Cariboo Regional District

The Cariboo Regional District spans the Cities and Districts of Quesnel, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House, and Wells in the Central Interior of British Columbia.

Cariboo
Regional district
Cariboo Regional District
Flag Logo
Quesnel Williams Lake 100 Mile House Wells Barkerville Major communities
Location in British Columbia
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Administrative office location	Williams Lake
Government
• Body	Board of directors
• Electoral areas / municipalities	A – Red Bluff–Quesnel South B – Quesnel West–Bouchie Lake C – Bowron Lake–Barlow Creek–Barkerville D – Commodore Heights–McLeese Lake E – South Lakeside–Dog Creek F – Horsefly–Likely–150 Mile House G – Lac La Hache–108 Mile Ranch H – Canim Lake–Forest Grove I – West Fraser–Nazko J – West Chilcotin K – East Chilcotin L – Lone Butte–Interlakes District of Wells City of Quesnel City of Williams Lake District of 100 Mile House
Area [1]
• Total	80,609.75 km2 (31,123.60 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]
• Total	62,931
• Density	0.78/km2 (2.0/sq mi)
Website	www.cariboord.ca

Geography

The Cariboo Regional District (CRD) in the Central Interior of BC encompasses 80,252 square kilometers of land.^[3] The Cariboo and Coastal mountain ranges hug the CRD on its west and east side boundaries. The region straddles Highway 97 from 70 Mile House in the south to 5 km south of Hixon in the north. It belongs to the PDT/PST time zones.^[4]

Incorporated municipalities

• District Municipality of 100 Mile House
• City of Quesnel
• District Municipality of Wells
• City of Williams Lake

Communities

• Alexandria
• Australian
• Kersley
• Red Bluff
• Rich Bar

Other communities

• Alexis Creek
• Anahim Lake
• Horsefly
• Lac La Hache
• Likely
• Lone Butte
• McLeese Lake
• Nazko
• Nimpo Lake
• Riske Creek
• Tatla Lake
• Forest Grove
• 150 Mile House

Features and Amenities

The Cariboo Regional District provides region-wide library services, recreational facilities, and local fire protection.

Demographics

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Cariboo Regional District had a population of 62,931 living in 27,614 of its 32,395 total private dwellings, a change of 1.5% from its 2016 population of 61,988. With a land area of 80,373.79 km² (31,032.49 sq mi), it had a population density of 0.8/km² (2.0/sq mi) in 2021.^[5]

Panethnic groups in the Cariboo Regional District (1991–2021)

Panethnic group	2021[2]		2016[6]		2011[7]		2006[8]		2001[9]		1996[10]		1991[11][12]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
European[a]	48,375	77.8%	48,120	78.89%	48,945	79.24%	50,355	81.49%	54,390	83.41%	56,920	85.95%	49,860	81.98%
Indigenous	11,160	17.95%	10,465	17.16%	10,775	17.45%	9,090	14.71%	7,865	12.06%	5,895	8.9%	7,860	12.92%
South Asian	890	1.43%	1,045	1.71%	940	1.52%	1,395	2.26%	1,870	2.87%	2,375	3.59%	2,335	3.84%
Southeast Asian[b]	625	1.01%	380	0.62%	170	0.28%	235	0.38%	190	0.29%	175	0.26%	65	0.11%
East Asian[c]	495	0.8%	560	0.92%	740	1.2%	495	0.8%	540	0.83%	545	0.82%	405	0.67%
African	210	0.34%	165	0.27%	75	0.12%	110	0.18%	200	0.31%	220	0.33%	225	0.37%
Latin American	160	0.26%	80	0.13%	60	0.1%	25	0.04%	100	0.15%	45	0.07%	45	0.07%
Middle Eastern[d]	50	0.08%	20	0.03%	0	0%	35	0.06%	10	0.02%	0	0%	25	0.04%
Other[e]	210	0.34%	170	0.28%	30	0.05%	45	0.07%	40	0.06%	35	0.05%	—	—
Total responses	62,180	98.81%	61,000	98.41%	61,765	99%	61,790	99.36%	65,210	99.32%	66,225	99.62%	60,820	99.61%
Total population	62,931	100%	61,988	100%	62,392	100%	62,190	100%	65,659	100%	66,475	100%	61,059	100%
Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.

Religious groups in the Cariboo Regional District (1981−2021)

Religious group	2021[2]		2011[7]		2001[9]		1991[13]		1981[14][15][f]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
Irreligious	39,080	62.85%	31,915	51.67%	26,020	39.9%	20,700	34.03%	13,150	22.25%
Christian	20,930	33.66%	27,935	45.23%	36,895	56.58%	37,340	61.39%	43,225	73.15%
Sikh	645	1.04%	745	1.21%	1,560	2.39%	2,155	3.54%	2,435	4.12%
Indigenous spirituality	480	0.77%	460	0.74%	—	—	—	—	—	—
Hindu	135	0.22%	60	0.1%	110	0.17%	145	0.24%	165	0.28%
Buddhist	125	0.2%	100	0.16%	135	0.21%	25	0.04%	30	0.05%
Muslim	65	0.1%	15	0.02%	65	0.1%	15	0.02%	20	0.03%
Jewish	40	0.06%	0	0%	10	0.02%	35	0.06%	15	0.03%
Other	680	1.09%	525	0.85%	420	0.64%	405	0.67%	55	0.09%
Total responses	62,180	98.81%	61,765	99%	65,205	99.31%	60,820	99.61%	59,090	99.73%
Total population	62,931	100%	62,392	100%	65,659	100%	61,059	100%	59,252	100%

Rural Representative Elections

Electoral directors

Twelve electoral area directors and four municipal directors govern the affairs of the Cariboo Regional District. The electoral area directors are elected by area voters, and municipal directors are appointed by their municipal council. All directors serve for a four-year term.

Electoral areas

Regional District Electoral Areas are A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K and L.

Electoral areas have no administrative or governmental significance; they are used only to elect rural representatives to regional district boards.

Literature

The Cariboo District and 100 Mile House are featured prominently in Al Purdy's poem "The Cariboo Horses" to examine the tradition of equinity against human civilization.^[16]

Notes

1. Statistic includes all persons that did not make up part of a visible minority or an indigenous identity.
2. Statistic includes total responses of "Filipino" and "Southeast Asian" under visible minority section on census.
3. Statistic includes total responses of "Chinese", "Korean", and "Japanese" under visible minority section on census.
4. Statistic includes total responses of "West Asian" and "Arab" under visible minority section on census.
5. Statistic includes total responses of "Visible minority, n.i.e." and "Multiple visible minorities" under visible minority section on census.
6. Note: 1981 census religious breakdown for all subdivisions and census agglomerations includes an "Eastern Non-Christian" section. Estimates derived using the Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim proportions of Eastern Non-Christian religious total from the 1991 census.