Chase is a village located in the Interior of

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

, Canada. It has a population of 3,399, and its main industries are

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. It is located at the outlet of

Little Shuswap Lake Little Shuswap Lake is a small lake in the Thompson River basin of the southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, which sits at the transition between the Thompson Country to the west and the Shuswap Country to the east. It is fed by the Littl ...

, which is the source of the

South Thompson River The South Thompson River is the southern branch of the Thompson River, the largest tributary of the Fraser River, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It originates at the outlet of Little Shuswap Lake at the town of Chase and flows appr ...

. Chase Creek, which drops over three small waterfalls before flowing through the town, enters the South Thompson just below the lake's outlet.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Chase had a population of 2,399 living in 1,175 of its 1,249 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 2,286. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Chase 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 a ...

(1,465 persons or 61.6%) *

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

(880 persons or 37.0%) *

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 gra ...

(10 persons or 0.4%) *Other (20 persons or 0.8%)

Government and infrastructure

Fire department

The Village of Chase provides fire services to the community through the Village of Chase Fire Department.

Policing

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

detachment is located in Chase and serves the village, surrounding highways and First Nations communities.

Health care

The Village of Chase is served by the Chase and District Health Centre, part of the

Interior Health Interior Health is a regional health authority in British Columbia. It is one of the five publicly-funded regional health authorities, serving the southern Interior region of British Columbia. Facilities As of 2020 Interior Health operates ...

Authority. The

BC Ambulance Service The British Columbia Ambulance Service (BCAS) is an ambulance service that provides emergency medical response for the province of British Columbia, Canada. BCAS is one of the largest provider of emergency medical services in North America. The ...

maintains a station in the community.

Transportation

Roads

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 o ...

runs adjacent to the south side of the community and provides access to the nearby regional centres of

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

( west) and

Salmon Arm Salmon Arm is a city in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District of the Southern Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia that has a population of 17,706 (2016). Salmon Arm was incorporated as a municipal district on May 15, 1905. The ...

( east). Other, minor routes connect Chase to Falkland and Barriere. There has been a perennial proposal to construct a winterized road between Chase and nearby Sun Peaks to aid in the development of Chase's economy. The road would offer a shorter route for visitors arriving at the resort community from the east.

Railway

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 Canadi ...

mainline travels through the community with through freight and passenger traffic.

Airports

The closest commercial airport is the

Kamloops Airport Kamloops Airport , also known as Fulton Field or John "Moose" Fulton Airfield, is a regional airport located west northwest of Kamloops, British Columbia, a city in the Thompson region of Canada. It is owned by the Kamloops Airport Authority ...

. The Shuswap (Skwlax Field) Aerodrome is located on the northeast side of Little Shuswap Lake.

Culture and recreation

The primary attraction for the Village of Chase is Little Shuswap Lake. Beaches, boat launches and a large pier provide access to the lake and South Thompson River. The Sunshore Golf Club provides a nine-hole golf course. Some Chase residents say "There are two seasons in Chase; Corn season, and waiting for corn season." The town is known for its fertile farm land, and celebrates the production and sharing of local food.

Sport

Chase is home to the

Chase Heat The Chase Heat are a junior 'B' ice hockey team based in Chase, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Doug Birks Division of the Okanagan/Shuswap Conference of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL). The Heat play the ...

of the

Kootenay International Junior Hockey League The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) is a Junior "B" Ice Hockey league in British Columbia, Canada sanctioned by Hockey Canada. The winner of the Teck Cup competes with the champions of the Pacific Junior Hockey League ...

. It was the home of the

Chase Chiefs The Chase Chiefs were a junior 'B' ice hockey team from Chase, British Columbia. They played in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. They were founded in 2007 as an expansion team. In 2010, the team moved to Kelowna, to become the K ...

of the same league, who existed from 2007 to 2010, before relocating to

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

History

The town was named after one of the first settlers in the district, Whitfield Chase who established a ranch where the

runs out of

in 1865. When the Adams River Lumber Company laid out the town in 1902, James A. Magee, secretary of the company named the town for Chase.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Villages in British Columbia Populated places in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District Thompson Country Shuswap Country