In
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, ...
, eight counties are created in the "County Boundary Act". The counties are created for the administration of justice, and are not used in the administration of government. Local government is organized by
municipalities and by
regional districts.
The counties are:
* County of
Cariboo
* County of
Kootenay
Kootenay, Kootenai, and Kutenai may refer to:
Ethnic groups
*The Kutenai, also known as the Ktunaxa, Kootenai, or Kootenay, an indigenous people of the United States and Canada
**Kutenai language, the traditional language of the Kutenai
**Ktunaxa ...
* County of
Nanaimo
* County of
Prince Rupert
* County of
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
* County of
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 ...
* County of
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
* County of
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
Prior to 1895, the districts of the Province of British Columbia and its predecessors, the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, were separated into districts for county courts, supreme courts and
shrievalties. The Counties Definition Act of 1895 defined the divisions as the five original counties of Victoria, Vancouver, Westminster, Yale, Cariboo, and Kootenay. The act created procedure for the administration of justice including the appointment of registrars and sheriffs.
Sheriffs
Beginning in the colonial era, each county appointed its own high sheriff. Over the next century, duties of the county sheriff and his deputies ranged from tax collector to executioner. In 1974, the county sheriffs were amalgamated and became the
British Columbia Sheriff Service.
County Court
Established in 1884, there existed in British Columbia a
County Court, an intermediate court between the Provincial Court and the
British Columbia Supreme Court. In 1990, the County Court of B.C. merged with the B.C. Supreme Court and its judges became justices of same. The B.C. Supreme Court now sits in eight judicial districts. The judicial districts of the B.C. Supreme Court have the same boundaries of the counties of the former County Court. This is the only current usage of "county" in British Columbia, which is a reference only to such court districts and has no similarity to the meaning in other provinces of Canada, the United States or United Kingdom.
See also
County Boundary ActBC Government Dataset - County Areas Map
References
British Columbia law
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