North Saanich

History

In July 1905, North Saanich, then including the townsite of Sidney, was incorporated with the original Municipal Hall located in Sidney. Lacking population and a firm tax base, the municipality was dissolved in 1911. In 1940, the site of the present Victoria International Airport was selected as a military forces base and the area boomed with the influx of 10,000 military personnel, leading to incorporation for the Village of Sidney in 1952. Four years later, the residents of the North Saanich unorganized area, numbering 2,865, requested that letters patent be issued to form the "North Saanich Fire Prevention District" with power to own property, to tax and to borrow. In 1965, after a favourable public vote, the letters patent were withdrawn and the North Saanich Municipal District was established with offices at the present location on Mills Road.

The British actor Sebastian Cabot lived in North Saanich before his death.

Fauna

The largest animal likely to be found in North Saanich is the black-tailed deer. Other native mammals include the mink, otter, raccoon, and deer mouse. Of introduced mammal species, the cottontail rabbit and gray squirrel are often seen. Common native birds include the northwestern crow, common raven, bald eagle, turkey vulture, American robin, varied thrush, Steller's jay, and several species of gull. Introduced birds are represented by the abundant common starling and the declining skylark.

Flora

The most common native tree in North Saanich is Douglas-fir. The other common large conifers are grand fir and western red cedar. Western hemlock is occasionally found. Pacific yew is a frequent understory tree. The arbutus is a large broadleaf evergreen species. Large deciduous trees are black cottonwood, bigleaf maple, red alder, and Garry oak. Small deciduous species include bitter cherry, cascara, Pacific crab apple, Pacific dogwood, quaking aspen, Douglas maple, common hawthorn and willow.

Council and Government

The 2014-2018 council is:

The next election is scheduled for November 17, 2018 following provincial law. All municipalities in British Columbia will also hold elections on this date (the third Saturday of November every 3 years). Voters will vote for councillors and the mayor on the same ballot.

Education

Public schools serving North Saanich residents are operated by School District 63 Saanich. These include ḰELSET and Deep Cove Elementary Schools, North Saanich Middle School; and Parkland Secondary School.

Transportation

North Saanich can be accessed by highway on Highway 17 from Victoria, Sidney or Vancouver (through the BC Ferries terminal at Swartz Bay). Victoria International Airport is also located in the municipality, which offers daily service to Calgary, Edmonton, SeaTac, San Francisco, Kelowna, Toronto Pearson and hourly service to Vancouver from Air Canada Express. The airport also offers seasonal services to Mexico and Hawaii, with talk about expansion to Europe or Asia. North Saanich also has a float plane aerodrome near the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Pat Bay near the Airport. This is Pat Bay Air's hub, which offers flights around Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Metro Vancouver.

Public transit is provided by the Victoria Regional Transit System.

North Saanich has 7 marinas, many of which can accommodate temporary visitors. The highest concentration of marinas (5 of the 7) is on the southern coast, between Curteis Point (near the ferry terminal) and McDonald Park Road, near Parkland Secondary School.

Neighbourhoods

North Saanich also surrounds two First Nations reserves, namely the Tseycum First Nation, located on the northeastern shore of Patricia Bay, and the Pauquachin First Nation, located on the southeastern shore of Coles Bay south of Ardmore. These first nations are not, strictly speaking, part of North Saanich.

Attractions