet. European settlement began in the 1850s by Kenneth Mackenzie who established a farm known as Craigflower Manor . In the mid-19th century, Dr. John Helmcken , Vancouver Island's first doctor and later speaker of

368-584: The first significant influx, arriving first via San Francisco then directly from China. There is also a substantial First Nations ( Indigenous ) population whose ancestors have lived in the area for thousands of years. Numerous First Nations reserves, forming distinct communities, exist in the region — primarily on the Saanich Peninsula, in Esquimalt, and in the Western Communities — although

391-564: The majority of the First Nations population live off-reserve. The largest ethnic groups in Greater Victoria, according to the 2016 census, are: The same information, although grouped more geographically, is below. The largest sub-grouping is included. Many Victoria Region municipalities have their own fairs: Oak Bay 's Tea Party, Esquimalt 's Buccaneer Days, Sidney 's Sidney Days, Sooke 's Sooke Days, Western Communities ' Luxton Rodeo, and Central Saanich 's Saanich Fair. The Saanich Fair

414-943: The region. The Rifflandia Music Festival takes place in Downtown Victoria in mid to late September. The Victoria Tall Ships Festival showcase sailing vessels and the sailing life. The Victoria Symphony performs over 100 concerts a year, including the renowned Symphony Splash , an annual free concert in the Inner Harbour on the August Sunday preceding BC Day . The orchestra is on a barge playing to an audience of over 40,000. The Electronic Music Festival also takes place at Centennial Square where DJs can show off their music mixing skills. These regional positive qualities, along with new transportation links, international high-profile events (2007 NATO meeting, 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup , 1994 Commonwealth Games ), could have helped produce

437-530: The southern end of Finlayson Arm to the eastern shore of Sooke Harbour , along with some lands on the northern shore of Sooke Harbour. Many places, buildings, and institutions associated with Victoria such as the University of Victoria , Victoria International Airport , and BC Ferries Swartz Bay ferry terminal , are outside the City of Victoria itself, which has an area of just 19.5 km (7.5 sq mi) on

460-406: The southern tip of Greater Victoria. Victoria is the locality indicated in the mailing addresses of several CRD municipalities and localities adjacent to Victoria. The central city of Victoria lends its name and cultural influence to many places and organizations in the metro region. There are 13 cities, towns, and district municipalities in Greater Victoria. This breakdown is roughly mirrored by

483-462: The three school districts in Greater Victoria. Greater Victoria is the southernmost urban area in Western Canada ; it is located south of the 49th parallel . This list is similar to, but not identical with, that used by the Greater Victoria real estate sales industry. Neighbourhoods with official status are italicized. Others may have no official definition, hence other lists of neighbourhoods in

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506-598: The town its name. View Royal remained unorganized for over half a century. By the 1950s, things had begun to change. In 1959, a group of residents in the Shoreline Drive area circulated a petition urging annexation by Esquimalt. Several studies and referendums came and went, but View Royal continued with its unorganized status. In 1966, the Capital Regional District emerged, bringing with it regional approaches for such service deliveries as sewage collection. Then

529-904: The world gather annually in the waters off of Vancouver Island for the Swiftsure Yacht Race . An example of this economic opportunity also lies in Victoria's geography. The April 19, 2008 the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper printed a section, sponsored by the Downtown Victoria Business Association, focusing on the area's downtown selection of goods and service providers. As it was in the early days with merchants supplying and outfitting gold rush prospectors , today's modern merchants supply outdoor recreation seekers before they head to other parts of Vancouver Island for surfing, kayaking, hiking, camping, swimming, cycling or whatever activities they seek. In June 2010,

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