Saanich is a district municipality on the southern end of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, within the Greater Victoria area. The population was 117,735 at the 2021 census, making it the most populous municipality in the Capital Regional District and Vancouver Island, and the eighth-most populous in the province. With an area of 103.44 km2, Saanich is also the largest municipality in Greater Victoria. The district adopted its name after the Saanich First Nation, meaning "emerging land" or "emerging people". Saanich contains a mix of urban, suburban, and rural areas stretching north to the Saanich Peninsula with a wide variety of features including ocean coastlines, freshwater lakes, small rivers, small mountains, rainforests, and agriculture ranging from hay to vineyards.The municipality's topography is undulating with many glacially scoured rock outcroppings. Elevations range from sea level to 229 m. There are 8.1749 km2 of freshwater lakes and 29.61 km of marine shoreline. Saanich is also home to the northern half of the University of Victoria (with the neighbouring district municipality of Oak Bay home to the southern half), both campuses of Camosun College, and the Vancouver Island Technology Park.

History

Saanich has been the home to First Nations people for thousands of years. Saanich is on the territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋən peoples known today as Songhees & Esquimalt Nations, the Malahat Nation and the Saanich Peoples. These Indigenous peoples have connections to the land and those traditions are carried on to this day. Non-Indigenous history begins with the arrival of the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1840s. The Craigflower Schoolhouse (originally called Maple Point School), the oldest surviving school building in Western Canada, was built on orders from Kenneth MacKenzie. He came from Scotland with his family in 1852, on the Hudson's Bay Company ship, Norman Morison, to establish a farm for the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company. A school was needed for the children of farm employees, as well as those of arriving settlers. The Municipality of Saanich was incorporated on March 1, 1906. The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory telescope was designed by John Stanley Plaskett, an astronomer with the Department of the Interior in Ottawa. The 72 in reflecting telescope was the largest of its kind in the world when it was built, though this was only the case for a few short months in 1918. The District of Saanich contains a long shoreline with sandy beaches located at several ocean bays. Two of the beaches are Cadboro Bay Beach and Cordova Bay Beach. Cadboro Bay is known as the home of the "Cadborosaurus", a mythical cryptid. Saanich's notable parks include PKOLS (Mount Douglas Park), Mount Tolmie Park (with viewpoints), and Cadboro-Gyro Park.

Geography

Neighbourhoods

Saanich is divided into twelve local areas for planning purposes. In addition, there are a number of community associations in the municipality that represent neighbourhoods largely overlapping with the local areas. The Local Areas, and representative community associations, are listed below:

Climate

Demographics

In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Saanich had a population of 117,735 living in 48,048 of its 50,064 total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of 114,148. With a land area of 103.59 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Ethnicity

Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Saanich included:

Government

The Saanich District Council is the governing body of the municipality of Saanich. The council consists of the Mayor and eight councillors.

Education

The northeastern half of British Columbia's third-largest university, the University of Victoria campus, is in Saanich, while the southwestern portion is in neighbouring Oak Bay. Saanich is also home to both major campuses of Camosun College, the original Lansdowne campus, and the Interurban campus. Saanich is divided between two bordering school districts, School District 61 Greater Victoria and School District 63 Saanich. It is also the home of South Island Distance Education School.