Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as

Cultus Lake Cultus Lake may refer to: * Cultus Lake, British Columbia, Canada *Cultus Lake (Oregon), United States *Little Cultus Lake Little Cultus Lake is a natural lake in Deschutes County, Oregon, Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. Near its larger a ...

and

Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as Cultus Lake, British Columbia, Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park ...

s. There are numerous outdoor activities in the area in which to participate, including hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking horseback riding, whitewater kayaking, camping, fishing, golf and paragliding. Chilliwack is known for its annual corn harvest, and is home to the Province's second largest

independent bookstore An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned. Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store (although there are some multi-store independents). They may be structured as sole proprietorships, ...

br>The Book Man
The

Fraser Valley Regional District The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. Its headquarters are in the city of Chilliwack. The FVRD covers an area of 13,361.74 km² (5,159 sq mi). It was created in 1995 by ...

is headquartered in Chilliwack, which is the Fraser Valley's second largest city after Abbotsford. The city had a population of 93,203 in the 2021 Canadian census, with a

census metropolitan area The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of st ...

population of 113,767 people.

Etymology

In Halq'eméylem, the language of the Stó:lō communities around Chilliwack and Sardis, ''Tcil'Qe'uk'' means "valley of many streams". It also lends its name to the

Chilliwack River Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Parks. There are numerous outdoor ...

, and group of aboriginal people, the ''Ts'elxwéyeqw'' (also spelt ''Ts'elxwíqw'' or ''Sts'elxwíqw''). The spelling of Chilliwack is sometimes a matter of confusion. Prior to the amalgamation of the City of Chilliwack and the Municipality of Chilliwhack, there were two different spellings. When amalgamated, the current spelling of the city was adopted. Anglicized spellings include "Chilliwhyeuk" and other versions closer to the original Halq'eméylem.

History

Yale Road Chilliwack - 1908 - Site of City Hall

The archaeological record shows evidence of Stó:lō people in the Fraser Valley, or ''S'ólh Téméxw'', 10,000 years ago. Permanent structures in the Chilliwack area date from around 5,000 years ago. It is estimated that at the time of the first contact with Europeans, there were as many as 40,000 people living within Stó:lō territory. By 1859, over 40,000 gold miners had trekked to the goldfields of the upper Fraser River, many travelling through the Chilliwack area. By the mid-1860s, several farms had grown up around the steamboat landings on the Fraser River called Miller's Landing, Minto Landing, Sumas Landing and Chilliwack Landing. The Township of Chilliwhack was incorporated in 1873, the third municipality in British Columbia. The initial settlement was along the Fraser River at Chilliwack Landing. Steamboats were the main mode of transportation, carrying goods and passengers between Chilliwack and

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

. After the construction of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

in 1885, many residents began to cross the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annua ...

at Minto Landing to catch the train at Harrison Mills. With little room for expansion along the river, the commercial area of the town moved south to the junction of the New Westminster-Yale Wagon Road, Wellington Avenue and Young Road, called "Five Corners". A large subdivision called Centreville was built in 1881. The name "Centreville" was replaced In 1887 by the more popular "Chilliwack." The Chilliwack area experienced extensive flooding in the

1894 Fraser River flood The history of flooding in Canada includes floods caused by snowmelt runoff or freshet flooding, storm-rainfall and " flash flooding", ice jams during ice formation and spring break-up, natural dams, coastal flooding on ocean or lake coasts from ...

. The Chilliwack (formerly Centreville) area was incorporated in 1908 as a separate municipality, the City of Chilliwack. The city and the township co-existed for 72 years. The Chilliwack area again experienced extensive flooding in the 1948 Fraser River flood. In 1980, the Township of Chilliwhack and the City of Chilliwack merged to form the District of Chilliwack. The District of Chilliwack became the City of Chilliwack in early 1999. Chilliwack has the largest number of rainbow crosswalks in BC despite City Council's decision not to install more. In November 2021, an

atmospheric river An atmospheric river (AR) is a narrow corridor or filament of concentrated moisture in the atmosphere. Other names for this phenomenon are tropical plume, tropical connection, moisture plume, water vapor surge, and cloud band. Atmospheric rivers ...

caused widespread flooding in Chilliwack, forcing major roads, including

Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered ...

, to close indefinitely. The Highway has since been reopened for traffic in this area.

Geography

Chilliwack is located in the Upper

Fraser Valley The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from the ...

, 100 kilometres (60 mi) east of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

on the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean on ...

. The city is bounded on the north by the

, and on the south by the Canada-United States border. Chilliwack is surrounded by tall mountain peaks, such as Mount Cheam and

Slesse Mountain Slesse Mountain, usually referred to as Mount Slesse, is a mountain just north of the US-Canada border, in the Cascade Mountains of British Columbia, near the town of Chilliwack. It is notable for its large, steep local relief. For example, its w ...

, and large rivers (the

Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ...

and

Vedder Vedder is a Dutch and Low German surname. ''Vedder'', related to Dutch ('father'), meant 'uncle' (father's or mother's brother) in Middle Dutch and Eastern dialects of Dutch. Notable people with the surname include: * Adam Swart Vedder (1834–1 ...

Geology

The Chilliwack

Batholith A batholith () is a large mass of intrusive igneous rock (also called plutonic rock), larger than in area, that forms from cooled magma deep in Earth's crust. Batholiths are almost always made mostly of felsic or intermediate rock types, su ...

forms much of the

North Cascades The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington and are officially named in the U.S. and Canada as the C ...

in southwestern

, Canada and the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. The geological structure is primarily named after the City of Chilliwack, where it is the most notable geological feature. The Chilliwack Batholith is part of the

Pemberton Volcanic Belt The Pemberton Volcanic Belt is an eroded Oligocene-Miocene volcanic belt at a low angle near the Mount Meager massif, British Columbia, Canada. The Garibaldi and Pemberton volcanic belts appear to merge into a single belt, although the Pemberton i ...

and is the largest mass of exposed intrusive rock in the

Cascade Volcanic Arc The Cascade Volcanoes (also known as the Cascade Volcanic Arc or the Cascade Arc) are a number of volcanoes in a volcanic arc in western North America, extending from southwestern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern Ca ...

. The age of the Chilliwack batholith ranges from 26 to 29 million years old. In 2013, ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

'' reported that, with an average annual temperature of , Chilliwack is the warmest city in Canada.

Cityscape

The city is made up of several amalgamated villages and communities. The urban core follows a north–south axis bisected by the

. The city is bounded in the north by the

, in the east by the Eastern Hillsides, in the south by the Canada–US border, and in the west by the

Vedder Canal Vedder is a Dutch and Low German surname. ''Vedder'', related to Dutch ('father'), meant 'uncle' (father's or mother's brother) in Middle Dutch and Eastern dialects of Dutch. Notable people with the surname include: * Adam Swart Vedder (1834–190 ...

. With 939 farms on approximately of dedicated farmland, farming remains an important part of the Chilliwack landscape.

Neighbourhoods

Neighbourhoods on the north side

Also referred to as "Chilliwack Proper Village West", the north side covers the area from the

in the south, to the

in the north, and includes the communities of Camp River, Chilliwack Mountain, Downtown Chilliwack, East Chilliwack, Fairfield Island, Rosedale and

Popkum Popkum, also known as Popkum Village, is a rural farming and tourism based community in the Fraser Valley Regional District, just east of Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. The community is named after the Indian reserve of the Popkum First N ...

. Downtown Chilliwack is the historical urban centre of the city. Several cultural attractions, such as the Chilliwack Coliseum, Chilliwack Cultural Centre, The Book Man and the Eagle Landing Shopping Centre are located there, as well as key government buildings, such as city hall, FVRD offices, and the

Provincial Court of British Columbia The Provincial Court of British Columbia (BC Provincial Court) is a trial level court in British Columbia that hears cases in criminal, civil and family matters. The Provincial Court is a creation of statute, and as such its jurisdiction is lim ...

Neighbourhoods on the south side

The south side includes the communities of Atchelitz, Cultus Lake Park, Greendale, Promontory Heights, Ryder Lake,

Sardis Sardis () or Sardes (; Lydian: 𐤳𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣 ''Sfard''; el, Σάρδεις ''Sardeis''; peo, Sparda; hbo, ספרד ''Sfarad'') was an ancient city at the location of modern ''Sart'' (Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near Salihli, ...

, Vedder Crossing, Garrison Crossing and

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

is the urban core of the south side and is a popular shopping destination.

Parks

Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park is a BC Park located on the Trans-Canada Highway just east of Rosedale, British Columbia, Canada, part of the City of Chilliwack. The community of Bridal Falls is located adjacent to the falls and park as wel ...

* Cheam Wetlands Regional Park * Chilliwack Heritage Park *

Cultus Lake Provincial Park Cultus Lake is a lake, associated community and provincial park in the Fraser Valley region of British Columbia, Canada. It is the source of the Sweltzer River. Cultus Lake is located south of the Chilliwack River, near the city of Chilliwa ...

* Fairfield Park * Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve * Gwynne Vaughn Park * Island 22 * Salish Park * Sardis Park * Townsend Park

Arts and culture

Music

Chilliwack has an active rock music scene, centering mostly around young ska and punk rock bands. Bands originating in Chilliwack include:

These Kids Wear Crowns These Kids Wear Crowns is a six-member Canadian power pop and pop-rock band, formed in 2009 in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. They were "discovered" on MuchMusic's '' disBand'' and signed to a contract with Capitol Records/ EMI. They have p ...

Mystery Machine ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animation, animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative List of Scooby-Doo media, media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the orig ...

, and The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets. Chilliwack also has a thriving classical music community, featuring the Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra and the Chilliwack Metropolitan Orchestra. The drumline from

Sardis Secondary School Sardis Secondary, abbreviated as SSS, is a public high school in Chilliwack, British Columbia part of School District 33 Chilliwack. The current principal is Dan Heisler. Sardis Secondary has a focus on agricultural and skilled trades education ...

played at several venues during the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May Doan Nancy GreeneWayne Gr ...

in Vancouver. Chilliwack also offers many other community events and classes throughout the year. The Downtown Chilliwack Business Improvement Association is hosting music in Central Park on Saturdays for the month of August 2022. Despite their name, the band

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Parks. There are numerous outdoor ...

was actually formed, and is based, in nearby Vancouver.

Performing arts

The Chilliwack Cultural Centre is a performing arts venue located in downtown Chilliwack. The building is home to the Chilliwack Players' Guild (the resident theatre company), as well as the Chilliwack Academy of Music. The UFV Theatre is a 206-seat

thrust stage In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between perform ...

venue formerly belonging to the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) Theatre Department. Until 2017, UFV produced three or four mainstage shows each year, as well as the annual Directors' Festival, which featured student directors and performers from UFV,

Capilano University Capilano University (CapU) is a teaching-focused public university based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located on the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, with programming that also serves the Sea-to-Sky Corridor and the Sunsh ...

Thompson Rivers University Thompson Rivers University (commonly referred to as TRU) is a public teaching and research university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees and vocational training. Its main campus is in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, and its na ...

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...

, UBC and

Douglas College Douglas College is the largest public degree-granting college institution in British Columbia, Canada. Close to 17,000 credit students, 8,500 continuing education students and 4,210 international students are enrolled here. Douglas College o ...

. As of 2021, the theatre is part of the Imagine High public high school. The Chilliwack School of Performing Arts provides pre-professional training in acting, singing and dancing to children ages 3–18 at their downtown location. The mainstage show performs a two-week run every January at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre, and a Spring Festival featuring performances from many age groups in late May. Programs at the Chilliwack Performing Arts can be registered for at. Many different programs are available, including a Junior Musical Theatre and Summer Break Camps.

Public Art

Th
Chilliwack Mural Festival
occurs annually. Co-founded and Directed by Amber Price and Lise Oakley, their volunteer team has curated and directed the installation of over three dozen works of large scale original art in Historic Downtown Chilliwack. Murals by Canadian Artists Emmanuel Jarus, Jason Botkin and Chris Perez can be found along with other public art via th
Chilliwack Public Art Trail

Festivals

Annual events and festivals include: * Chilliwack Bluegrass Festival (ended in 2013) * Christmas Craft Market * Chilliwack Art of Wine Festival * Fraser Valley Culture and Craft Beer Festival * Fraser Valley Women's Expo * Party in the Park * Chilliwack Canada Day * Chilliwack Mural Festival

Museums

Chilliwack Sports Hall of Fame Chilliwack Coliseum (formerly known as Prospera Centre) is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, built in 2004 as a replacement of the former Chilliwack Coliseum. It is the home of the Chilliwack Chiefs of the B ...

* Canadian Military Education Centre * Chilliwack Museum and Archives, located in the 1912 former Chilliwack City Hall on Spadina Avenue, is a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

. The Chilliwack Museum and Archives are a non-profit organization operated by the Chilliwack Museum and Historical Society which began in 1958 by brothers Oliver and Casey Wells.

Notable people

;Academics: *

Rita Steblin Rita Katherine Steblin (April 22, 1951 – September 3, 2019)
obituary, ''Figures of Speech'' was a

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Homer Thompson Homer Armstrong Thompson (September 7, 1906 – May 7, 2000) was a Canadian classical archaeologist of the twentieth century, specializing in ancient Greece. While studying for his doctorate at the University of Michigan, Benjamin Dean Mer ...

, Ph.D., classical archaeologist and excavator of the

Ancient Agora of Athens The ancient Agora of Athens (also called the Classical Agora) is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora, located to the northwest of the Acropolis and bounded on the south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill kn ...

* Wayne Smith, M.Econ,

Chief Statistician of Canada The chief statistician of Canada (french: statisticien en chef du Canada) is the senior public servant responsible for Statistics Canada (StatCan), an agency of the Government of Canada. The office is equivalent to that of a deputy minister and a ...

* Allan Brooks , Ornithologist and distinguished wildlife artist *

Charlotte Froese Fischer Charlotte Froese Fischer (born 1929) is a Canadian-American applied mathematician and computer scientist noted for the development and implementation of the Multi-Configurational Hartree–Fock (MCHF) approach to atomic-structure calculations a ...

, Ph.D., mathematician and computer scientist * Dr. Carin Bondar, Ph.D., biologist and celebrity Science Communicator ;Activists: * Betty Fox, cancer research activist, mother of

Terry Fox Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958 June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated due to cancer, he embarked on an east-to-west cross-Canada run to raise money ...

. * Tony Clarke, activist, who graduated from Chilliwack Senior Secondary. ; Arts and entertainment: * Patrick Gallagher, actor from ''Glee'', ''True Blood'' and ''Night At The Museum''. Graduated from Chilliwack Senior Secondary. * Tasha Tilberg, Covergirl model. Born in Chilliwack on July 23, 1979. Appeared on the covers of magazines such as ''Vogue'', ''Harper's Bazaar'' and ''Marie Claire''. *

Jim Vallance James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main son ...

, , musician, songwriter, composer, arranger and producer * Bernie Herms, Grammy Award-winning artist * Bria Skonberg, jazz musician, Juno Award winner for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year in 2017 ; Athletes: * Dave Archibald, a former professional hockey player with the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors fo ...

and

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member ...

. * Rick Klassen, former professional football player with the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

and

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded i ...

. * Amber Allen, a former professional soccer player with the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

. *

Jordyn Huitema Jordyn Pamela Huitema ( ; born May 8, 2001) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for National Women's Soccer League club OL Reign and the Canada national team. She scored her first national team goal at the age of 1 ...

, a soccer player for Paris Saint-Germain. ; Canadian Military: * Piper James C. Richardson, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

; Journalists: * Jack McGaw, journalist and radio operator. *

Diana Swain Diana Swain is the executive producer of CBC's investigative documentary program ''The Fifth Estate''. She has held various roles at the public broadcaster, including most recently as the senior editor of the network Investigative Unit. Before t ...

, television journalist. Graduated from Chilliwack High School in 1983. ; Justices: * William H. Davies ,

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Justice and Chair of the Davies Commission Inquiry ;Politicians: *

Barry Penner Barry Penner, is a Canadian licensed lawyer and former politician in the province of British Columbia. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) for Chilliwack-Hope for 16 years. He also served as Attorney Gene ...

, former

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Chuck Strahl Charles Richard "Chuck" Strahl (born February 25, 1957) is a Canadian businessman and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2011. First elected for the Reform Party, he was the leader of the Democratic Representative Caucus tha ...

, former member of Parliament and cabinet minister *

Dorothy Kostrzewa Dorothy Nan Kostrzewa (née Chung; August 17, 1928 – January 11, 2013) was a Canadian politician. She is the first Chinese-Canadian woman to hold political office in Canada when she was elected to Chilliwack City Council in 1970. She served on ...

, first

Chinese-Canadian , native_name = , native_name_lang = , image = Chinese Canadian population by province.svg , image_caption = Chinese Canadians as percent of population by province / territory , pop = 1,715,7704.63% of the ...

woman elected to political office in Canada *

Steven Point Steven Lewis Point, (''Xwĕ lī qwĕl tĕl'') (born July 28, 1951) is a Canadian jurist and current chancellor of the University of British Columbia. He served as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 2007 to 2012. He also served ...

, , first aboriginal

Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia The lieutenant governor of British Columbia () is the viceregal representative of the , in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The office of lieutenant governor is an office of the Crown and serves as a representative of the monarchy in ...

. ;Writers: *

Allan Fotheringham Allan Fotheringham (August 31, 1932August 19, 2020) was a Canadian newspaper and magazine journalist. He styled himself Dr. Foth and "the Great Gatheringfroth". He was described as "never at a loss for words". Early life Fotheringham was born ...

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short ess ...

. Worked for ''The Chilliwack Progress'' as a student. * W.P. Kinsella, , author of ''

Shoeless Joe Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early 1900s. Although his .356 career batting average is the fourth highest ...

'', lived in Chilliwack. * Gayle Friesen, novelist ; Others: *

Prest Family William Prest was one of the founding members of the Prest Family of Chilliwack. Their farm was one of the first to farm on the land in Chilliwack. William Prest also married a First Nation woman, Mary “Tata” Benn of what is now Sqwah First N ...

- One of the pioneer Chilliwack families * Keith Hunter Jesperson, serial killer who committed crimes in Canada and the U.S

Media

Newspapers

* Chilliwack Progress - British Columbia's oldest community newspaper, published continuously with the same name in the same community since April 1891 Chilliwack Times published its final edition on December 28, 2016.

Radio

*FM 89.5 - CHWK-FM *FM 91.7 - CBYF-FM *FM 98.3 -

CKSR-FM CKSR-FM (''Star 98.3'') is a Canadian radio station located in Chilliwack, British Columbia. The station, operating at 98.3 FM with 2,100 watts of power, is owned by Rogers Sports & Media. CKSR also runs a repeater station in Hope (CFSR-FM 100.5 ...

*FM 99.9 - CBU-FM-7 *FM 102.1 - CBUF-FM-1 *FM 107.5 -

CKKS-FM CKKS-FM (107.5 FM, ''Sonic'') is a radio station licensed to Chilliwack, British Columbia and serving Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Owned by Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts a modern rock format. The station's main studio ...

Television

*Channel 11 CHAN-TV-1

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

Sports

The

British Columbia Hockey League The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league from British Columbia under Hockey Canada and BC Hockey. Founded in Vernon in 1961, the BCHL now includes 18 teams. From 1993 to 2021, the league was a member of the Ca ...

Chilliwack Chiefs The Chilliwack Chiefs are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Mainland Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at Chilliwack Coliseum wh ...

, play at the Chilliwack Coliseum. The team used to be the

Quesnel Millionaires The Quesnel Millionaires were a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada. They were members of the Interior Conference of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They played their home games at Quesnel Twin Arena. ...

. The franchise was purchased and moved to Chilliwack by the Chiefs Development group. They started in the BCHL's Interior Conference for the 2011/2012 BCHL Season. While the original Junior "A" team, the Chilliwack Chiefs, plays in Langley, British Columbia, as the

Langley Rivermen The Langley Rivermen are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Mainland Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). History The BCHL franchise was founded as the Richmond Soc ...

(the Chiefs Development Group sold their interest in the

Langley Chiefs The Langley Rivermen are a junior "A" ice hockey team based in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Mainland Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). History The BCHL franchise was founded as the Richmond S ...

but retained the 'Chiefs' name and history). The

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior ...

Chilliwack Bruins The Chilliwack Bruins were a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) based in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. The 2006–07 season marked the Bruins' inaugural season in the WHL. The team played at Prospera Ce ...

used to play at the Prospera Centre. The expansion franchise began to play in 2006 and ended when the team was sold at the end of the 2011 season. It became the

Victoria Royals The Victoria Royals are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team currently members of the B.C. Division of the Western Conference in the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team began play during the 2011–12 season after the League announced the ...

WHL hockey team in 2011. Community sports include hockey, lacrosse, softball, soccer, football, baseball, field hockey and swimming. The

Canadian Junior Football League The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national Major Junior Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in five provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl. Many CJFL players move on to profess ...

Chilliwack Huskers The Valley Huskers (formerly known as the Chilliwack Huskers) are a Canadian Junior Football team based in Chilliwack, British Columbia. The Huskers play in the eight-team B.C. Football Conference, which itself is part of the Canadian Junior Foot ...

play at

Exhibition Stadium Canadian National Exhibition Stadium (commonly known as Exhibition Stadium or CNE Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium that formerly stood on the Exhibition Place grounds, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally built for Canadian National Exhi ...

. Chilliwack Turbo Fastball club won the 1997 Canadian Jr. Men's National Championships. In 2013 the team was an inaugural induction into the

. Chilliwack's minor baseball Cougars were the 2003 Midget AAA Provincial champions as well as the 2006 Western Canadian tier 2 champions. Chilliwack Cougars College Prep Baseball Team won the Provincial Championship in 2016,2017 and 2019. Most recent title against the Ridge Meadows Royals Chilliwack hosted the 2007-2008 Synchronized Skating Canadian Championships at the Prospera Centre.
Chilliwack Minor Hockey Association
was organized in 1958 with the opening of the Chilliwack Coliseum.

Climate

The climate is typical

oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places *Oceanic, British Columbia Oceanic is an unincorporated set ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Cfb'') but with some influence of the land mass being some distance from the sea, similar to

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

(although the former has a precipitation more than twice as long and with a tendency towards the Mediterranean pattern). Chilliwack's mild climate with limited extremes provides excellent growing conditions for a wide variety of crops and agricultural products. In fact, when averaged from 1981 to 2010, Chilliwack had one of the warmest mean temperatures for any city in Canada. Jozina Slegh said The highest temperature recorded within the city of Chilliwack is on June 28, 2021, which was set during the

2021 Western North America Heat wave The 2021 Western North America heat wave was an extreme heat wave that affected much of Western North America from late June through mid-July 2021. Rapid attribution analysis found this was a 1000-year weather event, made 150 times more likely ...

, beating the old mark of recorded on July 21, 2006. The lowest recorded temperature was on Dec 27, 1968. Precipitation falls mostly as rain, with snow limited to the surrounding mountains, except for two or three weeks per year generally in December or January when artic outflow occurs. In 2013,

wrongly reported that with an average annual temperature of , Chilliwack is the warmest city in Canada. The actual warmest city in Canada is

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, with an average annual temperature of . Chilliwack enjoys some of the warmest average high temperatures in Canada, with 15.5 °C (59.9 °F) being the yearly average high. Chilliwack receives nearly the same number of days of precipitation (184.6 days at greater than 0.2 mm) as comparable local communities nearer Vancouver such as Maple Ridge (185.8 days) and the City of Mission (186.0 days) (Environment Canada Statistics). Summers in Chilliwack are usually sunny and warm, with long days (light out until well after 10 pm in June with dusk that lasts for hours) and with occasional stretches of heat where temperatures rise above . Due to its location at the eastern end of the Fraser Valley, there has been some debate about preserving Chilliwack's air quality. However, the 2011 World Health Organization's study of air quality shows that Chilliwack enjoys air quality among the best in the world. For PM₁₀ (10 µm) size

particulates Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The ...

, Canada averaged third best in the world (along with Australia) at an average of 13 micrograms per cubic metre. The City of Chilliwack and the Greater Vancouver Regional District were tied at a low 8.0 MPCM. For smaller particulate of 2.5 µm size (PM_2.5), "the City of Chilliwack averaged 4.9 micrograms per cubic metre. Vancouver also had 4.9, Calgary had 5.6, Winnipeg had 5.6, Toronto had 7.9, Montreal had 11.2 and Sarnia had 12.7."

Demographics

City of Chilliwack

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, Chilliwack had a population of 93,203 living in 35,758 of its 37,124 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 83,788. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Ethnicity

*Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.

Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Chilliwack included: *

Irreligion Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and an ...

(45,475 persons or 49.4%) *

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

(41,875 persons or 45.5%) *

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit= Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fr ...

(1,570 persons or 1.7%) * Islam (750 persons or 0.8%) *

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

(575 persons or 0.6%) *

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or ''dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global po ...

(575 persons or 0.6%) *

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

(120 persons or 0.1%) * Indigenous Spirituality (105 persons or 0.1%)

Chilliwack CMA

At the

(CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Chilliwack CMA had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Economy

Chilliwack is part of the Lower Mainland-Southwest economic region. Chilliwack's service and retail sectors account for approximately 50% of

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is of ...

. Other growing industries include manufacturing accounting for 13%, construction at 8% and agriculture and forestry at 5% of Chilliwack's GDP.

Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack

Second World War

CFB Chilliwack was established in 1941 as Camp Chilliwack following Canada's entry into the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in 1939. After the outbreak of the Pacific War the camp was expanded to garrison

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases acr ...

units for the defence of Canada's West Coast. The base was also a training facility: 112 Canadian Army Basic Training Centre and A6 Canadian Engineering Training Centre were housed at Chilliwack until the war's end in 1945.

1945–1997

During the Cold War, the base was used as a permanent training facility and the garrison for the Canadian Army units of British Columbia. The base housed the Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering, formerly A6 Canadian Engineering Training Centre and 58 Field Engineer Squadron which was transferred from

CFB Esquimalt Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (CFB Esquimalt) is Canada's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters. , 4,411 military personnel and 2,762 civilians work at CFB Esquima ...

on Vancouver Island. Following the unification of the Canadian forces in 1968, the base was renamed Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack ( CFB Chilliwack). The base housed the following units: * Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering (CFSME—formerly Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering) * Canadian Forces Officer Candidate School (CFOCS) (transferred in 1971 to CFB Chilliwack) * First Combat Engineer Regiment (1CER—formerly 58 Field Engineer Squadron) In 1994, the

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI, generally referred to as the Patricia's) is one of the three Regular Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army of the Canadian Armed Forces. Formed in 1914, it is named for Princess Patri ...

3rd Battalion (3PPCLI) was transferred from

to CFB Chilliwack, the last unit to be transferred to the base. Due to Department of National Defence cutbacks at the end of the Cold War, the base was closed in 1997. CFOCS was transferred to Area Support Unit St-Jean in Quebec (

ASU St-Jean Fort Saint-Jean is a fort in the Canadian province of Quebec located on the Richelieu River. The fort was first built in 1666 by soldiers of the Carignan-Salières Regiment of France who had travelled to New France to assist the young colon ...

), CFSME transferred to

CFB Gagetown 5th Canadian Division Support Base (5 CDSB) Gagetown, formerly known as and commonly referred to as CFB Gagetown, is a large Canadian Forces Base covering an area over , located in southwestern New Brunswick. Construction of the base At the ...

, 3PPCLI and 1CER were transferred to

CFB Edmonton CFB Edmonton (also called 3rd Canadian Division Support Base Edmonton) is a Canadian Forces base located in Sturgeon County adjacent to the City of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. It is also known as Edmonton Garrison or "Steele Barracks". His ...

Legacy

Part of CFB Chilliwack became a residential subdivision known as Garrison Crossing, and its training facilities became the

Canada Education Park Canada Education Park (CEP) is located on the southside of Chilliwack at the former site of the Canadian army base called CFB Chilliwack. It is home to learning institutions including University of the Fraser Valley, Justice Institute of BC, a ...

, a campus for a number of post-secondary schools. The Chilcotin Training Area, better known as Area C, is still operational and is part of the Western Area Training Centre (WATC). Area C is used by the Primary Reserves units of British Columbia for field training and for the use of its firing ranges. The ASU is also used by Cadets for field training. The ASU also houses supply depots for the Canadian Army units of

39 Canadian Brigade Group 39 Canadian Brigade Group (39 CBG; french: link=no, 39e Groupe-brigade du Canada) is a Canadian Forces formation of the Canadian Army under the 3rd Canadian Division. The brigade group is composed of Canadian Forces (CF) Primary Reserve units, all ...

and the cadet units of BC. The old quartermaster warehouse is now the Canadian Military Education Centre Museum.

Transportation

Airports

Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is located from Downtown Vancouver. It is the second busies ...

is located about from downtown Chilliwack and has non-stop flights daily to

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, and

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

, and other airports within Canada.

Abbotsford International Airport Abbotsford International Airport is located in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, southwest of the city centre. It is the second largest airport in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, after Vancouver International Airport (YVR ...

is located about west of Downtown Chilliwack and offers scheduled service to Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Victoria, where passengers can connect to anywhere.

Chilliwack Airport is a small regional airport located in Downtown Chilliwack. It has of paved and lit runway that includes a parallel taxiway. Approximately 70% of the estimated 60,000 annual air traffic movements are itinerant traffic that consists of both pilot training and recreational flights from all around BC and south of the border.

Bicycle lanes

There are about of bike lanes throughout the city with additional lanes being added every year.

Highways

A four-lane to six-lane expressway from Horseshoe Bay to

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

runs through Chilliwack on the Lower Mainland section of the

. The Agassiz-Rosedale Highway is a north–south route in the eastern part of Chilliwack that acts as the last connection between Highways 1 and 7 eastbound before

, and is the main access to the resort village of

Harrison Hot Springs The Village of Harrison Hot Springs is a small community at the southern end of Harrison Lake in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. It is a member of the Fraser Valley Regional District; its immediate neighbour is the District of Kent and in ...

. The highway first opened in 1953, originally going between Yale Road in Rosedale and Highway 7, with a ferry across the Fraser River. A bridge replaced the ferry in 1956. When the section of Highway 1 east of Chilliwack opened in 1961, Highway 9 was extended south to a junction with the new Highway 1 alignment, which replaced Yale Road as the main route between Chilliwack and Hope.

Mass transit

Paddlewheelers at Chilliwack Landing near the present day end of Wellington Street

Chilliwack Transit System consists of a fleet of 9 buses that operate along regularly scheduled routes throughout the metropolitan area.

Rail

Chilliwack Railway Station

Education

Post-secondary

Canada Education Park (CEP) is an campus in the Vedder Crossing neighbourhood on the south side of Chilliwack that houses several post-secondary institutions, including the

University of the Fraser Valley The University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), formerly known as University College of the Fraser Valley and Fraser Valley College, is a Canadian public university with campuses in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission and Hope, British Columbia. Founde ...

, the RCMP Pacific Region Training Centre, and the

Justice Institute of British Columbia Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) is a public, post-secondary educational institution in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, that is focused on training professionals in the justice, public safety and social services fields. JI ...

. The

(UFV) is the largest post-secondary school in Chilliwack, and the seventh largest in British Columbia in terms of full-time enrollment. It offers master's degrees, bachelor's degrees, associate degrees, diplomas, certificates and citations across a range of programs in fine arts, humanities, science, social sciences, applied communication, business, nursing, as well as technical and trade programs. Its campuses are located in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Hope and Mission.

Private

Public

The ''

Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique The ''Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique'' (also known as Francophone Education Authority or School District No 93) is the French-language school board for all French schools located in British Columbia. Its headquarters are ...

'' operates one Francophone school: ''école La Vérendrye'' primary school.Carte des écoles
." '' Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britanique''. Retrieved on 22 January 2015.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{authority control Cities in British Columbia Populated places on the Fraser River