Description of Victoria
Victoria is a year-round tourism destination that offers a friendly, safe haven for all visitors. With a clean environment and charming ambience, it is no surprise that Victoria, BC is one of the world's favourite destinations. It’s a great place to spend a few days before or after your kayak tour of Vancouver Island, without fear of getting lost in the sprawl of a major city.
This oceanside city (pop. 360,000) is the provincial capital of British Columbia. Victoria is located on the southern most tip of Vancouver Island making it the most southernly city on the west coast of Canada.. The City’s climate is also the most temperate in Canada and it boasts gardens that bloom year-round. The wild beauty of the Pacific coast and the adventure of the great outdoors are within the city limits and ocean and mountain vistas will follow you wherever you go.
The oldest city in western Canada, Victoria’s origins began in 1843 as a Hudson Bay Company trading post, named in honour of Queen Victoria. With the Fraser Valley gold rush in 1858, Victoria grew rapidly as the main port of entry to the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. When the colonies combined, the City became the colonial capital and was established as the provincial capital when British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation in 1871.
For most of the nineteenth century, Victoria remained the largest city in British Columbia and was the foremost in trade and commerce. However, with construction of the Transcontinental railway, Vancouver, as its terminus, emerged as the major west coast port and the largest city in British Columbia.
In the twentieth century, Victoria evolved primarily as centres of of government, retirement and tourism. The City remains Canada’s western naval base and home to a major fishing fleet. Ship building and repair, as well as forest products and machine manufacturing industries, continue as significant sources of employment. Increasingly, the city is developing as a marine, forestry and agricultural research centres.
Victoria celebrates its colourful history with First Nations totem poles, heritage architecture and afternoon tea, and bustles with the energy of a university town, having the University of Victoria, Royal Roads University and University Canada West within its limits. Shop windows are full of British imports, Native art and the latest trends. Restaurants and cafés serve the freshest cuisine. The harbour is alive with the romance of an era when tall ships moored alongside the wharf. Evenings glitter as lights twinkle and cast their magic from atop the landmark British Columbia Legislative Buildings.
