Central Saanich is a district municipality in Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Capital Regional District. It is located on the Saanich Peninsula, in the far south-east of Vancouver Island. It is the traditional territory of the W̱SÁNEĆ people. The district began as a farming community, and many hobby farms, along working farms and vineyards, still exist. In recent decades, the area has seen increasing residential, commercial, and industrial development, especially around the neighbourhoods of Brentwood Bay and Saanichton, which are occasionally referred to as separate communities.
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 the Capital Regional District (CRD) on Vancouver Island as well as some adjacent areas and nearby islands.
Saanich ( SAN-itch) is a district municipality on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, 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. The district adopted its name after the Saanich First Nation, meaning "emerging land" or "emerging people". The district acts as a bedroom community immediately to the north of Victoria, British Columbia.
Elk Lake is a large lake located in Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park in Saanich, British Columbia. Elk Lake and Beaver Lake are actually one lake as a shallow channel connects them. Elk/Beaver lake was known as the "Freshwater Playground of Victoria" in its heyday, the 1930s and 1940s. However, with the completion of the Pat Bay highway in the 1950s, focus turned to environmentalism, and measures were taken to start restoring the park to its natural state and protecting it. In 1966 Elk/Beaver lake became a regional park.
The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, located on Observatory Hill, in Saanich, British Columbia, was completed in 1918 by the Canadian government. The Dominion architect responsible for the building was Edgar Lewis Horwood. The main instrument is the 72-inch-aperture (1.83 m) Plaskett telescope, proposed and designed by John S. Plaskett in 1910 with the support of the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research.
The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, the institution was initially an affiliated college of McGill University until 1915. From 1921 to 1963, it functioned as an affiliate of the University of British Columbia. In 1963, the institution was reorganized into an independent university.
St. Michaels University School (abbreviated SMUS) is an independent day and boarding school in the municipality of Saanich, the largest and most populous municipality in the Capital Regional District and on Vancouver Island. Previous headmasters include Robert Snowden (1995-2017), David Penaluna (1988–94) and John Schaffter (1977–88).
Cadboro Bay is a bay near the southern tip of Vancouver Island and its adjacent neighbourhood in the municipalities of Saanich and Oak Bay in Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Centennial Stadium is a 5000-seat stadium located on the campus of the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The facility was built as a 1967 Canadian Centennial project to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Canadian confederation.
The Craigflower Manor and Craigflower Schoolhouse are National Historic Sites of Canada located in View Royal, British Columbia (the Manor) and Saanich (the Schoolhouse) near Victoria. The centerpiece of each historic site is a 19th-century building — a manor and schoolhouse commissioned by the Hudson's Bay Company to provide education and lodging for their employees. Built as part of the agricultural community Craigflower Farm, the buildings served as a focal point for the community into the modern era; they remain open to the public today as museums devoted to the colonial history of Victoria.
The Elk/Beaver Regional Park is a 1,072-acre (434 ha) park in Saanich, British Columbia, containing Elk Lake and Beaver Lake.
Gordon Head is a seaside neighbourhood in the municipality of Saanich in Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Gordon Head lies north of McKenzie Avenue and east of the Blenkinsop Valley. The University of Victoria is located partly within Gordon Head along the southeast boundary. Finnerty Road separates Gordon Head from the adjacent neighbourhood of Cadboro Bay. The local area is dominated physically by Mount Douglas (SENĆOŦEN: PKOLS), a coastline along Haro Strait, and the central plateau.
The Hartland landfill is the waste disposal site for the city of Victoria, British Columbia and the Greater Victoria area. The landfill began operating in the early 1950's under private ownership and management. Phase 1 of the landfill reached capacity in 1996, Phase 2 filled in Heal Lake which was drained and was 2.5-hectares. The landfill was later purchased by the Capital Regional District in 1975 and has been directly operated by its Environmental Sustainability Department since 1985. The landfill, located in the District of Saanich on the southern slope of Mount Work, between Victoria and Sidney, at the end of Hartland Avenue is adjacent to Mount Work Regional Park to the west and the Department of National Defence rifle range is located across Willis Point Road to the northeast. To the east and southeast of the site are residential properties. Undeveloped CRD property (about 198 hectares in total) lies to the west and south of the landfill site and is now being used by CRD Parks as a mountain bike recreation area under a land use agreement (memorandum of understanding). Private residential properties exist to the east and southeast of the landfill.
Lambrick Park Secondary School is a four-year (grades 9-12) public secondary school located in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. It is on the traditional lands of the Lekwungen people.
Maltby Lake is located in South southwestern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It is located 10 km north of Victoria, British Columbia in the Tod Creek Watershed. The lake is the headwaters for the watershed, which eventually feeds the world class Butchart Gardens.
Mount Douglas Secondary School is a four-year public secondary school founded 1931 and located in Saanich, British Columbia, Canada, with around 850 students on roll. The school is part of the Greater Victoria School District (SD61), and is known locally as "Mount Doug". In 2003, the school changed from a Senior Secondary model, teaching grades 11 and 12, back to the current and original grades 9 to 12 structure. The school was founded in 1931, and over the years has occupied several buildings beginning at the current Cedar Hill Middle School Campus. In 1970, it relocated to the former Gordon Head Junior Secondary School building after that school relocated to the newly constructed Arbutus Middle School campus.
École Secondaire Reynolds Secondary School is a public secondary school in the Greater Victoria suburb of Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The school is known for its numerous specialized programs, including flexible studies, French immersion, robotics club, band, and its Centre for Soccer Excellence program. Reynolds also offers many career planning programs such as CP Theatre, CP Art, CP Recreation, CP Tourism, CP Journalism and co-op.
Saanich Commonwealth Place is a recreation center located west of the Patricia Bay Highway and north of Royal Oak Drive in Saanich, British Columbia in Canada. It was originally constructed in 1993 for the August 1994 Commonwealth Games, and is currently a facility in the community. In 2002 the original weightroom was completely renovated and it re-opened for operation in 2004. Among the center's other features are a full-size gymnasium (7000 square feet), a 50-meter competition pool, 4.5 meter deep dive tank with 1-, 3-, 5-, 7.5-, and 10-meter boards, and the Bruce Hutchison Branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library. The building's construction features a red dome in the shape of a slightly flattened square pyramid over the main pool area. The inside of the dome has dozens of large, intricately engineered sound absorption ceiling panels. Finally, stretching from about one-sixth to one-third of the way down the pyramid dome's four massive triangular sides, angled multi-pane windows replace the ceiling panels as the focus of a backstroker's view. The facility is often referred to as the "Commonwealth Pool" by residents of Greater Victoria.
St. Andrew's, an independent co-educational Catholic High School of 380 Grade 8–12 students, serves young men and women in Greater Victoria.
St. Margaret's School in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, is an international, non-denominational independent day and boarding school for girls only, with grades ranging from Junior Kindergarten (Early Childhood Education, ECE) to Grade 12. It is located on 22 acres (89,000 m2) of land and is the oldest, continuous independent school on Vancouver Island.
Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary is a nature reserve located in Saanich, British Columbia. The sanctuary includes a lake, adjacent marshy lowlands, and the Nature House, as well as a good part of the summit regions of Christmas Hill.
Ten Mile Point is a neighbourhood in the District of Saanich in Victoria, British Columbia, and is the most easterly point on Vancouver Island. Ten Mile Point was so named because it was ten nautical miles (18.5 km (11.5 mi)) from what was at the time the headquarters of the Pacific Station of the Royal Navy (now CFB Esquimalt). Ten Mile Point is a wooded peninsula that forms one side of Cadboro Bay, the home of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club and the mythical Cadborosaurus sea monster. Cadboro Point is located on the east part of this peninsula. Prevost Hill was named after James Charles Prevost, British commissioner in the negotiations to settle the San Juan boundary dispute. Prevost Hill is the highest elevation on Ten Mile Point and is known informally in the neighbourhood as "Minnie Mountain". Prevost Hill is the location for a subdivision within Ten Mile Point called "Wedgewood Point" or "Wedgewood Estates". A small wooded island, "Flower Island", almost touches the southern shore of Ten Mile Point. Ten Mile Point has many secluded beaches and coves.
The Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre (VIRCC) is a Regional Correctional Centre that is located in the District Municipality of Saanich, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It lies within metropolitan Victoria, British Columbia, in its northwest suburbs. The centre offers grief counseling to the family members of prisoners' deceased victims. On October 26, 1977, approximately 20 inmates took a prison officer hostage with a knife, but released him peacefully the next day. A prison riot at Prince George Regional Correctional Centre on April 26, 1983 led to ten prisoners being transferred to VIRCC. A prison riot at VIRCC in January 1985 led to 37 prisoners appearing before a disciplinary review board. On March 26, 2005, five inmates were charged with mischief after having together caused between $40,000 and $50,000 worth of damage to a living unit at the centre. In September 2006, David Johnston, a homeless man imprisoned at the VIRCC due to repeated sleeping on Beacon Hill Park and St. Ann's Academy property, went on a hunger strike to fight for the right to sleep outdoors and was supported by other homeless people who created a tent city. On February 22, 2007, inmate Wayne Allan Turner was found dead in the centre, hanging from a fire sprinkler head. British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union corrections and sheriff services component chairman Dean Purdy stated in March 2010 that there had been 63 assaults on the centre's guards by inmates since 2003 when the jail became overcrowded due to the closing of nine other British Columbia jails. An attempted prison escape by two prisoners was foiled in July 2011.
Claremont Secondary School (CSS) is a public secondary school in Saanich, a municipality of Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is operated by School District 63 Saanich. CSS is one of three secondary schools in the school district and the one serving the southern end of the Saanich Peninsula. It is fed from Royal Oak Middle School and is an active participant in the Saanich International Student Program (SISP), with over 100 international students from nine countries enrolled at CSS for the 2013-14 school year.
St. Patrick's, an independent co-educational Catholic elementary school of approximately 315 Grade K-7 students in Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Mount Tolmie, elevation 120 m (394 ft), is a hill and surrounding neighbourhood in Saanich, Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The majority of the mountain forms Mount Tolmie Park, a municipal park, while the south side has several private residences. The peak of the hill is known for its excellent views of Victoria, the Olympic Mountains, and the San Juan Islands.
Strawberry Vale Elementary School is a public primary school in the municipality of Saanich, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The school is noted for its building, designed by Patkau Architects and completed in 1995.