Gibsons is a coastal community of 4,758 in southwestern
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 ...
, Canada on the
Sunshine Coast, where the southwest bank of
Howe Sound
Howe Sound (, ) is a roughly triangular sound (geography), sound, that joins a network of fjords situated immediately northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2021.
Geography
Howe Sound ...
meets the
Strait of Georgia.
During its early history as a European-descended settlement, the town was a local centre for
forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...
and
commercial fishing
Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...
. However, changing economics and resource availability have led Gibsons to increasingly become a
bedroom community
A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
to workers in
Greater Vancouver
Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term ''Greater Vancouver'' describes an area that is roughly coterminous with the r ...
(especially
remote or hybrid workers). Due to its location in the
Pacific Coastal Rainforest, adjacent the
Salish Sea and the
Coast Mountains, and its position as gateway to the rest of the Sunshine Coast, Gibsons is a regional
tourist destination.
In 2009, the International Awards for Liveable Communities (LivCom) named Gibsons the most liveable community in the world with a population under 20,000.
Gibsons is perhaps best known in Canada as the setting of the popular and long-running
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...
series ''
The Beachcombers'', which aired from 1972 to 1990. The storefront "
Molly's Reach" (a former cafe now up for lease as of 2023), the restored tug
''Persephone'', and a display about the series at the Sunshine Coast Museum and Archives are popular attractions. Other films that have used Gibsons as a location include ''
Charlie St. Cloud'' (2010), starring
Kim Basinger and
Zac Efron (as a stand-in for
Marblehead, Massachusetts); and ''
Needful Things'' (1993), starring
Max von Sydow and
Ed Harris.
Gibsons, like the remainder of the Sunshine Coast, is inaccessible by road directly from the rest of the lower mainland, and is primarily accessed by a
BC Ferries
British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., Trade name, operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, State-owned enterprise, publicly owned Canadian c ...
ferry from Horseshoe Bay in
West Vancouver.
History
The land currently known as Gibsons is part of the traditional and ancestral lands of the
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw, which also includes parts of Greater Vancouver and the Squamish River watershed. Sḵwx̱wú7mesh oral history tells that the
region around Gibsons was the birthplace of the Squamish people after what is called ''The Great Flood''.
The European settlement town of Gibsons was established in 1886 by George Gibson and his sons. It was incorporated in 1929 as Gibson's Landing, and in 1947 was renamed Gibsons at the residents' request. The town's two main sections are:
* Lower Gibsons, the mostly residential seaside area that includes Gibsons Marina,
Molly's Reach, and Winegarden Park, with an auditorium that hosts live performances in the summer. It also has shops and restaurants catering mostly to vacationers.
* Upper Gibsons, along the Sunshine Coast Highway (
BC Highway 101), with commercial areas including Sunnycrest Mall, the town's two major supermarkets, a variety of fast food restaurants, the largest elementary school, and the high school.
Gibsons is the first town in British Columbia to accept styrofoam at its recycling facility, the Gibsons Recycling Depot. Its staff has travelled widely to promote styrofoam recycling; founder Buddy Boyd was invited to address an international Zero Waste conference in Florianopolis, Brazil.
Economy
The Sunshine Coast has seen a three-decade transition from a forestry- and fishing-based economy to a more diverse one with construction trades, business services, retail and tourism becoming prominent.
Between 2016 and 2021, its population grew 3.3% compared with BC's overall growth rate of 7.6%. In 2021, the median resident age was 56.0 years, compared with the provincial median of 42.8 years.
Climate
Gibsons is in a
temperate coastal climate, with mild, rainy winters and warm, dry summers. The region's landscape is in a
temperate rainforest
Temperate rainforests are rainforests with coniferous or Broad-leaved tree, broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain.
Temperate rainforests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate ...
.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...
, Gibsons had a population of 4,758 living in 2,282 of its 2,482 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 4,605. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Ethnicity
Religion
According to the
2021 census, religious groups in Gibsons 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, ...
(2,810 persons or 61.4%)
*
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 ...
(1,515 persons or 33.1%)
*
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 ...
(75 persons or 1.6%)
*
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 ...
(30 persons or 0.7%)
*
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 ...
(30 persons or 0.7%)
*
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 ...
(25 persons or 0.5%)
*
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 ...
(25 persons or 0.5%)
*Other (75 persons or 1.6%)
Notable people
*
Ryan Dempster – major league baseball
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
*
Bruno Gerussi - actor, ''
The Beachcombers''
*
Peter Trower - poet and novelist
*
Ken Bell - Canadian photographer during WWII
*
Lyn Vernon – mezzo-soprano (later dramatic soprano), conductor, teacher
*
Paul George – environmentalist
*
Todd Bentley –
evangelist
*
J.S. Woodsworth - politician, founder of the Canadian Commonwealth Foundation (predecessor to the New Democratic Party)
*
Grace MacInnis – politician and feminist
*
Paul Rudolph – cyclist and former guitarist & vocalist with the
Pink Fairies
*
Don S. Davis – actor known for his roles as
General George S. Hammond on ''
Stargate SG-1
''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrig ...
'' and
Major Garland Briggs on ''
Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...
''.
*
Devin Townsend – musician and frontman for
Strapping Young Lad,
Devin Townsend Project, and
Devin Townsend Band.
*
Celso Machado - Brazilian guitarist and multi-instrumentalist
*
Garth "GGGarth" Richardson - music producer and recording engineer
*
Aristazabal Hawkes – bassist for the English indie rock band, a Mercury Music Prize, BRIT Awards and NME Awards nominee
Guillemots (band)
*
Silas White – publisher, musician and politician
*
Skye Wallace - singer-songwriter
*
Warne Livesey - music producer and recording engineer for
Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...
and
Matthew Good
*
Joey Cramer – actor
*
Velcrow Ripper - filmmaker
*
Rhys Fulber - musician and producer
Awards
In February 2005, Gibsons won the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting contest, coming first in the world.
In October 2009, the town was declared the "Most Liveable Community in the World" (under 20,000 population) at the international Livcom Awards. Endorsed by the
United Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...
, the LivCom competition focuses on best practices for local environmental management.
In 2009 Gibsons won an Energy & Climate Action Award for Community Planning and Development from the Community Energy Association. A major factor in the award was a new housing development, which will be heated by Canada's first publicly owned
geoexchange system.
In 2013, the Town of Gibsons was recognized by the Community Energy Association for its Natural Asset Management as a Climate Adaptation Approach.
Other awards include:
* 1st Place among all world cities in LivCom's "Planning for the Future" category in 2009.
* Communities in Bloom awards – 2008 Provincial Champions; 2007 Provincial Champions award for Environmental Awareness; 2006 Provincial Champions for best floral displays.
* OCP award, SmartGrowth BC, 2007
* National Research Council award for environmentally-sensitive development (2006)
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{Coord, 49, 24, 10, N, 123, 30, 13, W, scale:60000, display=title
Populated places on the British Columbia Coast
Towns in British Columbia
Populated places in the Sunshine Coast Regional District
Populated places established in 1886
1886 establishments in British Columbia