Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the greater

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

. About two-thirds of city land is protected as part of the Agricultural Land Reserve, and agriculture accounts for about 30 percent of the local economy. The city is bounded on the north side by the

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

, on the south side by the Vedder River and

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

, and is surrounded by tall mountain peaks, such as Mount Cheam and Slesse Mountain.

Etymology

In Halq'eméylem, the language of the Stó:lō communities around Chilliwack and Sardis, ''Tcil'Qe'uk'' means "valley of many streams". It also lends its name to the Chilliwack River, and group of aboriginal people, the ''Ts'elxwéyeqw'' (also spelt ''Ts'elxwíqw'' or ''Sts'elxwíqw''). The spelling of Chilliwack is sometimes a matter of confusion. Prior to the amalgamation of the City of Chilliwack and the Municipality of Chilliwhack, there were two different spellings. When amalgamated, the current spelling of the city was adopted. Anglicized spellings include "Chilliwhyeuk" and other versions closer to the original Halq'eméylem.

History

The archeological record shows evidence of Stó:lō people in the Fraser Valley, or ''S'ólh Téméxw'', 10,000 years ago. Permanent structures in the Chilliwack area date from around 5,000 years ago. It is estimated that at the time of the first contact with Europeans, there were as many as 40,000 people living within Stó:lō territory.

19th century

In the mid-nineteenth century, thousands of gold miners transited the area ''en route'' to the goldfields of the upper

. By the mid-1860s, settlers had established farms around Codville's Landing, Miller's Landing, Minto Landing, Sumas Landing, and Chilliwack Landing along the Fraser River. On April 26, 1873, the "Corporation of the Township of Chilliwhack" (note the variant spelling) became the third municipality incorporated by the Province of British Columbia. The town centre at the time was concentrated at Chilliwack Landing along the

. Steamboats were the main mode of transportation, carrying goods and passengers between Chilliwhack and

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

. After the construction of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , 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 Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

in 1885, many residents began to cross the

at Minto Landing to ride the train from Harrison Mills. In 1881, with little room for expansion and the threat of floods constantly looming, the town centre was moved south to "Five Corners" at the junction of the New Westminster-Yale Wagon Road, Wellington Avenue and Young Road. This subdivision was initially named "Centreville", but later was renamed "Chilliwack", as it was more commonly referred to by locals in 1887. The area would experience catastrophic flooding in 1894, 1935,

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. On April 20, 1891, Richard Plunkett Cooke, George de Wolf, and Walter E. Graveley established the Chilliwhack Railway Company.

Early 20th century

On February 20, 1908, the area that was then known as ''Chilliwack'', i.e., the subdivision within the greater ''Chilliwhack Township'', was proclaimed as the ''City of Chilliwack'' by letters patent issued by the provincial government under the ''Chilliwack City Incorporation Act''. The ''City of Chilliwack'' and the ''Township of Chilliwhack'' co-existed as separately administered municipalities until 1980. On October 4, 1910, the British Columbia Electric Railway began operating regularly scheduled passenger service on the New Westminster–Chilliwack Interurban Line. In 1941, Camp Chilliwack was established following Canada's entry into the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1939. After the outbreak of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

, the camp was expanded to garrison

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

units for the defence of Canada's West Coast. It continued to be used as a permanent training facility and army garrison during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. Following the unification of the

Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

in 1968, the base was renamed Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack (CFB Chilliwack). The base housed the following units:

Late 20th century

On January 1, 1980, the ''Township of Chilliwhack'' and the ''City of Chilliwack'' amalgamated to form a single municipality styled the ''District of Chilliwack'', following the passage of referendae in both municipalities. On July 16, 1999, the ''District of Chilliwack'', once again, was renamed the ''City of Chilliwack''. To the present day, locals idiosyncratically use the same name to refer to the city as a whole, and to the old city centre. It is also the name of the greater metropolitan area encompassing adjacent sovereign indigenous nations, municipalities, and unincorporated areas. In 1997, following the end of the

a few years earlier, CFB Chilliwack closed. Its training facilities were converted into the Canada Education Park, a campus for multiple institutions, including the Justice Institute of British Columbia, the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

, the

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

, and the Western Area Training Centre (WATC). Today it also houses supply depots for the 39 Canadian Brigade Group of the

and the Royal Canadian Army Cadets. The old quartermaster warehouse became the Canadian Military Education Centre Museum.

Geography

Chilliwack is located in the Upper Fraser Valley, 100 kilometres (60 mi) east of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

on the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, 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 A ...

. The city is bounded on the north by the

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

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

and Vedder).

Geology

The Chilliwack

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

forms much of the North Cascades in southwestern

, Canada and the

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

of Washington. The geological structure is primarily named after the City of Chilliwack, where it is the most notable geological feature. The Chilliwack Batholith is part of the Pemberton Volcanic Belt and is the largest mass of exposed intrusive rock in the

Cascade Volcanic Arc The Cascade Volcanoes (also known as the Cascade Volcanic Arc or the Cascade Arc) are a number of volcanoes in a continental volcanic arc in western North America, extending from southwestern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to No ...

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

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

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

Cityscape

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

. The city is bounded in the north by the

, in the east by the Eastern Hillsides, in the south by the Canada–US border, and in the west by the Vedder Canal. With 939 farms on approximately of dedicated farmland, farming remains an important part of the Chilliwack landscape.

Neighbourhoods

Neighbourhoods on the north side

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

in the south, to the

in the north, and includes the communities of Camp River, Chilliwack Mountain, Downtown Chilliwack, East Chilliwack, Fairfield Island, Rosedale and Popkum. Downtown Chilliwack is the historical urban centre of the city. Several cultural attractions, such as the

Chilliwack Coliseum Chilliwack Coliseum is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. The venue is the home of the Chilliwack Chiefs of the British Columbia Hockey League and has hosted events such as the Junior A ice hockey championsh ...

Chilliwack Cultural Centre The Chilliwack Cultural Centre is a performing arts venue located in downtown Chilliwack, one hour east of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The $22 million cultural facility celebrated its grand opening on September 25, 2010, with a concert ...

, The Book Man and the Eagle Landing Shopping Centre are located there, as well as key government buildings, such as city hall, FVRD offices, and the

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

Neighbourhoods on the south side

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

Sardis Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian language, Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Lydia (satrapy) ...

, Vedder Crossing, Garrison Crossing and

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Growing to tall, it is characterized by small whitish flowers, a tall stem of fernlike leaves, and a pungent odor. The plan ...

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

Parks

* Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park * Cheam Wetlands Regional Park * Chilliwack Heritage Park *

Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the grea ...

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

Arts and culture

Music

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

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

Mystery Machine ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'', for Hanna-Barbera (which wa ...

, and

The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets is a rock band from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. Their music largely consists of often tongue-in-cheek homages to the works of H. P. Lovecraft, specifically the Cthulhu Mythos. History Band formation ...

. Chilliwack also has a thriving

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

community, featuring the Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra and the Chilliwack Metropolitan Orchestra. The drumline from Sardis Secondary School played at several venues during the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

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

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the gr ...

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

Performing arts

The

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

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

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

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

Thompson Rivers University Thompson Rivers University (commonly referred to as TRU) is a Public university, public research university located in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. The university's name comes from the two rivers which converge in Kamloops, the North Thomp ...

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...

UBC The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

and

Douglas College Douglas College is the largest college in British Columbia, Canada with 7,958 full-time equivalent students in 2023-24. Douglas College offers bachelor's degrees and general university arts and science courses, as well as career programs in h ...

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

Public Art

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

Festivals

Annual events and festivals include:

Museums

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

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

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

Notable people

;Academics: ;Activists: ; Athletes: ; Arts and entertainment: ; Journalists: ; Jurists: ; Military: ; Politicians: ; Writers: ; Others:

Media

Newspapers

Chilliwack Progress ''The Chilliwack Progress'' is a weekly newspaper in Chilliwack, British Columbia. It publishes Friday and is owned by Black Press. History ''The Chilliwack Progress'' was first published on April 16, 1891. It remains the longest continuously ...

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

Radio

*FM 89.5 –

CHWK-FM CHWK-FM is a Canadian radio station that broadcasts a country music, country format at 89.5 FM broadcasting, FM in Chilliwack, British Columbia. The station is branded as ''89.5 JR Country''. Owned by Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, the station w ...

*FM 91.7 – CBYF-FM *FM 98.3 –

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

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

CKKS-FM CKKS-FM (107.5 Hertz, MHz, ''Sonic'') is a radio station city of license, licensed to Chilliwack, Chilliwack, British Columbia and serving Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, it ...

Television

*Channel 11 CHAN-TV-1

Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...

Sports

Ice hockey

Chilliwack is home to two

Junior ice hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

clubs. The

Chilliwack Chiefs The Chilliwack Chiefs are a junior hockey team based in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Coastal Conference of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at the Chilliwack Coliseum which w ...

of the independent

British Columbia Hockey League The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is an independent Canadian Junior ice hockey league with 21 teams in British Columbia and Alberta. It was classified as a Junior "A" league within the Hockey Canada framework, until it became independe ...

plays its home games at the

. The

Chilliwack Jets The Chilliwack Jets are a junior ice hockey team based in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Harold Brittain Conference of the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL). The Jets play their home games at the Sardis Sports Co ...

of the

Pacific Junior Hockey League The Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL) is a junior ice hockey league which operates in the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Although the PJHL has included American teams in the past, the league's fifteen franchises ...

plays its home games at the

Sardis Ice Complex Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Persian satrapy of Lydia and later a major center of Hell ...

. The Chilliwack Minor Hockey Association was founded in 1958 with the opening of the original Chilliwack Coliseum. The

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a 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 hocke ...

announced that it planned to establish an expansion franchise in Chilliwack in

2026 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 – Bulgaria is expected to adopt the euro and become the 21st member state of the eurozone. * January 6 – The 2025 Jubilee will end on this day. * February 5 – The New START Treat ...

Football

The

Canadian Junior Football League The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national 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 professional footbal ...

club the Valley Huskers plays its home games at Exhibition Stadium in Chilliwack.

Trivia

* Chilliwack Turbo Fastball club won the 1997 Canadian Jr. Men's National Championships. In 2013 the team was an inaugural induction into the Chilliwack Sports Hall of Fame. * Chilliwack's minor baseball Cougars were the 2003 Midget AAA Provincial champions as well as the 2006 Western Canadian tier 2 champions. Chilliwack Cougars College Prep Baseball Team won the Provincial Championship in 2016, 2017 and 2019. Most recent title against the Ridge Meadows Royals. * Sardis Flyers Are a speed skating club based out of

Sardis Sports Complex Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Persian satrapy of Lydia and later a major center of Hell ...

. * Chilliwack Hawks Field Lacrosse Are a field lacrosse team that play at Stitos Elementary and Middle School. * Chilliwack Minor Lacrosse Mustangs are a minor league lacrosse team that play at the

. * Chilliwack hosted the 2007–2008 Synchronized Skating Canadian Championships at the Prospera Centre.

Climate

The climate is typical

oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

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

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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

2021 Western North America Heat wave The 2021 Western North America heat wave was an extreme heat wave that affected much of Western North America from late June through mid-July 2021. The heat wave affected Northern California, Idaho, Western Nevada, Oregon, and Washington in ...

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

arctic outflow A squamish (also known as an Arctic outflow wind in winter months) is a strong and often violent wind occurring in many of the fjords, inlets and valleys of British Columbia. Squamishes occur in those fjords oriented in a northeast–southwest o ...

occurs. In 2013,

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

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

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

μm The micrometre (Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a unit of length in the International System ...

) size

particulates Particulate matter (PM) or particulates are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspension (chemistry), suspended in the atmosphere of Earth, air. An ''aerosol'' is a mixture of particulates and air, as opposed to the particulate ...

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

also had 4.9,

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

had 5.6,

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

had 5.6,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

had 7.9,

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

had 11.2 and

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes, ...

had 12.7."

Demographics

Metropolitan Area

According to the 2021 census, the Chilliwack Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) has a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it has a population density of .

City of Chilliwack

According to the 2021 census, the City of Chilliwack has a population of 93,203 living in 35,758 of its 37,124 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 83,788. With a land area of , it has a population density of .

Ethnicity

Religion

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

Irreligion Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, ...

(45,475 persons or 49.4%) *

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

(41,875 persons or 45.5%) *

Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...

(1,570 persons or 1.7%) *

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

(750 persons or 0.8%) *

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

(575 persons or 0.6%) *

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

(575 persons or 0.6%) *

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

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

Economy

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

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

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

Transportation

Airports

Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island (British Columbia), Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is lo ...

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

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

, the United States, and Mexico, and other airports within Canada.

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

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

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

Active transportation

There are of active transportation throughout the city, the most ''per capita'' of any municipality in the

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 ...

Highways

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

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's own life, or the world at large. As a verb, Merriam-Webster defines ''hope'' as "to expect with confid ...

runs through Chilliwack on the

section of the

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

, and is the main access to the resort village of

Harrison Hot Springs Harrison Hot Springs is a village located at the southern end of Harrison Lake in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada. It is a part of the Fraser Valley Regional District; its immediate neighbour is the District of Kent, which inclu ...

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

Mass transit

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

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

Passenger rail

Chilliwack historically was served by the British Columbia Electric Railway New Westminster–Chilliwack interurban line. The company announced its "Rails-to-Rubber" conversion programme in 1944, and the Chilliwack line ceased service in 1950. Chilliwack is served by

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

The Canadian ''The Canadian'' () is a transcontinental passenger train operated by Via Rail with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario, and Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Pacific introduced this serv ...

as a

flag stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a bus stop, stop or train station, station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or drop ...

. The town is only served by westbound trains towards

. Eastbound trains call at

Agassiz, British Columbia Agassiz ( ) is a small community located in the Eastern Fraser Valley region of British Columbia, Canada, about 97 kilometres east of Vancouver and 24 kilometres north-east of the city of Chilliwack. Agassiz is the only town centre within the j ...

along the

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure used during cardiac or respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function and maintain circulation until sp ...

tracks, on the other side of the

. This split in service between

and

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, ...

is due to CN and CPR utilizing

directional running A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...

through the Thompson- and

Fraser Canyon The Fraser Canyon is a major landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley. Colloquially, the term "Fraser Ca ...

. In 2019, the South Fraser Community Rail Society was launched by former BC premier

Bill Vander Zalm William Nicholas Vander Zalm (born Wilhelmus Nicholaas Theodore Marie van der Zalm; May 29, 1934) is a Dutch-born Canadian businessman and politician who served as the 28th premier of British Columbia and leader of the British Columbia Social ...

and former mayor of Langley Township Rick Green, to resurrect passenger service using the former BCER right-of-way. The proposed light-rail line would be long.

Education

Post-secondary

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

, the RCMP Pacific Region Training Centre, and the Justice Institute of British Columbia. The

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

Private

Public

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

References

External links

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