Patricia Bay ("Pat Bay" to locals) is a body of salt water that extends east from

Saanich Inlet , image = Saanich Inlet from Gowlland Tod Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, Canada 13.jpg , image_size = 260px , caption = Saanich Inlet from Gowlland Tod Provincial Park , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Northwest o ...

and forms part of the shoreline of

North Saanich, British Columbia The District of North Saanich is located on the Saanich Peninsula of British Columbia, approximately north of Victoria on southern Vancouver Island. It is one of the 13 Greater Victoria municipalities. The District is surrounded on three side ...

. It lies due west of

Victoria International Airport Victoria International Airport serves Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is north northwest of Victoria on the Saanich Peninsula, with the bulk of the airport (including the passenger terminal) in North Saanich, and a small portion of the ...

. A municipal park covers most of its eastern shore except at the southern end, which is home to a

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; french: links=no, Garde côtière canadienne, GCC) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues ...

base, a

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...

port known as

Victoria Airport Water Aerodrome Victoria Airport Water Aerodrome is a seaplane base located north northwest of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, adjacent to Victoria International Airport. The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by t ...

, and two Canadian Government research facilities – the

Institute of Ocean Sciences The Institute of Ocean Sciences is operated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and is one of the largest marine research centres in Canada. It is located on Patricia Bay and the former British Columbia Highway 17A in Sidney, British Columbia on Vanco ...

and GSC Pacific Sidney (formerly the Pacific Geoscience Centre).

History

Patricia Bay was named after

Princess Patricia of Connaught Lady Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth Ramsay, (born Princess Patricia of Connaught; 17 March 1886 – 12 January 1974) was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Upon her marriage to Alexander Ramsay, she relinquished her title of a British pri ...

, daughter of the Duke of Connaught, Governor-General, who laid the cornerstone of the Connaught Wing (houses the Legislative Library) of the Parliament Buildings on 28 September 1912. In the 1900s, there was a train track that connected Sidney and

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 ...

. 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 ...

controlled the track but later abandoned it in 1931. The track was moved south.

References

Bays of British Columbia Saanich Peninsula Southern Vancouver Island Bodies of water of Vancouver Island {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub

History

See also

References