List of regional districts of British Columbia

The Canadian province of British Columbia is divided into regional districts as a means to better enable municipalities and rural areas to work together at a regional level. These divisions also serve as the province's census divisions.

Regional Districts of British Columbia
AK YK NWT AB WA ID MT Alberni Clayoquot Bulkley Nechako Capital Cariboo Central Coast Central Kootenay C Ok. Columbia Shuswap CV Cowichan East Kootenay Fraser Valley Fraser Fort George Kitimat Stikine Kootenay Boundary MV Mount Waddington Nan. North Ok. Northern Rockies Ok- Simil. Peace River qa. North Coast Squamish Lillooet Stikine Strathcona SC Thompson Nicola
Location	British Columbia
Number	28
Populations	734 (Stikine Region) – 2,691,343 (Metro Vancouver)
Areas	1,701 km2 (657 sq mi) (Comox Valley) – 118,663 km2 (45,816 sq mi) (Stikine Region)
Government	Municipal government
Subdivisions	Municipalities (cities, district municipalities, Indian government districts, island municipalities, mountain resort municipalities, regional municipalities, resort municipalities, towns, and villages) and Indian reserves

History

Regional districts came into being via an order of government in 1965 with the enactment of amendments to the Municipal Act.^[1] Until the creation of regional districts, the only local form of government in British Columbia was incorporated municipalities, and services in areas outside municipal boundaries had to be sought from the province or through improvement districts.^[2]

Governance

Similar to counties in other parts of Canada, regional districts serve only to provide municipal services as the local government in areas not incorporated into a municipality and in certain regional affairs of shared concern between residents of unincorporated areas and those in the municipalities, such as a stakeholder role in regional planning. In those predominantly rural areas, regional districts provide services such as land use planning, building inspection, solid-waste management, and some responsibility for community fire protection.

Most land nominally within a regional district is under the control of the provincial government, or in the case of national parks and offshore waters, the federal government. Indian reserves located within the boundaries of regional districts are likewise excluded from their jurisdiction and infrastructure, and there are varying levels of collaboration between First Nations governments and regional district boards.

Regional districts are governed by boards of directly and indirectly elected directors. Municipalities appoint directors to represent their populations (usually the mayors), while residents of unincorporated areas (which are grouped into electoral areas) elect directors directly. The votes of directors from municipalities generally count more than those of directors from electoral areas, and larger municipalities have more votes than smaller ones. For example, both North Saanich and Metchosin appoint one director to the Capital Regional District board of directors, but the vote of North Saanich's director counts three times as much as the vote of Metchosin's appointee.^[3]

List

British Columbia regional districts as of January 29, 2020^[update][4]

Regional district	Office location	Established[5]	Population (2019 est.)[6][7]	Area (km2)	Density (per km2)
Alberni–Clayoquot	Port Alberni	April 21, 1966	33,315	6,588	4.7
Bulkley–Nechako	Burns Lake	February 1, 1966	39,614	73,361	0.52
Capital	Victoria	February 1, 1966	418,511	2,340	163.8
Cariboo	Williams Lake	July 9, 1968	65,456	80,609	0.77
Central Coast	Bella Coola	July 16, 1968	3,584	24,492	0.14
Central Kootenay	Nelson	November 30, 1965	63,311	22,095	2.7
Central Okanagan	Kelowna	August 24, 1967	217,214	2,905	67.1
Columbia–Shuswap	Salmon Arm	November 30, 1965	55,823	28,929	1.8
Comox Valley	Courtenay	February 1, 2008	72,625	1,701	39.1
Cowichan Valley	Duncan	September 26, 1967	90,448	3,475	24.1
East Kootenay	Cranbrook	November 30, 1965	64,695	27,543	2.2
Fraser Valley	Chilliwack	December 12, 1995	331,533	13,335	22.2
Fraser–Fort George	Prince George	March 8, 1967	103,392	50,676	1.9
Kitimat–Stikine	Terrace	September 14, 1967	39,150	104,461	0.36
Kootenay Boundary	Trail	February 22, 1966	33,432	8,082	3.9
Metro Vancouver	Burnaby	June 29, 1967[8]	2,691,343	2,883	918.0
Mount Waddington	Port McNeill	June 13, 1966	11,667	20,244	0.55
Nanaimo	Nanaimo	August 24, 1967	169,960	2,038	76.4
North Coast	Prince Rupert	August 17, 1967	19,303	19,781	0.92
North Okanagan	Coldstream	November 9, 1965	90,865	7,503	11.2
Northern Rockies	Fort Nelson	January 29, 2009	4,956	85,111	0.06
Okanagan–Similkameen	Penticton	March 4, 1966	89,075	10,414	8.0
Peace River	Dawson Creek	October 31, 1967	66,880	117,391	0.54
qathet	Powell River	December 19, 1967[9]	21,102	5,075	4.0
Squamish–Lillooet	Pemberton	October 3, 1969	46,357	16,310	2.6
Stikine Region[a]	(N/A)	(N/A)	734	118,663	0.01
Strathcona	Campbell River	February 1, 2008	49,085	18,278	2.4
Sunshine Coast	Sechelt	January 4, 1967	31,810	3,777	7.9
Thompson–Nicola	Kamloops	November 24, 1967	146,096	44,448	3.0

1. The Stikine Region is not officially per se a regional district but is rather an unincorporated area;^[10] it is administered directly by the provincial government.

Historical regional districts

The first regional district was established in 1965, and the then-final regional district was established in 1968.

The following regional districts were dissolved in December 1995 and amalgamated largely into the newly formed Fraser Valley Regional District:

• Dewdney–Alouette Regional District: consisting of Mission, Pitt Meadows, and Maple Ridge, and unincorporated areas north of the Fraser River and west of the District of Kent
• Central Fraser Valley Regional District: consisting of the modern City of Abbotsford (itself newly formed at the time) and adjacent unincorporated areas – Sumas Mountain (now FVRD Electoral H), west of Chilliwack and south of the Fraser River.
• Regional District of Fraser–Cheam: consisting of the eastern two-thirds of the modern Fraser Valley Regional District, including Chilliwack, Kent, Harrison Hot Springs, Hope, and the Fraser Canyon unincorporated areas.^[11]

The western half of Dewdney–Alouette, consisting of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, was incorporated into the Greater Vancouver Regional District (now Metro Vancouver). Mission and the unincorporated areas east of the Chehalis River were incorporated into the Fraser Valley Regional District.

This amalgamation occurred due to the western part of Dewdney–Alouette becoming essentially a suburb of Vancouver and the thought that it would be better served within Metro Vancouver. The Central Fraser Valley RD would be nearly completely dominated by the newly amalgamated City of Abbotsford, bringing the regional district's role into question; similarly, the remnant of Dewdney-Alouette would be dominated by Mission. Given the rapid growth experienced in the Fraser Valley at the time, which was expected to continue for the foreseeable future, creating the Fraser Valley Regional District was seen as the best option.^{[citation needed]}

The Comox–Strathcona Regional District was abolished in February 2008 and replaced by two successor regional districts: Comox Valley and Strathcona.^[12]

The Peace River–Liard Regional District was created on October 31, 1967, when the regional district system was first established. On October 31, 1987, it was split into the Peace River Regional District and the Fort Nelson–Liard Regional District, which since has become the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality.^[13]

See also

• List of regional district electoral areas in British Columbia
• Administrative divisions of Canada
• List of communities in British Columbia