Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central

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, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of

Kamloops Lake Kamloops Lake in British Columbia, Canada is situated on the Thompson River just west of Kamloops. The lake is 1.6 km wide, 29 km long, and up to 152 m deep. In prehistoric time, the lake was much longer, perhaps 20x, with adjacent silt ...

. It is located in the

Thompson-Nicola Regional District The Thompson–Nicola Regional District is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Canada 2021 Census population was 143,680 and the area covers 44,449.49 square kilometres. The administrative offices are in the m ...

, whose district offices are based here. The surrounding region is sometimes referred to as the

Thompson Country Thompson Country, also referred to as The Thompson and sometimes as the Thompson Valley and historically known as the Couteau Country or Couteau District, is a historic geographic region of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, more or less de ...

. The city was incorporated in 1893 with about 500 residents. The Canadian Pacific Railroad was completed through downtown in 1886, and the Canadian National arrived in 1912, making Kamloops an important transportation hub. With a 2021 population of 97,902, it is the twelfth largest municipality in the province. The Kamloops census agglomeration is ranked 36th among census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada with a 2021 population of 114,142. Kamloops is promoted as the ''Tournament Capital of Canada''. It hosts more than 100 sporting tournaments each year (hockey, baseball, curling, etc) at world-class sports facilities such as the

Tournament Capital Centre The Tournament Capital Centre is a facility next to Thompson Rivers University's campus. It hosts the Thompson Rivers WolfPack The TRU WolfPack are the athletic teams that represent Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, Cana ...

, Kamloops Bike Ranch, and Tournament Capital Ranch. Logging, Beef Cattle, Vegetable farming, Transportation, Viticulture, Health care, tourism, and education are major contributing industries to the regional economy and have grown in recent years. Thompson Rivers University (~25,000 students) was established as Cariboo College in 1970.

History

The first European explorers arrived in 1811. David Stuart, a trader sent from

Fort Astoria Fort Astoria (also named Fort George) was the primary fur trading post of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company (PFC). A maritime contingent of PFC staff was sent on board the '' Tonquin'', while another party traveled overland from St. Louis. ...

, then still a

Pacific Fur Company The Pacific Fur Company (PFC) was an American fur trade venture wholly owned and funded by John Jacob Astor that functioned from 1810 to 1813. It was based in the Pacific Northwest, an area contested over the decades between the United Kingdom o ...

post, spent a winter with the

Secwépemc The Secwépemc ( ; Secwepemc: or ), known in English as the Shuswap people , are a First Nations people residing in the interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia. They speak one of the Salishan languages, known as Secwepemc or Shu ...

people. In May of the following year, trader Alexander Ross established a post, which was known as "Fort Cumcloups". The rival

North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...

established Fort Shuswap nearby in the same year. The two businesses merged in 1813 when the North West Company bought the operations of the Pacific Fur Company. In 1821, the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

took over the North West Company, and the post became known commonly as Thompson's River Post, or Fort Thompson. Later it was known as Fort Kamloops. The post's Chief Traders kept journals, which document a series of inter-Indian wars and personalities for the period, in addition to the daily business of the fur companies and their personnel along the entire Pacific Slope. Soon after the forts were founded, Kwa'lila, chief of the main local village of the Secwépemc, moved his people closer to the

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

, so they could control access and gain in prestige and security. After Kwa'lila died, his nephew and foster son Nicola became chief. He later led an alliance of

Syilx The ''Syilx'' () people, also known as the Okanagan, Okanogan or Okinagan people, are a First Nations and Native American people whose traditional territory spans the Canada–US boundary in Washington state and British Columbia in the Okanagan C ...

(Okanagan) and

Nlaka'pamux The Nlaka'pamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', ''Thompson River Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''Kni ...

peoples in the plateau country to the south around

Stump Stump may refer to: * Stump (band), a band from Cork, Ireland and London, England * Stump (cricket), one of three small wooden posts which the fielding team attempt to hit with the ball *Stump (dog): Clussexx Three D Grinchy Glee (born 1998), 200 ...

, Nicola and

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

lakes. Relations between Nicola and the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

rs were often tense, but Chief Nicola was recognized for his aid to colonizers during the

Fraser Canyon Gold Rush The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, (also Fraser Gold Rush and Fraser River Gold Rush) began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River a few miles upstream from the Thompson's c ...

of 1858. He did try to control those who had been in parties waging violence and looting on the

Okanagan Trail The Okanagan Trail was an inland route to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush from the Lower Columbia region of the Washington and Oregon Territories in 1858–1859. The route was essentially the same as that used by the Hudson's Bay Company fur brigad ...

, which led from American territory to the Fraser goldfields. Throughout, Kamloops was an important way station on the route of the

Hudson's Bay Brigade Trail The Hudson's Bay Brigade Trail, sometimes referred to simply as the Brigade Trail, refers to one of two routes used by Hudson's Bay Company fur traders to transport furs, goods and supplies between coastal and Columbia District headquarters at Fort ...

, which connected Fort Astoria with

Fort Alexandria Alexandria or Fort Alexandria is a National Historic Site of Canada on the Fraser River in British Columbia, and was the end of the Old Cariboo Road and the Cariboo Wagon Road. It is located on Highway 97, north of 100 Mile House and south of ...

and the other forts in

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

to the north (today's

Omineca Country The Omineca Country, also called the Omineca District or the Omineca, is a historical geographic region of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, roughly defined by the basin of the Omineca River but including areas to the south which allowed ...

, roughly). It was integral during the onset of the

Cariboo Gold Rush The Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Colony of British Columbia, which later joined the Canadian province of British Columbia. The first gold discovery was made at Hills Bar in 1858, followed by more strikes in 1859 on the Horsefly River, ...

as the main route to the new goldfields around what was to become

Barkerville Barkerville was the main town of the Cariboo Gold Rush in British Columbia, Canada, and is preserved as a historic town. It is located on the north slope of the Cariboo Plateau near the Cariboo Mountains east of Quesnel. BC Highway 26, which ...

. The

1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic Year 186 ( CLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Glabrio (or, less frequently, year 939 ''Ab urbe con ...

swept through the Kamloops area during the summer of that year, decimating the Secwepemc, Nlaka'pamux, and other indigenous peoples. They had no acquired immunity. The epidemic had started in

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 ...

and quickly spread throughout British Columbia, especially among First Nations. In June 1862, indigenous people went to Fort Kamloops seeking

smallpox vaccine The smallpox vaccine is the first vaccine to be developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, British physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox ...

, William Manson, chief clerk at the fort, vaccinated numerous persons, but fatalities were extremely high. In late September he reported "smallpox still raging amongst the Indians". In October a newspaper in Victoria reported an eyewitness account from Fort Kamloops, saying

"The Indians have been nearly exterminated at amloops only sixteen have escaped out of a large settlement. Their bodies are strewing the ground in all directions."

About two-thirds of the Secwepemc died during the epidemic. In the aftermath, colonists took over traditional lands of the Secwepemc and many other indigenous groups throughout British Columbia. The gold rush of the 1860s and 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 Canadi ...

, which reached Kamloops from the West in 1885, brought further growth. The City of Kamloops was incorporated in 1893 with a population of about 500. In 1908 due to the

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

Pandemic a sanatorium was opened west of the city named King Edward Memorial Sanatorium, the sanatorium was later acquired by the provincial government in 1921, being renamed to

Tranquille Sanatorium Tranquille Sanatorium was built in 1907 to treat tuberculosis, which was known as the "white plague" back then. It was a ranch beforehand. The BC government bought the land for the sanatorium. As the tuberculosis epidemic was spreading in the 190 ...

, it later closed in 1958. The Tranquille Institution reopened in 1959 to treat people with mental problems it later closed in 1983. In 1967, Kamloops amalgamated with the Town of

North Kamloops North Kamloops is a neighbourhood and former town located in the City of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. It is located immediately to the northwest of Downtown Kamloops across the confluence of the North and South Thompson Rivers. In 2016, N ...

. The logging industry of the 1970s attracted many

Indo-Canadian Indian Canadians are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The terms ''Indo-Canadian'' or ''East Indian'' are sometimes used to avoid confusion with the Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous Peoples of Canada. Categorically, Indian Cana ...

workers to the Kamloops area. They had come mostly from the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

region of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In 1973, Kamloops amalgamated with the Districts of Brocklehurst, Dufferin, the Town of Valleyview, and the

Kamloops Indian Band 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 ...

, and the communities of Dallas, Campbell Creek, Barnhart Vale, Heffley Creek, Rayleigh, Westsyde and Knutsford. In 1976, the Kamloops Indian Band split from the City of Kamloops. In May 2021, an anthropologist announced she had used

ground-penetrating radar Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. It is a non-intrusive method of surveying the sub-surface to investigate underground utilities such as concrete, asphalt, metals, pipes, cables o ...

to find "probable" graves containing the remains of 215 children found at a former Kamloops Indian residential school, part of the

Canadian Indian residential school system In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. The school sy ...

. The story was reported around the world, and five

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

churches in Western Canada were burned down in the weeks following, since the school was operated by a Catholic order. However, this story cannot be completely confirmed until bodies are exhumed.

Etymology

"Kamloops" is the anglicized version of the Shuswap word ''"Tk'əmlúps"'', meaning "meeting of the waters". Shuswap is still spoken in the area by members of the Tk'emlúps Indian Band.Tk'emlúps Indian Band
Tk'emlúps History
2011. Accessed 1 June 2011. An alternate origin sometimes given for the name may have come from the native name's accidental similarity to the French ''"Camp des loups"'', meaning "Camp of Wolves"; many early

fur trader The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

s were ethnic French. There are folk stories about an attack on a traders' camp by a pack of wolves. Other legendary versions recount a huge white wolf, or a pack of wolves and other animals, that were moving overland from the

Nicola Country The Nicola Country, also known as the Nicola Valley and often referred to simply as The Nicola, and originally Nicolas' Country or Nicholas' Country, adapted to Nicola's Country and simplified since, is a region in the Southern Interior of British C ...

and were repelled by a single shot by John Tod, then Chief Trader. This prevented the wolves from attacking the fort and earned Tod a great degree of respect locally.

Geography

Kamloops is in the Thompson Valley and the

Montane Cordillera The Montane Cordillera Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is an ecozone in south-central British Columbia and southwestern Alberta, Canada (an ecozone is equivalent to a Level I ecoregion in the United St ...

Ecozone. The city's centre is in the valley near the confluence of the Thompson River's north and south branches. Suburbs stretch for more than a dozen kilometres along the north and south branches, as well as to the steep hillsides along the south portion of the city and lower northeast hillsides.

Robert W. Service Robert William Service (January 16, 1874 – September 11, 1958) was a British-Canadian poet and writer, often called "the Bard of the Yukon". The middle name 'William' was in honour of a rich uncle. When that uncle neglected to provide for hi ...

in 1904 described Kamloops as his delightful life and wrote "Life was pleasant, and the work was light. At four o'clock we were on our horses, riding over the rolling ridges, or into spectral gulches that rose to ghostlier mountains. It was like the scenery of Mexico, weirdly desolate and aridly morose. A discouraging land, forbidding in its weariness and resigned to ruin."

areas begin just to the northeast of the downtown core but are not within the city limits. As a result of this placement, it is necessary to leave Kamloops' city limits and pass through the band lands before re-entering the city limits to access the northernmost communities of Rayleigh and Heffley Creek. Kamloops is surrounded by the smaller communities of Cherry Creek, Pritchard,

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

, Scotch Creek,

Adams Lake Adams Lake is a large, deep, coldwater lake in British Columbia, Canada; its average depth ranks 6th in the world. The southern end of the lake is approximately north of the town of Chase in the Shuswap Country region of British Columbia. The l ...

Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase Co ...

, Paul Lake, Pinantan and various others.

Neighbourhoods

Officially recognized neighbourhoods within the city of Kamloops. Informally recognized sub-areas are listed beneath the neighbourhoods to which they belong: *

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

**Pacific Way * Barnhartvale * Batchelor Heights **Batchelor Hills **Lac Du Bois * Brocklehurst **Airport Entry Corridor **Brock Centre **North Kamloops West **Ord Road * Campbell Creek *

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

* Downtown **Columbia Precinct **Downtown Core **East End **East Entry Corridor **Waterfront District **West Entry Corridor * Dufferin * Heffley Creek * Iron Mask **Lac Le Jeune * Juniper Ridge *

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census wa ...

* Lower Sahali * Mission Flats * Noble Creek *

**8th St Corridor **Halston Corridor **John Tod **McDonald Park **North Kamloops West **North Shore Town Centre **Schubert Drive **Tranquille Market **Tranquille South * Pineview * Rayleigh * Rose Hill * Sagebrush * Southgate *

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 name c ...

(TRU) * Tranquille * Upper Sahali * Valleyview **Orchard's Walk * West End **College Heights **Guerin Creek **Hudson's Ridge **McIntosh Heights **Powers Addition * Westsyde ** Westmount ** Oak Hills

Climate

The climate of Kamloops is

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

BSk BSK is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to: Sports * OFK Beograd, Serbian football club * FK BSK Borča, Serbian football club * FK BSK Batajnica, Serbian football club * FK BSK Banja Luka, Bosnian-Herzegovinian football club * FK BSK L ...

'') due to its

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is carrie ...

location. Because of milder winters and aridity, the area west of Kamloops in the lower

Thompson River The Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches, the South Thompson River and the North Thompson River. The river ...

valley falls within a

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

(

BWk The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

'') climate. Kamloops gets short cold snaps where temperatures can drop to around when

Arctic air ''Arctic Air'' is a Canadian drama television series that began airing on CBC Television on January 10, 2012. The series was canceled on March 17, 2014, due to government budgetary cuts. Synopsis ''Arctic Air'' is about a Yellowknife-based m ...

manages to cross the

Rockies The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

and

Columbia Mountains The Columbia Mountains are a group of mountain ranges along the upper Columbia River in British Columbia, Montana, Idaho and Washington. The mountain range covers 135,952 km² (52,491 sq mi). The range is bounded by the Rocky Mountain T ...

into the Interior. FraserRiverBritishColumbia Location

Kamloops has the third mildest winter of any non-coastal city in Canada, after

Penticton Penticton ( ) is a city in the Okanagan Valley of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, situated between Okanagan and Skaha lakes. In the 2016 Canadian Census, its population was 33,761, while its census agglomeration The ce ...

and

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� ...

. The January mean temperature is . That average sharply increases with an average maximum temperature of in February. Between November and January the area experiences abundant cloud cover reducing the annual sunshine output, despite very sunny summers. The average number of days where temperatures drop below per year is 19.9 as recorded by

Environment Canada Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC; french: Environnement et Changement climatique Canada),Environment and Climate Change Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of the Environment ( ...

. Although Kamloops is above 50° north latitude, summers are warmer than in many places at lower latitudes, with prevailing dry and sunny weather. Daytime

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

sometimes drops below 20% during dry periods, which allows for substantial nighttime cooling. Occasional summer thunderstorms can create dry-lightning conditions, sometimes igniting forest fires which the area is prone to. Kamloops lies in the rain shadow leeward of the

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains (french: La chaîne Côtière) are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia ...

and is biogeographically connected to similar semi-desert areas in the

Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part ...

region, and a much larger area covering the central/eastern portions of

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 ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and

intermontane Intermontane is a physiographic adjective formed from the prefix " inter-" (''signifying among, between, amid, during, within, mutual, reciprocal'') and the adjective "montane" (inhabiting, or growing in mountainous regions, especially cool, moi ...

areas of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

in the US. These areas of relatively similar climate have many distinctive native plants and animals in common, such as

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

(''Pinus ponderosa''),

big sagebrush ''Artemisia tridentata'', commonly called big sagebrush,MacKay, Pam (2013), ''Mojave Desert Wildflowers'', 2nd ed., , p. 264. Great Basin sagebrush or (locally) simply sagebrush, is an aromatic shrub from the family Asteraceae, which grows in ari ...

(''Artemisia tridentata''), prickly pear cactus (''

Opuntia fragilis ''Opuntia fragilis'', known by the common names brittle pricklypear and little prickly pear, is a prickly pear cactus native to much of western North America as well as some midwestern states such as Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan. It al ...

'' in this case),

rattlesnake Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small anim ...

black widow spider ''Latrodectus'' is a broadly distributed genus of spiders with several species that are commonly known as the true widows. This group is composed of those often loosely called black widow spiders, brown widow spiders, and similar spiders. Howeve ...

s and

Lewis's woodpecker Lewis's woodpecker (''Melanerpes lewis'') is a large North American species of woodpecker which ornithologist Alexander Wilson named after Meriwether Lewis, one of the explorers who surveyed the areas bought by the United States of America as pa ...

. The highest temperature ever recorded in Kamloops was on 29 June 2021, which was the fourth-highest reading ever recorded in Canada, during the notorious 2021 Western North America heat wave. The lowest temperature ever recorded was on 16 and 18 January 1950.

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 ...

, Kamloops had a population of 97,902 living in 39,914 of its 41,619 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 90,280. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. At the

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 sta ...

(CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Kamloops 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.

Religious groups

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Kamloops 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 ...

(57,245 persons or 60.5%) *

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 ...

(31,790 persons or 33.6%) *

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 fro ...

(2,005 persons or 2.1%) *

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 p ...

(995 persons or 1.1%) *

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

(890 persons or 0.9%) *

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 ...

(440 persons or 0.5%) * Indigenous Spirituality (190 persons or 0.2%) *

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 ...

(85 persons or 0.1%)

Ethnicity

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

Chinese Canadians

Kamloops historically had a

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

on Victoria Street where most ethnic Chinese lived. John Stewart of the

Kamloops Museum and Archives The Kamloops Museum and Archives is a museum and archives located in the city of Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. Located at 207 Seymour Street in downtown Kamloops, at the corner of 2nd Avenue. In addition to historical exhibits and educational ...

stated it was not a "true

". It was established by Chinese immigrants by 1887, and by 1890 the community had up to 400 Chinese. Stewart said this was an "amazingly large" population for the rural area. By the 1890s, about 33% of Kamloops were ethnic Chinese; they worked primarily on construction of the

.Hewlett, Jason.
Chinese museum would right historical wrongs, Kamloops group says

Archive
. ''

Times Colonist The ''Times Colonist'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was formed by the Sept. 2, 1980 merger of the ''Victoria Daily Times'', established in 1884, and the ''British Colonist'' (later the ''Daily Co ...

''. 31 October 2013. Retrieved on 26 January 2015. Economic changes in Kamloops resulted in many Chinese seeking work elsewhere. In addition, there were two fires in 1892 and 1893, and a 1911–1914 demolition that dismantled the Chinatown.

Peter Wing Peter Wing (), (May 4, 1914 – December 27, 2007) was a Canadian politician and was the first mayor of Chinese descent in North America. He was born in Kamloops, British Columbia in 1914 and had lived most of his life there. Life In 1910, Wing ...

, the first ethnic Chinese mayor in North America, was elected in 1966 and served three terms as the Mayor of Kamloops. In the 1880s the Kamloops' Chinese Cemetery was founded in Kamloops, the only one in the province dedicated to Chinese pioneers, It is one of the largest cemeteries in the province, but the last interment was made there in the 1960s. In 2013 the provincial government announced it would begin a consultation process to discuss wording of a formal apology to Chinese in B.C. for past wrongs. Joe Leong, president of the Kamloops Chinese Cultural Association, said he believed that the province should build a museum to honour Chinese history in the province, as a way to recognize the contributions of the people. As Kamloops had the only cemetery dedicated to the Chinese pioneers, he felt this city would be an appropriate site for the museum.

Economy

Kamloops' economy includes healthcare, tourism, education, transportation, and natural resource extraction industries. The Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) is the city's largest employer. RIH is the region's acute care and health facility and is one of two tertiary referral hospitals in the Southern Interior with 239 acute beds and an additional 20 more beds upon completion of the expansion in 2016.

(TRU) serves a student body of 25,754 including a diverse international contingent mainly from Asian countries.

Thompson Rivers University, Open Learning Thompson Rivers University, Open Learning (TRU-OL) is a Canadian distance education provider, operating as the Open Learning Division of Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, British Columbia. The Open Learning Division, which is situated ...

(TRU-OL) is the biggest distance education provider in British Columbia and one of the biggest in Canada. Heavy industries in the Kamloops area include primary resource processing such as

Domtar Domtar Corporation is an American company that manufactures and markets wood fiber-based paper and pulp product. The company operates pulp and paper mills in Windsor, Quebec, Dryden, Ontario, Kamloops, British Columbia, Ashdown, Arkansas, Hawesv ...

Kamloops Pulp Mill, Tolko-Heffley Creek Plywood and Veneer, New Gold Inc - New Afton Mine, and Highland Valley Copper Mine (in

Logan Lake Logan Lake is a district municipality in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. History It was founded in the 1960s and 1970s to support copper, molybdenum and other mineral mining operations located south of the town. The Villag ...

). Four major highways join in Kamloops, the BC Highway 1 (

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 ...

), the Coquihalla Highway ( BC highway 5 south of the city), the

Yellowhead Highway The Yellowhead Highway (french: Route Yellowhead) is a major interprovincial highway in Western Canada that runs from Winnipeg to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. It stretches across the four western ...

(BC Highway 5 north of the city) and BC Highway 97, making it a transportation hub and a place which attracts business. There are over 50 trucking and transport companies located in Kamloops that ship across Canada and into the United States. Both the Canadian Pacific Railway and the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

service Kamloops with both lines running through the city.

Tourism

Kamloops welcomed 1.8 million visitors in 2017, a 9% increase from 2015 (1.64 million). Tourism's economic ROI is immense. A$1.8 million destination marketing budget returned $449 million in economic benefit in 2017.The annual Direct Visitor Expenditure is estimated at $270 million, a 19% increase from 2015 ($227 million). Further, the total estimated tourism economic impact was $449 million in 2017, a 32.4% increase from 2015 ($339 million). Tourism generates many types of income for the region, including business income, wage earnings, share earnings, rates and levies. Conservation springs from industry-wide support for management, research and education initiatives that benefit everyone through responsible tourism management. Kamloops has over 50 accommodation choices from major hotels to bed and breakfasts. Accommodation occupancy rates were 61.5% in 2017, up 2.6% from 2016.

Arts and culture

Kamloops culture has grown in recent years to celebrate local talent that includes: culinary arts, sports, live entertainment, and fine art. Kamloops hosts a range of cultural events year-round including: *Kamloops Wine Festival: This annual festival is a fundraiser for the Kamloops Art Gallery. *Kamloops Film Festival: Since 1997, this festival has grown to celebrate international films at Paramount Theatre for ten days in March. *River Beaver Classic: This annual, mountain biking festival hosts four events over one weekend in April with all money raised going to local trail maintenance. *Brewloops Brewloops is a non-profit, beer, food, and bike festival that celebrates Kamloops culture with block parties on The Shore and Downtown throughout the year. *Kamloops International Buskers Festival: This four-day festival takes place throughout Riverside Park and showcases professional buskers from around the globe. *Hot Nite in the City Show 'n' Shine: This weekend-long event takes place every August downtown and showcases Street Rods, Customs, American Muscle, Sport-compact, Electric Vehicles and more. *Kamloops Rotary Ribfest: Western Canada's largest rib festival, Ribfest takes place every August at Riverside Park. By 2018, Kamloops Rotary had raised over $500,000 for local charities. *Salute to the Sockeye Festival: This festival celebrates the return of

sockeye salmon The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a P ...

to the Adams River at

Tsútswecw Provincial Park Tsútswecw Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located northeast of Kamloops and northwest of Salmon Arm. It stretches along the banks of the Adams River, between the south end of Adams Lake and the western portio ...

from the end of September through mid-October each year. *Interior Wellness Festival: Since 2008, this event has promoted healthy living in BC including workshops with yogis, authors, and business experts. *Kamloops Comedy Fest: Canadian comedians take over the microphone for a weekend each October during Kamloops Comedy Fest. *Words Alive Kamloops: Formerly the Kamloops Writers Festival, this annual event features Canadian authors showcasing their work through public readings and events, as well as conducting workshops on a variety of topics.

Performing and fine arts

Kamloops is home to many galleries including nationally recognized Kamloops Art Gallery,

Secwepemc Museum and Heritage Park The Secwepemc Museum and Heritage Park is located in Kamloops, British Columbia. The inside of the museum has four different galleries showcasing the cultural and traditional lives of the Secwepemc People. The Heritage Park consists of a beautiful ...

; the Kamloops Museum and Archives, the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra, and

Western Canada Theatre Western Canada Theatre is a professional theatre company located in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1975 by Tom Kerr under the name Western Canada Youth Theatre. It currently offers seven live performances throughout the s ...

. There are 29 outdoor murals – the Back Alley Art Gallery- throughout downtown Kamloops that the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association has spearheaded since the 2000s. Artists that have contributed to this project include: Zack Abney; Kyleen Cachelin; Evan Christina; Kelly Wright; Ken Wells; Alex Moir-Porteus; Robin Hodgson; Jack Morris; Janice Gurney, and Marianna Abutalipova. Project X Theatre, an outdoor theatre festival located in Kamloops. The company creates a summer outdoor theatre festival in Prince Charles Park, just east of Downtown Kamloops. Established in 2006, Project X Theatre originally produced productions of Shakespeare, however, recently the company has shifted over to more family friendly shows. Randi Edmundson is the current Artistic Director. Previous artistic directors include Samantha Mcdonanld, Derek Rein, Heather Cant, Melissa purcha, and Dušan Magdolen. The

is a professional theatre company located in Kamloops. The company manages and performs in two spaces: the 706 seat Sagebrush Theatre and the 150-seat Pavilion Theatre. James MacDonald is the current artistic director of the theatre company. Previous artistic directors include Tom Kerr (founder), Frank Glassen, David Ross, Michael Dobbin, John Cooper, Jeremy Tow, and Daryl Cloran.

Attractions

Popular attractions include: the Adams River Sockeye Salmon Run; Kamloops Bike Ranch; BC Wildlife Park;

Kamloops Heritage Railway The Kamloops Heritage Railway is a heritage railway in Kamloops, British Columbia. The railway operates throughout the year running trains within Kamloops. The train is pulled by restored steam locomotive Canadian National Railway 2141, the "S ...

; Kamloops Wine Trail; Secwepemc Museum, and

Since 2012, four wineries have been established in the Thompson Valley wine region including: Sagewood Winery; Harper's Trail Winery; Monte Creek Ranch Winery, and Privato Vineyard and Winery. Since 2010, five micro-breweries have opened up in Kamloops including: Noble Pig Brewhouse; Red Collar Brewing, Alchemy Brewing, Bright Eye Brewing and Iron Road Brewing. Since 2020, some craft distilleries have opened up in Kamloops including: Route 1 Distillery

Food and drink

Since 2007, Chefs in the City has been established as a "celebration of culinary arts, fine wine and beer from Kamloops and the surrounding region." In 2018, 21 local restaurants will have participated, as well as 10 local wineries and breweries. This annual event is presented by the Rotary Club of Kamloops and has raised over $325,000 since 2007. Kamloops is emerging as an award-winning wine region with a climate perfect for growing grapes. It is home to four award-winning wineries: Harper's Trail, Monte Creek Ranch, Privato and Sagewood. Kamloops has over 120 acres under vine. The top grapes planted by local wineries are

Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

pinot gris Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio (, ) or Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the gra ...

pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being us ...

Marechal Foch Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Art ...

and Marquette. Since 1998, the Kamloops Wine Festival has taken place in the spring as a fundraiser to support the Kamloops Art Gallery. The Kamloops Wine Festival had raised over $200,000 by 2018. In 2014, Brewloops Beer Festival was established as a non-profit organization that promotes Kamloops culture across the city throughout the year. Brewloops celebrates BC

craft beer Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

, music, and entertainment with the wider Kamloops community and had donated $27,000 to community groups by 2018. Bands that have performed at Brewloops include: Delhi 2 Dublin,

Yukon Blonde Yukon Blonde is a Canadian indie rock band originally from Kelowna, British Columbia.Derdeyn, Stuart (April 22, 2010).Yukon Blonde feels the love: Indie band adding plenty of fans on cross-country tour", ''Ottawa Citizen''. Retrieved May 5, 2010. ...

, and at Mission Dolores.

Recreation

Kamloops is an outdoor mecca for activities like hiking and mountain biking with an extensive trail network for year-round adventure. Multiple nearby lakes offer paddling, kayaking and fishing. Known as the ''Tournament Capital of Canada,'' Kamloops has hosted many tournaments and is home to a range of professional athletes from many sports. Kamloops has the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame, which includes

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

bronze medallist

Dylan Armstrong Dylan Armstrong (born January 15, 1981) is a Canadian shot putter. He is a two-time Pan American Games champion, a former Commonwealth Games champion and has also won world championship silver and bronze medals. He was awarded the bronze medal ...

and the National Finalist Roma's soccer team.

Fishing

With 100 lakes within an hour's drive, Kamloops has some of the best freshwater fishing in North America. Every year, the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC stocks lakes in the Thompson-Nicola region with roughly 1,000,000 fish including

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

, and

kokanee salmon The kokanee salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also known as the kokanee trout, little redfish, silver trout, kikanning, Kennerly's salmon, Kennerly's trout, or Walla, is the non-anadromous form of the sockeye salmon (meaning that they do not migrat ...

. Kamloops is known for its professional anglers including Brian Chan, Jordan Oelrich, and Brennan Lund. Fishing guides in the Kamloops area include: DNA Fly Fishing; Interior Fly Fishing; Maricle Fly Fishing; Riseform Flyfishing; and Fast Action Fishing Adventures.

Mountain biking

Kamloops' extensive trail network and desert-like climate creates world-class conditions for year-round

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

across the city. Popular parks include the Kamloops Bike Ranch, Pineview Valley; Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area, and Kenna Cartwright Park. Two time UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships – Women's cross-country (

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

), gold at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

and

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

bronze medallist Catharine Pendrel lives and trains in Kamloops. Kamloops is home to world-famous mountain bikers such as freeride pioneers and Mountain Bike Hall of Fame members Wade Simmons, Brett Tippie, (also a former Canadian National Team member for snowboard cross and giant slalom), and Richie Schley. Freeriders Matt Hunter, and Graham Agassiz also live in Kamloops. Kamloops was featured in the first mountain bike film by

Greg Stump Greg Stump is an American champion skier, ski and snowboarding filmmaker, and music video director. Early ski career Born in San Diego, his family then moved to Maine where Greg learned to ski at nearby Pleasant Mountain (now Shawnee Peak). He ...

, ''Pulp Traction'', and later the first three '' Kranked'' films, which starred the original Fro Riders, Tippie, Simmons and Schley. Ongoing trail maintenance has been spearheaded by local organizations such as the Kamloops Bike Riders Association, Kamloops Performance Cycling Centre, and Dirt Chix Kamloops.

Golf

Kamloops has highest number of golf courses (13) per capita in Canada and boasts one of Canada's most diverse golf landscapes. Golfers enjoy three seasons of golf due to the dry and hot climate of the area. Several of the local golf courses have been designed by famous golf architects such as

Robert Trent Jones Robert Trent Jones Sr. (June 20, 1906 – June 14, 2000) was a British–American golf course architect who designed or re-designed more than 500 golf courses in 45 U.S. states and 35 countries. In reference to this, Jones took pride in sayi ...

, Graham Cooke, and

Tom McBroom Thomas McBroom, (born September 17, 1952) is a Canadian golf course architect. McBroom is the principal and founder of Thomas McBroom Associates Ltd., a Toronto-based landscape architecture firm specializing in golf course design. McBroom holds a ...

. The 13 courses include: Tobiano Golf Course; The Dunes, Talking Rock Golf Course; Pineridge Golf Course; Rivershore Estates; Big Horn Golf & Country Club; Kamloops Golf & Country Club; Sun Peaks Golf; Eagle Point Golf Course; Mount Paul Golf Course, and Chinook Cove Golf.

Skiing

Sun Peaks Resort is a nearby ski and snowboard hill. Olympic medallist skier Nancy Greene Raine is director of skiing at Sun Peaks and the former chancellor of Thompson Rivers University. The Overlander Ski Club runs the Stake Lake

cross country ski Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

area with of trails. Lacrosse teams include the

Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League The Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League (TOJLL) is one of two Junior B Tier 1 box lacrosse leagues sanctioned by the British Columbia Lacrosse Association in British Columbia, Canada. The league champion competes for the British Columbia Ju ...

's Kamloops Junior B Venom, as well as the

junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

team the

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

. Also calling Kamloops home is 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 ...

Kamloops Broncos The Kamloops Broncos are a Canadian Junior football team based in Kamloops, British Columbia. The Broncos play in the six-team B.C. Football Conference (BCFC), which is part of the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) and competes annually for t ...

, and

Pacific Coast Soccer League The Pacific Coast Soccer League is an amateur soccer league, currently featuring teams from British Columbia. In the past clubs from Washington and Oregon have competed. PCSL is considered to be British Columbia's premier summer league. The ...

's Kamloops Excel, both of whom play at

Hillside Stadium Hillside Stadium is a multi-purpose, fully lit stadium located next to Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. It is the home of the Thompson Rivers WolfPack, Kamloops Broncos of the Canadian Junior Football League, and the Kaml ...

Other recreation

The Kamloops Rotary Skatepark at McArthur Island Park is one of Canada's largest skateboard parks. Also located at McArthur Island Park is

NorBrock Stadium NorBrock Stadium is a professional-sized baseball field located at the McArthur Island Park in Kamloops, British Columbia, in Canada. It was built as a Canadian Centennial, 1967 Canada Centennial project and seats approximately 1,500 spectators. ...

, the McArthur Island Sports and Events Centre and the McArthur Island Curling Club. The city boasts 82 parks which are great for hiking, including Kenna Cartwright Park, the largest municipal park in British Columbia.

Sports

Hockey

Kamloops is home to 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 h ...

Kamloops Blazers The Kamloops Blazers are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team plays in the B.C. Division of the Western Conference, is based out of Kamloops, British Columbia, and play home games at Sandman Centre. The Blazers o ...

who play at the

Sandman Centre The Sandman Centre (formerly known as Riverside Coliseum and Interior Savings Centre) is a 5,464-seat multi-purpose arena in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. It is home to the Kamloops Blazers Ice hockey team. The arena is owned by The City of ...

. Alumni of the Kamloops Blazers include

Mark Recchi Mark Louis Recchi (; born February 1, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former assistant coach. Recchi played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, ...

Jarome Iginla Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla (; born July 1, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. He played over 1500 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Br ...

Darryl Sydor Darryl Marion Sydor (born May 13, 1972) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey defenceman. He won two Stanley Cups during his career: with the Dallas Stars in 1999, and with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. He also reached the Sta ...

, Nolan Baumgartner,

Shane Doan Shane Albert Doan (born October 10, 1976) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player currently serving as chief hockey development officer for the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Doan spent the entir ...

Scott Niedermayer Scott Niedermayer (born August 31, 1973) is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman and current special assignment coach of the Anaheim Ducks. He played 18 seasons and over 1,000 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devi ...

, Rudy Poeschek and

Darcy Tucker Darcy Tucker (born March 15, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played most of his National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Toronto Maple Leafs. A sixth round draft choice, Tucker began his NHL career with the Mon ...

(Recchi, Doan, Iginla, and Sydor are now part-owners of the club). Two-time champion coach Ken Hitchcock would later win the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

with the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

. Kamloops is also the hometown of 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Champion and current defenceman for the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

, Joe Hicketts. On 6 February 2016, Kamloops hosted ''

Hockey Day in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its his ...

'' with Ron MacLean and

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

Sports tournaments

Kamloops hosted the 1993

Canada Summer Games The Canada Games (french: Jeux du Canada) is a multi-sport event held every two years, alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. They represent the highest level of national competition for Canadian athletes. Two ...

. It co-hosted (with

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 ...

and

) the

IIHF World Junior Championship The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or simply the "World Juniors" in ice hockey circles, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is t ...

from 26 December 2005 to 5 January 2006. It hosted the 2006

BC Summer Games The BC Summer Games are an amateur sporting event held every year biennially in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The next games are scheduled to be held in Prince George in July 2022. See also * BC Games **BC Winter Games *Canada Games ...

and 2018

BC Winter Games The BC Winter Games are an amateur sporting event held in British Columbia, Canada on every other (even-numbered) year. The next BC Winter Games are scheduled to be held in Greater Vernon, BC from March 23 to 26, 2023. History The BC Games d ...

. In the summer of 2008, Kamloops, and its modern facility the

played host to the U15 boys and girls Basketball National Championship. Kamloops hosted the World Masters Indoor Championships in March 2010. Kamloops hosted the 2011

Western Canada Summer Games The Western Canada Summer Games (WCSG) were established in 1975 as a multi-sport event to provide development opportunities for amateur athletes and to help them advance their skills in a competitive, but friendly environment. Athletes range in ...

. Kamloops hosted the 2014 Tim Hortons Brier (The Canadian Men's Curling Championships). Kamloops hosted the

edition of the

4 Nations Cup The 4 Nations Cup is an annual women's ice hockey tournament, held between four major national teams in the sport; currently, these are Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland. Until 2000, when Sweden joined, the tournament was the 3 Nation ...

Government

Elections into the municipality in Kamloops are held with the rest of the province every four years. Provincially, Kamloops is considered to be

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...

, having voted for the governing party in every provincial election since the introduction of parties to British Columbian elections, until 2017. By contrast, Kamloops has regularly voted against the party in power federally until the 2006 Federal election. Kamloops is represented in two provincial ridings –

Kamloops-South Thompson Kamloops-South Thompson is a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, established by the '' Electoral Districts Act, 2008''. It was first contested in the 2009 general election. Geography As of the 2020 provincial election, ...

and

Kamloops-North Thompson Kamloops-North Thompson is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was formerly considered a political bellwether for the next provincial government, having swung to the governing party ever ...

– and one federal riding –

Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo (formerly known as Kamloops—Thompson) is a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. While the riding covers ...

. * Mayor – Reid Hamer-Jackson, 2022 * Members of the Legislative Assembly: **

Todd Stone Todd Graham Stone (born 1972) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2013 provincial election. He represents the electoral district of Kamloops-South Thompson as a member of the Britis ...

, Kamloops-South Thompson **

Peter Milobar Peter Gordon Milobar (born February 13, 1970) is a Canadian politician serving as an MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia) from Kamloops. Milobar was elected in the 2017 provincial election

, Kamloops-North Thompson Federal members of parliament: * Cathy McLeod (2008–present)

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

* Betty Hinton (2000–2008)

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...

and Conservative Party of Canada *

Nelson Riis Nelson Andrew Riis (born January 10, 1942) is a Canadian businessman and former politician and New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament (MP). Career A geographer and teacher by profession, Riis taught in public schools and at the post ...

(1980–2000)

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

* Don Cameron (1979–1980)

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...

Leonard Marchand Leonard Stephen "Len" Marchand, (November 16, 1933 – June 3, 2016) was a Canadian politician. He was the first person of First Nations status to serve in the federal cabinet, after being the first Status Indian elected and serving as a Memb ...

(1968–1979)

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

Infrastructure

Transportation

Kamloops is located at the crossroads of the

Coquihalla Highway Coquihalla may refer to: *British Columbia Highway 5, also known as Coquihalla highway * Coquihalla River * Coquihalla Pass * Okanagan—Coquihalla, a federal electoral district in British Columbia * Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park *Coquihalla Ri ...

, and

and is a transportation hub in the region. The

Canadian Pacific 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 ...

(CPR) and Canadian National (CNR) mainline routes connect

in the west with Kamloops. The two railways diverge to the north and east where they connect with the rest of Canada. Kamloops North station is served three times per week (in each direction) by

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

's ''

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

''. The

Rocky Mountaineer Rocky Mountaineer is a Canadian rail-tour company based in Vancouver that operates luxury scenic trains on four rail routes in British Columbia, Alberta, Colorado, and Utah. History Via Rail Canada The Rocky Mountaineer concept was created b ...

and the

both use the Kamloops station. Kamloops is home to

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 So ...

(YKA). Airlines flying to Kamloops include:

Air Canada Express Air Canada Express is a brand name of regional feeder flights for Air Canada that are subcontracted to other airlines. As of March 2021, Jazz Aviation is the sole operator of Air Canada Express. They primarily connect smaller cities with Air Cana ...

WestJet Encore WestJet Encore is a Canadian regional airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta that operates feeder flights for WestJet, owned by the same parent company WestJet Airlines, Ltd. In response to internal market studies about future growth limita ...

Canadian North Bradley Air Services, operating as Canadian North, is a wholly Inuit-owned airline headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, Canada. It operates scheduled passenger services to communities in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Nunavik region o ...

, and Central Mountain Air, as well as three cargo airlines. Vancouver and Calgary are primary routes for passenger service to this regional airport. In 2018,

Air Canada Rouge Air Canada Rouge, ''Rouge'' meaning "red" in French, is a subsidiary of Air Canada. It is fully integrated into the Air Canada mainline and Air Canada Express networks; flights are sold with AC flight numbers but are listed as "operated by Ai ...

launched non-stop seasonal service from Kamloops to Toronto.

Greyhound Canada Greyhound Canada Transportation ULC began as a local British Columbia bus line in the early 1920s, expanded across most of Canada, and became a subsidiary of the US Greyhound in 1940. In 2018, Greyhound pulled out of Western Canada, preserving ...

previously connected Kamloops with Vancouver,

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, with service ending at the end of October 2018. After Greyhound's departure, several companies stepped in and commenced intercity service. Ebus and Rider Express both provide service to Vancouver and in between cities and towns, with Ebus connecting to other Interior cities like Kelowna and Vernon, and Rider Express continuing east to Calgary. Local bus service is provided by Kamloops Transit System and funded through

BC Transit BC Transit is a provincial crown corporation responsible for coordinating the delivery of public transportation within British Columbia, Canada, outside Greater Vancouver. BC Transit is headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia. In , the syst ...

with 14 routes across the Kamloops area that are operated by contractor First Student Canada. In 2018, the City of Kamloops partnered with the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc to expand its services on Tk'emlups te Secwepemc land for Route 18: Mount Paul.

Education

Residential School

The

Kamloops Indian Residential School The Kamloops Indian Residential School was part of the Canadian Indian residential school system. Located in Kamloops, British Columbia, it was once the largest residential school in Canada, with its enrolment peaking at 500 in the 1950s. The sc ...

, part of the

opened in 1893 and ran until 1977. In May 2021, the possible remains of 200 children were detected in the graveyard soil by ground penetrating radar at the site of the school. The remains were located with the assistance of

, and work was underway to determine if related records about the identities of the dead are held at the

Royal British Columbia Museum Founded in 1886, the Royal British Columbia Museum (sometimes referred to as Royal BC Museum) consists of The Province of British Columbia's natural and human history museum as well as the British Columbia Provincial Archives. The museum is loca ...

. In a statement released by the

First Nations Health Authority The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) is a health service delivery organization responsible for administering a variety of health programs and service for First Nations people living in BC. Overview The FNHA is part of a First Nations Health ...

, CEO Richard Jock said: "That this situation exists is sadly not a surprise and illustrates the damaging and lasting impacts that the residential school system continues to have on First Nations people, their families and communities."

K-12

Public schools in Kamloops and adjacent communities are run by

School District 73 Kamloops/Thompson School District 73 Kamloops/Thompson a school district based in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. The school board serves the city of Kamloops and the communities of Chase, Barriere, Clearwater, Logan Lake Logan Lake is a district muni ...

. Private schools include Kamloops Christian School, Our Lady of Perpetual Help School (Catholic), and St. Ann's Academy (Catholic). 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 i ...

operates école Collines-d’or, a Francophone primary school.

Post-secondary

offers a range of undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as certificate and diploma programs. It has

satellite campus A satellite campus or branch campus or regional campus is a campus of a university or college that is physically at a distance from the original university or college area. This branch campus may be located in a different city, state, or countr ...

es in: *

Clearwater Clearwater or Clear Water may refer to: Places Canada * Clear Water Academy, a private Catholic school located in Calgary, Alberta * Clearwater (provincial electoral district), a former provincial electoral district in Alberta * Clearwater, Briti ...

* Barriere *

* Williams Lake * 100 Mile House * Cache Creek *

Ashcroft Ashcroft may refer to: Places * Ashcroft, British Columbia, a village in Canada **Ashcroft House in Bagpath, Gloucestershire, England—eponym of the Canadian village * Ashcroft, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia * Ashcroft, Colorado, ...

Lillooet Lillooet () is a district municipality in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. The town is on the west shore of the Fraser River immediately north of the Seton River mouth. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road abou ...

Thompson Rivers University also has an open-learning division.

(TRU-OL) is the biggest distance and

online education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

provider in British Columbia and one of the biggest in Canada. The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack are the athletic teams that represent Thompson Rivers University. Thompson Career College and

Sprott Shaw College Sprott Shaw College is a private Canadian college, headquartered in British Columbia. Sprott Shaw offers programs in areas such as Healthcare and Nursing, Business, Administration, Trades, Design, Human and Social Services, and Early Childho ...

are private post-secondary institutions with campuses in Kamloops.

Media

The city's main daily newspaper was '' The Kamloops Daily News'' which ceased publication in 2014. The city is also home to ''

Kamloops This Week ''Kamloops This Week'' is a local newspaper in Kamloops, British Columbia, founded in 1988. The newspaper has won numerous awards. Published Wednesdays only due to COVID-19. See also *List of newspapers in Canada This list of newspapers in Ca ...

'', a free newspaper which publishes three times a week.

Notable people

Below is a list of people who are from Kamloops, or who lived there for an extended period.

Historical figures

* Edward Bellew, 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 ...

. *

Jim Chamberlin James Arthur Chamberlin (May 23, 1915 – March 8, 1981) was a Canadian engineer who contributed to the design of the Canadian Avro Arrow, NASA's Gemini spacecraft and the Apollo program. In addition to his pioneering air and space efforts, he ...

, aerodynamicist, who contributed to the design of the Canadian

Avro Arrow The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was a delta-winged interceptor aircraft designed and built by Avro Canada. The CF-105 held the promise of Mach 2 speeds at altitudes exceeding and was intended to serve as the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) p ...

;

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Project Mercury Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...

Project Gemini Project Gemini () was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and 16 individual ...

and the Apollo program. * Kanao Inouye, the notorious "Kamloops Kid", the first of the two Canadians ever convicted of war crimes. * Allan McLean, son of Donald McLean and leader of the outlaw gang known as the Wild McLean Boys. * Donald McLean, former Chief Trader of Fort Kamloops and one of the casualties of the

Chilcotin War The Chilcotin War, the Chilcotin Uprising or the Bute Inlet Massacre was a confrontation in 1864 between members of the Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) people in British Columbia and white road construction workers. Fourteen men employed by Alfred Wadd ...

. * Frank Robert Miller, former deputy minister of the

National Defence National security, or national defence, is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as p ...

. *

Chief Nicola Nicola ( – ) (Spokan language, Spokan: ''Hwistesmetxe'qen'', ''Walking Grizzly Bear''), also Nkwala or N'kwala, was an important First Nations in British Columbia, First Nations political figure in the North American fur trade, fur trade era of th ...

, conjoint chief of the

Nicolas Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

and the Kamloops Secwepemc during the fur trade and gold rush eras. *

Johnny Ussher John Tannatt Ussher, usually known as Johnny Ussher, was a settler, provincial magistrate and Gold Commissioner in the Thompson Country of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada in the 1870s. John Tannatt Ussher was the son of Samuel ...

, settler, provincial magistrate and gold commissioner (killed by Allan McLean). *

Mark Sweeten Wade Mark Sweeten Wade (November 23, 1858 – 1929) was a medical doctor and noted historian of early British Columbia history. A doctor at the Kamloops Home for Men in the 1920s, he was able to interview many veterans of the province's early gold rush ...

, medical doctor, newspaperman and historian.

Politicians

* Jack Davis, politician who was elected to both the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

and

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

. *

Jodie Emery Jodie Emery (born January 4, 1985) is a Canadian cannabis rights Legality of cannabis, activist and politician. She is the spouse of fellow activist Marc Emery. Until the business was shut down by police, the couple were co-owners of Cannabis Cu ...

– marijuana activist and politician. * John L. Frazer, politician: member of the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

from 1993 to 1997. *

Davie Fulton Edmund Davie Fulton, (March 10, 1916 – May 22, 2000) was a Canadian Rhodes Scholar, politician and judge. He was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, the son of politician/lawyer Frederick John Fulton and Winnifred M. Davie, daughter of ...

, politician: member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1945 to 1963, and 1965 to 1968. Son of Frederick John Fulton. *

Frederick John Fulton Frederick John Fulton, KC (December 8, 1862 – July 25, 1936) was a British-born and educated Canadian lawyer and politician. He practiced law in Kamloops, British Columbia. He was a member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly fr ...

, British born politician and lawyer, father of Davie Fulton. *

Phil Gaglardi Philip Arthur Gaglardi (January 13, 1913 – September 23, 1995), sometimes known as Flying Phil, was a politician in the Canadian province of British Columbia. He is best known for his service as Minister of Highways in the BC government fro ...

, aka Flying Phil, former Provincial Minister of Highways and Mayor of the city. *

, QPC, CM, the first person of

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

ethnicity to serve in the federal cabinet and the first

Status Indian The Indian Register is the official record of people registered under the ''Indian Act'' in Canada, called status Indians or ''registered Indians''. People registered under the ''Indian Act'' have rights and benefits that are not granted to othe ...

to serve as a member of parliament. *

, former Kamloops Teacher, Professor, alderman and Director of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, longtime federal MP for Kamloops. *

, North America's first elected mayor of Chinese descent, elected in 1966 and served three terms in Kamloops.

Athletes

* Graham Agassiz, freeride mountain biker, bronze medal at

Red Bull Rampage The Red Bull Rampage is an invitation-only freeride mountain bike competition held near Zion National Park in Virgin, Utah, United States, just to the north of Gooseberry Mesa. From 2001 till 2004, it was held off the Kolob Terrace Road, on the ...

2015. *

, Olympic

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

ter who finished 4th in the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

but subsequently was awarded the bronze medal in 2015 after the 3rd place putter

Andrei Mikhnevich Andrei Anatolyevich Mikhnevich ( be, Андрэй Анатолевіч Міхневіч, Andrej Michnievič, russian: Андрей Анатольевич Михневич; born 12 July 1976 in Babruysk) is a Belarusian shot putter with a personal ...

from Belarus tested positive for drugs post 2008 Olympics. *

Don Ashby Donald Allan Ashby (March 8, 1955 – May 30, 1981) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played six seasons in the National Hockey League from 1975–76 until 1980–81. Early life and career Ashby was born in Kamloops, British Co ...

, former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) ice hockey player. *

Murray Baron Murray McElwain Roy Baron (born June 1, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Phoenix Coyotes, and ...

, former NHL ice hockey player. *

Mitch Berger Mitchell Shannon Berger (born June 24, 1972) is a Canadian former American football punter. He played college football at Colorado and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round of the 1994 NFL Draft. Berger has also been a memb ...

, former

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) player. *

Rick Boh John Richard Boh (born May 18, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He played eight games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in ...

, former NHL ice hockey player. *

Corryn Brown Corryn Cecile Brown (born July 19, 1995) is a Canadian curler from British Columbia. She currently skips her own team out of Kamloops. Career She was the skip of the winning team at the 2013 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, and repres ...

, Canadian curler, skip of the

2013 Canadian Junior Curling Championships The 2013 M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships were held from January 31 to February 10 at the Suncor Community Leisure Centre at MacDonald Island Park and at the Oilsands Curling Club in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Alberta last hosted t ...

winning rink,

2012 Winter Youth Olympics The 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games (german: Olympische Jugend-Winterspiele 2012), officially known as the I Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG), were an international multi-sport event for youths that took place in Innsbruck, Austria, on 13–22 J ...

bronze medallist. * Jim Cotter, Canadian curler, 2013 Olympic Trials runner up, 2014 Tim Hortons Brier silver medallist. *

Craig Endean Craig Thomas Endean (born April 13, 1968) is a Canadian former professional National Hockey League left winger. In the 1986–87 NHL season, he played two games for the Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based ...

, former NHL ice hockey player. * Todd Esselmont, ice and roller hockey player. * Erin Gammel, is a swimmer who competed at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. * Stu Grimson, former NHL ice hockey player. *

Don Hay Don Hay (born February 13, 1954) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and National Hockey League head coach. As a player, Hay played shortly in the International Hockey League before becoming a three-time Memorial Cup-winning co ...

, former NHL head coach. * Jessica Hewitt, short track speed skater, silver medallist at the

2014 Sochi Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. * Joe Hicketts, 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Champion, Detroit Red Wings defenceman. * Murray Kennett, is a former

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

(WHA) ice hockey player. *

Doug Lidster John Douglas Andrew Lidster (born October 18, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was an assistant coach for the Vancouver Canucks until the end of the 2016-2017 season. ...

, former NHL ice hockey player. * John Ludvig, professional ice hockey player *

Bert Marshall Albert Leroy "Moose" Marshall (born November 22, 1943) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Oakland Seals/California Golden Seals, New York Rangers and New Yo ...

, former NHL ice hockey player. * Spencer McLennan, Former

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) player. *

Don Moen Donald James Moen (born June 29, 1950) is an American singer, pianist, and songwriter of Christian worship music. Early and personal life Moen grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he attended high school in 1968. Moen attended Oral Rob ...

, Former CFL football player. * Josie Morrison, Canadian speedskater, 2018 Winter Olympian. *

Bob Mowat Bob Mowat (born October 5, 1949) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. Mowat played one season in World Hockey Association for the Phoenix Roadrunners during the 1974–75 WHA season. He was born in Kamloops, British Columb ...

, former WHA ice hockey player. *

Brendon Nash Brendon Gregory Nash (born March 31, 1987) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. ...

, former NHL ice hockey player *

Riley Nash Riley Nash (born May 9, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL). He was originally selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, 21st over ...

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

NHL hockey player *

Shane Niemi Shane Niemi (born June 2, 1978, in Kamloops, British Columbia is a retired Canadian sprints athlete. As a 17 year old he took the bronze medal in the 400 metres at the 1995 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships behind Obea Moore's then ...

, is a Canadian sprinter. *

Kelly Olynyk Kelly Tyler Olynyk ( ; born April 19, 1991) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs, where he earned NCAA All-American ho ...

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

and Canada international basketball player. *

Paul Osbaldiston Paul Osbaldiston (born April 27, 1964) is a former punter and placekicker for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League from 1986-2003. He was the Assistant Special Teams/Kicking Coach for the Tiger-Cats until 2014. Osbaldiston w ...

, former CFL football player. * Catharine Pendrel, cross country mountain biker, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, 2011 and 2014 World Champion * Rudy Poeschek, former

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

player. *

Kevin Powell Kevin Powell (born April 24, 1966) is an American writer, activist, and television personality. Powell is the author of 14 books, including ''The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy's Journey into Manhood'' and ''When We Free the World'' publis ...

, former CFL football player. * Nancy Greene Raine, named Canada's Athlete of the Century in 1999, Olympic skier who won gold for Canada in 1968, and 13 World Cups (the Canadian record) for a total of 17 Canadian Title Championships. *

, former NHL ice hockey player, three time

champion (1991, 2006, 2011), and member of the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

* Justin Ring, former CFL football player * Peter Soberlak, former

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) professional ice hockey player. * Dave Vankoughnett, former CFL football player. * Tim Watters, former NHL ice hockey player.

Arts, culture and media

Benjamin Ayres Benjamin James Ayres (born January 19, 1983) is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Dr. Zach Miller of the CTV series ''Saving Hope''. He also recurred on the Gemini Award–winning HBO Canada series ''Less Than Kind'' for which he ...

, actor, born in Kamloops. *

Dan Bremnes Daniel Jobiah Bremnes (born May 11, 1983) is a Canadian Christian musician, guitarist, and drummer. He released four studio albums, ''Your Strength'' (2010), '' Where the Light Is'' (2015), '' Wherever I Go'' (2019), and ''Into the Wild'' (2022) ...

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely around ...

ian, born in Kamloops. * Steven Galloway, novelist, was raised in Kamloops. *

Elise Gatien Elise Gatien (born July 14, 1988) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Candice "CJ" Ward in the Cartoon Network live-action series ''Tower Prep''. Life and career Gatien was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. She is of ...

, actress. *

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...

, actor, joined the Jeanne Russell theatre company in Kamloops in September 1911. *

Chris Masuak Christopher William Masuak (born 1959) is a Canadian-born Australian musician, guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He joined the punk rock group, Radio Birdman (1976–78, 1995–96, 1997, 2005–07), then the hard rockers, the Hitmen ( ...

, punk rock singer-songwriter, inducted into the

ARIA Hall of Fame In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...

, born in Kamloops – lived in Brocklehurst (North Kamloops) in the 1960s. Now resides in Spain. *

John Pozer John Pozer is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and editor. He has had two independent features selected to the Cannes International Film Festival and directed a slate of episodic television, both live action and animation. Biogra ...

, award-winning filmmaker. *

, poet and writer known for his ballads depicting the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897, he worked at Kamloops branch of the

Canadian Bank of Commerce The Canadian Bank of Commerce was a Canadian bank which was founded in 1867, and had hundreds of branches throughout Canada. It merged in 1961 with the Imperial Bank of Canada to form the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. History In 1866 a ...

from July to December 1904 before being transferred to Whitehorse.Sam Holloway,
Robert Service and Destiny
" ''The Yukoner Magazine''. Web, Accessed 2008.11.19. *

Michael Shanks Michael Garrett Shanks (born December 15, 1970) is a Canadian actor, writer and director. He is best known for his role as Daniel Jackson in the long-running military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1'' and as Charles Harris on ...

, actor, born in Vancouver, but grew up in Kamloops. * Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, First Nations painter. * Lil Woodie Wood Music Producer, Rapper, Entrepreneur * Melissa Endean, country music artist, born and raised in Kamloops.

Other notable people

* Nadine Caron, first female First Nations surgeon. *

Andrew Collier Vice Admiral Andrew Laurence Collier (June 3, 1924 – January 3, 1987) was a Canadian Forces officer who served as Commander Maritime Command from 14 June 1977 to 30 June 1979. Early years Collier was born in Kamloops and raised in Salmon A ...

Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy The Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy ( French: ''Commandant de la Marine royale canadienne'') is the institutional head of the Royal Canadian Navy. This appointment also includes the title Chief of the Naval Staff and is based at National D ...

. * Patrick Crawford, tech entrepreneur and NASA research collaborator. * Vivian Dowding, leading birth control activist. * Mildred Gottfriedson, first First Nations individual inducted into the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

and founding member of the B.C. Native Women's Society. *

Lesra Martin Lesra Martin (born April 11, 1963) is an American-Canadian lawyer, motivational speaker and writer. He is perhaps best known for helping to bring about the release of former boxer Rubin "The Hurricane" Carter. Background Martin was born into ...

, resident lawyer who helped with Rubin "The Hurricane" Carter's prison release. * Lt. Col. J.R.O. Vicars, (1855-1929) 172nd Battalion (Rocky Mountain Rangers) Canadian Expeditionary Force, Land Surveyor, civil servant. * R. H. (Bob) Allan, (1914-1984), Rocky Mountain Rangers, North Nova Scotia Highlanders, fly fisherman, naturalist & Fireman.

Planetary nomenclature

Mars KAMLOOPS Galle Craters Argyre Planitia

The city's name has been given to a crater on the surface of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

. Crater Kamloops was officially adopted by the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

's Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (IAU/WGPSN) in 1991. The crater lies at 53.8° south latitude and 32.6° west longitude, with a diameter of .

Sister cities

Uji is a city on the southern outskirts of the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Founded on March 1, 1951, Uji is between the two ancient capitals of Nara and Kyoto. The city sits on the Uji River, which has its source in Lake Biwa. ...

, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan *

Bacolod Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod (; hil, Dakbanwa/Syudad sang Bacolod; fil, Lungsod ng Bacolod), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the region of Western Visayas, Philippines. It is the capital of the province of Negros Occidenta ...

Negros Occidental Negros Occidental ( hil, Nakatungdang Negros; tl, Kanlurang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Occidental, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region. ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

In popular culture

In "Cementhead," a 1989 episode of the television series '' Booker'', the

titular Titular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Title character in a narrative work, the character referred to in its title Religion * Titular (Catholicism), a cardinal who holds a titulus, one of the main churches of Rome ** Titular bisho ...

detective (played by

Richard Grieco Richard John Grieco Jr. (born March 23, 1965) is an American actor and former fashion model. He played Detective Dennis Booker in the popular Fox series ''21 Jump Street'' (1988–89) and its spin-off ''Booker'' (1989–90). He has also starre ...

) tracks a capricious professional hockey player (Stephen Shellen) back to his hometown of Kamloops. Kamloops and surrounding areas have been used for various Hollywood films such as ''

An Unfinished Life ''An Unfinished Life'' is a 2005 American drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, and based on the Mark Spragg novel of the same name. The film stars Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez, and Morgan Freeman. It is the story of a gruff Wyoming rancher ...

'', ''

The A Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court marti ...

'', ''

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

'', '' The Pledge'', ''

Shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, Bow and arrow, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or Blowgun, blowpipe). Even the acts of launching Flamethrower, flame, artillery, Dart (missile), darts, ha ...

'', ''

Firewall Firewall may refer to: * Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts * Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...

'', ''

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants ''The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants'' is a series of five bestselling young adult novels by Ann Brashares: ''The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2001),'' ''The Second Summer of the Sisterhood (2003),'' '' Girls in Pants'' (2005), '' Foreve ...

'', ''

Monster Trucks A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock pi ...

'', and various others. "

The Eye of Jupiter Eye of Jupiter may refer to: * "The Eye of Jupiter" (''Battlestar Galactica''), an episode of ''Battlestar Galactica'' * NGC 3242 or Eye of Jupiter Nebula, a nebula * Great Red Spot of the planet Jupiter {{disambig ...

", the eleventh episode of the third season of ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series), original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel se ...

'' was filmed in Kamloops in 2006. Kamloops was a filming location for the Netflix series ''

Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...

''.

References

Notes

External links

* * {{Authority control 1811 establishments in Canada Cities in British Columbia Hudson's Bay Company trading posts Populated places established in 1811 Populated places in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District Thompson Country