Gibsons, British Columbia

Gibsons is a coastal community of 4,758 in southwestern British Columbia, Canada on the Sunshine Coast, where the southwest bank of Howe Sound meets the Strait of Georgia.

During its early history as a European-descended settlement, the town was a local centre for forestry and commercial fishing. However, changing economics and resource availability have led Gibsons to increasingly become a bedroom community to workers in Greater Vancouver (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 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 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.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, 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 (2,810 persons or 61.4%)
*Christianity (1,515 persons or 33.1%)
*Buddhism (75 persons or 1.6%)
*Judaism (30 persons or 0.7%)
*Sikhism (30 persons or 0.7%)
*Hinduism (25 persons or 0.5%)
*Islam (25 persons or 0.5%)
*Other (75 persons or 1.6%)

Notable people

* Ryan Dempster – major league baseball pitcher
* 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'' and Major Garland Briggs on ''Twin Peaks''.
* 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 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 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

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{{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