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| Name | Victoria |
|---|---|
| Official name | City of Victoria |
| Native name | |
| Settlement type | City |
| Motto | Semper Liber (Latin)(Translation: "Forever free") |
| Image shield | Victoria BC COA.png |
| Image dot map | Vancouver Island contour map.png |
| Dot map caption | Location of Victoria within the Capital Regional District in British Columbia, Canada |
| Dot x | 117 |dot_y =165 |
| Coordinates region | CA-BC |
| Subdivision type | Country |
| Subdivision name | |
| Subdivision type1 | Province |
| Subdivision name1 | British Columbia |
| Subdivision type2 | Regional District |
| Subdivision name2 | Capital |
| Subdivision type3 | |
| Leader title | Mayor |
| Leader name | Dean Fortin(past mayors) |
| Leader title1 | Governing body |
| Leader name1 | Victoria City Council |
| Leader title2 | MP |
| Leader name2 | Denise Savoie |
| Leader title3 | MLAs |
| Leader name3 | Carole James, Rob Fleming, Maurine Karagianis |
| Established title | Incorporated |
| Established date | 1862 |
| Unit pref | |
| Area footnotes | |
| Area total km2 | 19.68 |
| Area metro km2 | 540.4 |
| Population as of | 2006 |
| Float | left |
| Clear | both |
| Source | Environment Canada }} |
Victoria has a temperate climate that is usually described as Oceanic or Marine west coast, with mild, damp winters and relatively dry and mild summers. Like much of the Pacific Northwest, the Köppen climate classification places it at the northernmost limits of the cool, dry-summer subtropical zone (Csb), or cool-summer Mediterranean climate due to its usually dry summers. Other climate classification systems, such as Trewartha, place it firmly in the Oceanic zone (Do).
At the International airport weather station, daily temperatures rise above on an average of one or two days per year and fall below on an average of only 2 nights per year. During the winter, the average daily high and low temperatures are , respectively. The summer months are equally mild, with an average high temperature of and low of , although inland areas often experience warmer daytime highs. Victoria does occasionally experience more extreme temperatures. The highest temperature ever recorded in Victoria was on July 16, 1941, while the coldest temperature on record was on December 29, 1968 and January 28, 1950.
Total annual precipitation is just at the Gonzales weather station in Victoria, contrasted to nearby Seattle, ( away to the southeast), with of rainfall, or Vancouver, away, with of rainfall. Perhaps even more dramatic is the difference in rainfalls on Vancouver Island. Port Renfrew, just 80 km from Victoria on the wet southwest coast of Vancouver Island receives . Even the Victoria Airport, north of the city, receives about 45 per cent more precipitation than the city proper. One of the most striking features of Victoria's climate is the distinct dry and rainy seasons. Nearly two thirds of the annual precipitation falls during the four wettest months, November to February. Precipitation in December, the wettest month () is nearly eight times as high as in July, the driest month (). During the summer months, Victoria is the driest major city in Canada.
Victoria averages just of snow annually, or about half that of Vancouver. Every few decades, Victoria receives very large snowfalls, including the more than of snow that fell in December 1996. On the other hand, roughly one third of winters will see virtually no snow, with less than falling during the entire season. When snow does fall, it rarely lasts long on the ground. Victoria averages just 2–3 days per year with at least of snow on the ground.
The rain shadow effect of the Washington Olympic Mountains to the south also means that Victoria gets more sunshine than surrounding areas. With 2,223 hours of sun annually, Victoria is one of the sunniest places in British Columbia, and gets more sunshine than most other cities in Canada except those in the southern Prairies.
condominiums in the background]]
Victoria's equable climate has also added to its reputation as the "City of Gardens". The city takes pride in the many flowers that bloom during the winter and early spring, including crocuses, daffodils, early-blooming rhododendrons, cherry and plum trees. Every February there is an annual "flower count" in what for the rest of the country and most of the province is still the dead of winter.
Due to its mild climate, Victoria and its surrounding area (southeastern Vancouver Island, Gulf Islands, and parts of the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast) is also home to many rare, native plants found nowhere else in Canada, including Quercus garryana (Garry oak), Arctostaphylos columbiana (Hairy manzanita), and Canada's only broad leaf evergreen tree, Arbutus menziesii (Pacific madrone). Many of these species exist here at the northern end of their range, and are found as far south as Central and Southern California, and even parts of Mexico.
Informal neighbourhoods include:
{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed" |- ! Group
! Pop. in City of Victoria
! Percentage of City of Victoria pop. (75,390) |- |White † |66,260 |84.34% |- |Chinese |3,085 |4.09% |- |Black |1,070 |1.42% |- |South Asian |1,015 |1.35% |- |Filipino |995 |1.32% |- |All others |2,965 |3.93% |- |colspan=3|† Includes respondents who reported 'Yes' to the Aboriginal identity question as well as respondents who were not considered to be members of a visible minority group. |}
The Victoria Advanced Technology Council (VIATeC) is an umbrella organization, partnership between industry and education, promoting high tech industry development in the Victoria region.
The May 24, 2007 edition of the Victoria Times-Colonist newspaper reported that for the first time in Victoria history, high technology has overtaken tourism as the top performing economic sector in Greater Victoria. A gala awards event was staged at the Victoria Conference Centre for business executives and companies that achieved excellence in their respective fields.
The Victoria Region was experiencing a booming real estate economy up until late 2007. Its deflating real estate fortunes are attributed in part to the aftermath of the Global financial crisis of 2008. These incidents and other world financial issues are blamed for a potential economic near future recession, where some regions will survive better than others, depending on their policy plans or lack of plans.
Lower interest rates in the spring of 2009 have fueled yet another round of speculative real estate purchases, despite Victoria already ranking as 'Severely Unaffordable' in the "5th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey". Housing experts who don't stand to gain from high real estate prices in Victoria have pointed out that Western Canadian 'bubble' cities will inevitably follow the path that virtually all the other 'Severely Unaffordable'-ranked cities have taken: substantial and long lasting price decreases. Experts assume the likely trigger for the substantial price decrease will be from many home buyers who, having only afforded their purchase due to historically low rates and very low equity requirements, must reset their mortgage payment amount under significantly higher interest rates and tightened lending environments. Experts further point out this scenario has already been played out by virtually all other 'bubble' housing markets in the world so far, with or without American-style mortgages, with disastrous results for the home purchasers and the local economies. A potential saving grace is that the steady flow of baby-boomers retiring to Victoria is unlikely to slow for 15 or 20 years. In fact, average selling prices of homes in Victoria have steadily increased since Jan/Feb 2009.
The city has hosted high-profile sports events including the 1994 Commonwealth Games, the 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the 2005 Ford World Men's Curling Championship tournament, and 2006 Skate Canada. Victoria co-hosted the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup at Royal Athletic Park, and is the venue for the Bastion Square Grand Prix Criterium road cycling race. The city is also a destination for conventions, meetings, and conferences, including a 2007 North Atlantic Treaty Organization military chief of staff meeting. Every year, the Swiftsure International Yacht Race attracts boaters from around the world to participate in the boat race in the waters off of Vancouver Island, and the Victoria Dragon Boat Festival brings over 90 teams from around North America. The Tall Ships Festival brings sailing ships to Victoria for the public to see and feel the sailing way of life in the past and present. Victoria also hosts the start of the Vic-Maui Yacht Race, the longest offshore sailboat race on the West Coast.
The Port of Victoria consists of three parts, the Outer Harbour, used by deep sea vessels, the Inner and Upper Harbours, used by coastal and industrial traffic. It is protected by a breakwater with a deep and wide opening. The port is a working harbour, tourist attraction and cruise destination. Esquimalt Harbour is also a well-protected harbour with large graving dock and shipbuilding and repair facilities.
The homeless survey conducted by the Victoria Cool-Aid Society found 50% of the homeless population identify themselves as being of First Nations origin, and the majority of people living on the streets do not receive income assistance from the government. Each summer, Beacon Hill Park plays host to several outdoor concerts, and the Luminara Community Lantern Festival.
The extensive system of parks in Victoria also includes a few areas of natural Garry oak meadow habitat, an increasingly scarce ecosystem that once dominated the region.
In the heart of downtown are the British Columbia Legislative Buildings, The Empress Hotel, Victoria Police Department Station Museum, the gothic Christ Church Cathedral, and the Royal British Columbia Museum/IMAX National Geographic Theatre, with large exhibits on local Aboriginal peoples, natural history, and modern history, along with travelling international exhibits. In addition, the heart of downtown also has the Emily Carr House, Royal London Wax Museum, Victoria Bug Zoo, Market Square and the Pacific Undersea Gardens, which showcases marine life of British Columbia. The oldest (and most intact) Chinatown in Canada is located within downtown. The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is located close to downtown in the Rockland neighbourhood several city blocks from Craigdarroch Castle built by industrialist James Dunsmuir and Government House, the official residence of the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia.
Numerous other buildings of historic importance or interest are also located in central Victoria, including: the 1845 St. Ann's Schoolhouse; the 1852 Helmcken House built for Victoria's first doctor; the 1863 Temple Emanuel, the oldest synagogue in continuous use in Canada; the 1865 Angela College built as Victoria's first Anglican Collegiate School for Girls, now housing retired nuns of the Sisters of St. Ann; the 1871 St. Ann's Academy built as a Catholic school; the 1874 Church of Our Lord, built to house a breakaway congregation from the Anglican Christ Church cathedral; the 1890 St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church; the 1890 Metropolitan Methodist Church (now the Victoria Conservatory of Music), which is publicly open for faculty, student, and guest performances, also acts as Camosun College Music Department; the 1892 St. Andrew's Cathedral; and the 1925 Crystal Gardens, originally a saltwater swimming pool, restored as a conservatory and most recently a tourist attraction called the B.C. Experience, which closed down in 2006. Victoria is also famous for its Capital Iron Building, which is a prime focus in its downtown core.
CFB Esquimalt navy base, in the adjacent municipality of Esquimalt, has a base museum dedicated to naval and military history, located in the Naden part of the base.
North of the city on the Saanich Peninsula are the marine biology Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre, Butchart Gardens, one of the biggest tourist and local resident attractions on Vancouver Island, as well as the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, part of the National Research Council of Canada, Victoria Butterfly Gardens and Centre of the Universe planetarium. Notable museums in Victoria include the Royal British Columbia Museum,the Maritime Museum of British Columbia and the British Columbia Aviation Museum located on the north edge of the Victoria International Airport. There are also numerous National Historic Sites in close proximity to Victoria, such as the Fisgard Lighthouse, Craigflower Manor and Schoolhouse, Hatley Castle and Hatley Park and Fort Rodd Hill, which is a coastal artillery fort built in the late 1890s, located west of the city in Colwood. Also located west of the city is Western Speedway, a 4/10th-mile oval vehicular race track and the largest in Western Canada.
In 1994 Victoria hosted the Commonwealth Games. Victoria was also the first city location of the cross Canada 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay that occurred before the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was co-hosted by Victoria along with five other Canadian cities/municipalities (Burnaby, Vancouver, Edmonton, Ottawa, Montreal).
The Victoria Cougars are perhaps the most famous sports franchise the city has known, winning the Stanley Cup as members of the PCHA in 1925. The team then moved to Detroit under the name of the Detroit Cougars before the team changed its name to the current Detroit Red Wings of the NHL. Today a Junior 'B' team of that name plays in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. There was also a team called the Victoria Cougars in the Western Hockey League, but they are now the Prince George Cougars.
Victoria have been named as a team in the WAMNRL which will begin in summer 2011.
Victoria is also known as the Cycling Capital of Canada, with hundreds of kilometres of bicycle paths, bike lanes and bike routes in the city, including the Galloping Goose Regional Trail. There are mountain biking trails at Mount Work Regional Park, and Victoria is quickly becoming a bike tourism destination.
Cycling advocacy groups including Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition (GVCC) and the Bike To Work Society have worked to improve Victoria's cycling infrastructure and facilities, and to make cycling a viable transportation alternative, attracting 5% of commuters in 2005.
The city's water is supplied by the Capital Regional District's Water Services Department from its Sooke Lake Reservoir. The lake water is very soft and requires no filtering. It is treated with chlorine, ammonia and ultraviolet light to control micro-organisms.
The water used to flow through the 44 km (27 mi) Sooke Flowline which has now been retired but can still be visited today.
The Hartland landfill is the waste disposal site for Greater Victoria area. Since 1985, it has been run by the Capital Regional District environmental services. It is located on top of a hill, between Victoria and Sidney, at the end of Hartland Avenue. There is a recycling centre, a sewer solid waste collection, hazardous waste collection, and an electricity generating station. This generating station now creates 1.6 megawatts of electricity, enough for 1,600 homes. The site has won international environmental awards. The CRD conducts public tours of the facility. It is predicted to be full by 2045.
Victoria discharges 129 million litres (4.56 million cu ft) of screened but untreated sewage into the ocean every day. The sewage treatment facilities at Clover and Macaulay points serve most of Victoria. At these facilities, the sewage is screened to exclude objects larger than 6 millimetres (¼ in) prior to release into ocean outfalls. This procedure is heavily criticized, and the CRD is currently planning the upgrading of wastewater treatment practices.
The Saanich Peninsula wastewater treatment plant serves North Saanich, Central Saanich and the Town of Sidney as well as the Victoria International Airport, the Institute of Ocean Sciences and the Tseycum and Pauquachin First Nations communities. This is a secondary level treatment plant which produces Class A biosolids.) to Port Angeles, Washington, high-speed catamaran service (Victoria Clipper) to Downtown Seattle, and seasonal passenger ferries to destinations in Washington including Friday Harbor, Port Angeles, and Bellingham. Victoria also serves as the western terminus (Mile Zero) for Canada's Trans-Canada Highway, the longest national highway in the world. The Mile Zero is located in the southern part of the city at the corner of Douglas Street and Dallas Road, where there is a small monument.
Direct flights between Victoria and the San Francisco Bay Area (San Francisco, Oakland, Silicon Valley) began service on June 5, 2008 (Victoria Times Colonist, February 6, 2008). Trips will be 2 hours instead of the usual 6 hours because there will be no stop overs in Seattle, as with other flights. The service will be operated by United Airlines, using 66 seat Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft. The same newspaper article also mentions the Victoria Airport Authority's plans for further capacity expansions at the Victoria International Airport. These are expected to offer extended economic benefits to the region, especially the Tourism and High Tech industries. West Jet started a direct flight service to Las Vegas, Nevada, three times per week, on September 9, 2008 (Victoria Times Colonist, May 29, 2008).
Bus service between Victoria and Vancouver is run by Pacific Coach Lines(Pacific Coach Lines). As the service is a cross-water service it is co-ordinated with the BC Ferries schedule. Average travel time between the two cities is 4 hours. Bus service from Victoria to points up island is run by Vancouver Island Coach lines. Both bus services depart from the Victoria bus terminal located at 900 Douglas Street, behind the Fairmont Empress Hotel.
Local roadways, although showing signs of increasing congestion due to increasing population, are relatively easy to travel via a variety of means. However, roads in Victoria are not based on a grid system as in Vancouver or Edmonton, and even most major streets do not follow a straight line from beginning to end as they wind around hills, parks, coastlines, and historic neighbourhoods, often changing names two or three times. There is no distinction between "streets" and "avenues" in Victoria as there is in other cities such as Vancouver or Edmonton where "streets" run north-south and "avenues" run east-west, and Victorians are very unlikely to use the terms "north", "south", "east", or "west" when giving directions.
Within the Greater Victoria area, passenger cars, SUVs, and light trucks together make up the majority of trips. However, the city boasts an excellent public transit system using a fleet of modern buses, and is beginning to plan for a light rapid transit link to the western communities. Greater Victoria also has an expanding system designed to facilitate bicycles and electrically assisted bicycles via bike lanes on many main roads as well as the Galloping Goose Regional Trail and Lochside Regional Trail. These trails are designed exclusively for foot traffic and cyclists, and now pass through many communities, beginning at the downtown core and extending into areas such as Langford and Central and North Saanich.
The compact size of the city lends itself readily to smaller, fuel efficient alternatives to full blown passenger cars, such as scooters, as areas with signicantly steep hills, such as one would find in San Francisco, are very few. Victoria is also in the process of making the use of such methods of transportation more desirable (in a push towards a more "green", eco-friendly environment), by offering incentives to use such modes of transport, such as parking spaces in the downtown core specifically designed for vehicles " or less" in wheelbase size, thus fostering the desirability for ownership of vehicles such as Smart Cars, motorcycles and small displacement scooters. Generally speaking, one can expect to reach almost most destinations within Greater Victoria within a time span of 20 – 30 minutes, perhaps approximately 60 minutes, dependent on traffic conditions, road construction or other reasons for blockage, where you are coming from, going to, and mode of transport. Travel time is longer during rush hour times due to large volume of traffic.
The City of Victoria is served by three public post secondary educational institutions actually located outside the city in the Greater Victoria area: University of Victoria (UVic), Camosun College, and Royal Roads University. Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific is an international school, in Metchosin, a municipality to the west of Victoria. There are also several private vocational and English (ESL) training schools available for people who want to learn the English language or upgrade new job market skills. Sprott-Shaw Community College is a private career training institution that has had a campus in Victoria since 1913.
Victoria is the only Canadian provincial capital without a local CBC Television station, owned-and-operated or affiliate, although it does host a small CBC Radio station in the 1000 block of Pandora Avenue. The region is considered to be a part of the Vancouver television market, receiving most stations that broadcast from across the Strait of Georgia, including the CBC, CTV, Citytv, and Global networks. Television stations based in Victoria include CHEK-TV and A (formerly The New VI and A-Channel).
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Category:Populated coastal places in Canada Category:Populated places on the British Columbia Coast Category:Host cities of the Commonwealth Games Category:Port settlements in Canada Category:Populated places established in 1849
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