The Regional District of Nanaimo is a regional district located on the eastern coast of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

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. It is bordered to the south by the

Cowichan Valley Regional District The Cowichan Valley Regional District is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia that is on the southern part of Vancouver Island, bordered by the Nanaimo and Alberni-Clayoquot Regional Districts to the north and north ...

, to the west by the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, and to the northwest by the

Comox Valley Regional District The Comox Valley Regional District is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. It was created on February 15, 2008, encompassing the southeastern portions of the former Regional District of Comox-Strathcona, and centred about the Como ...

. Its administration offices are located in

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...

. During the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, its population was established at 155,698. The Regional District of Nanaimo was incorporated on August 24, 1967. It has members that are cities, towns, districts, and seven electoral areas that contain unincorporated communities. The region owns and operates the

Nanaimo Regional Transit System Regional District of Nanaimo Transit System provides both conventional bus service and special needs paratransit services within the Regional District of Nanaimo in British Columbia, Canada. The system, operated by the Regional Transportation S ...

, which provides conventional local bus routes and special needs paratransit services.

Incorporated municipalities

Electoral areas

Electoral areas have no administrative or governmental function, and are used only to select rural representatives to the Regional District board.

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 ...

also uses them as census subdivisions.

Area A (Cassidy/Cedar/South Wellington)

This electoral area is located on

, on the

Stuart Channel Stuart Channel is a strait in the Gulf Islands region of the Gulf of Georgia, separating Vancouver Island on the west from Thetis, DeCourcy and Penelakut (Kuper) Islands on the east. Ladysmith Harbour and the town of Chemainus face onto it from ...

southeast of

. Jessica Stanley is the elected RDN Director for the electoral area. According to the

Canada 2021 Census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, whic ...

: *Population: 7,481 (exclusive of any residents of Indian Reserves) *% Change (2016–2021): 6.0 *Dwellings: 3,249 *Area (km²): 60.18 *Density (persons per km²): 124.3 Contains the communities of Cassidy,

Cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae * Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona ...

, and South Wellington.

Nanaimo Airport Nanaimo Airport is a privately owned and operated regional airport located south southeast of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. In 1999, the air terminal was named in honour of World War I flying ace, ace Raymond Collishaw who was born in Nan ...

is also located here.

Area B (Gabriola Island)

This electoral area contains

DeCourcy Island De Courcy Island is one of the Gulf Islands of the coast of southwestern British Columbia, Canada, located between the Pylades and Stuart Channels approximately southeast of Nanaimo and approximately west of Vancouver. The island, about in a ...

Gabriola Island Gabriola Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia (BC), Canada. It is about east of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, to which it is linked by a 20-minute ferry service. It has a land area of about and a resi ...

and

Mudge Island Mudge Island is one of the Southern Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia, in British Columbia (BC), Canada. It lies between Gabriola Island and Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of t ...

. Vanessa Craig is the elected RDN Director for the electoral area. According to the

Canada 2016 Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial censu ...

: *Population: 4,033 (exclusive of any residents of Indian Reserves) *% Change (2011–2016): -0.3 *Dwellings: 2,987 *Area (km²): 57.76 *Density (persons per km²): 69.8

Area C (Arrowsmith/Benson)

This electoral area is located on

, to the southwest of Nanaimo. It contains the upper

Nanaimo River Nanaimo River is a river on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, located near the city of Nanaimo on the island's east coast. Its headwaters are in the Vancouver Island Ranges of central Vancouver Island and its mouth, the Nanaimo Rive ...

, the

Nanaimo Lakes Nanaimo Lakes are a chain of four lakes composed of three natural—First, Second, and Third Lakes—and one man-made, dammed lake, Fourth Lake, on the upper Nanaimo River, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Geography The lake ...

, Mount Benson and

Mount Arrowsmith Mount Arrowsmith is the highest mountain east of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. Its dominant rock is basalt. The mountain is contained within the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region and as of September 18, 2009 is designated part of hectare ...

. Lauren Melanson is the elected RDN Director for the electoral area. According to the

: *Population: 2,808 (exclusive of any residents of Indian Reserves) *% Change (2011–2016): -0.9 *Dwellings: 1,097 *Area (km²): 1,098.94 *Density (persons per km²): 2.6 Contains the communities of East Wellington and

Extension Extension, extend or extended may refer to: Mathematics Logic or set theory * Axiom of extensionality * Extensible cardinal * Extension (model theory) * Extension (proof theory) * Extension (predicate logic), the set of tuples of values that ...

Area E (Nanoose Bay)

This electoral area is located on

, on the shore of the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia () or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the extreme northwestern mainland coast of Washington, United Stat ...

, between Lantzville and Parksville. It is co-extensive with the community of

Nanoose Bay Nanoose Bay is a community on the east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The location off BC Highway 19 is by road about north of Nanaimo, and south of Parksville. Name origin In 1862, John Enos (Joao Ignacio) bec ...

. Bob Rogers is the elected RDN Director for the electoral area. According to the

: *Population: 6,125 (exclusive of any residents of Indian Reserves) *% Change (2011–2016): 7.9 *Dwellings: 3,066 *Area (km²): 75.08 *Density (persons per km²): 81.6

Area F (Alberni Highway)

This electoral area is located on

, to the west of Qualicum Beach and Parksville.

British Columbia Highway 4 Highway 4 is the longest east–west main vehicle route on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, with a total length of . It is known locally as the ''Alberni Highway'' to the east of Port Alberni and the ''Pacific Rim Highway'' to ...

runs the length of the area. Leanne Salter is the elected RDN Director for the electoral area. According to the

: *Population: 7,724 (exclusive of any residents of First Nation Reserves) *% Change (2011–2016): 4.1 *Dwellings: 3,530 *Area (km²): 264.36 *Density (persons per km²): 29.2 Includes the communities of Coombs, Errington, Hilliers, Meadowood and Whiskey Creek, as well as Cameron Lake and

Cathedral Grove A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Area G (Mid-Oceanside)

This electoral area is located on

, on the shore of the

, surrounding Qualicum Beach and almost surrounding Parksville. Lehann Wallace is the elected RDN Director for the electoral area. According to the

: *Population: 7,465 (exclusive of any residents of Indian Reserves) *% Change (1996–2001): 4.3 *Dwellings: 3,553 *Area (km²): 49.32 *Density (persons per km²): 151.4 Contains the communities of Dashwood and French Creek.

Area H (Lighthouse Country)

This electoral area is located on

, on the shore of the

at the southern entrance to

Baynes Sound Baynes Sound is the channel between Denman Island and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The sound is a narrow western offshoot of the Strait of Georgia that separates Vancouver Island from the mainland of British Columbia. The area is ...

, northwest of Qualicum Beach. Stuart McLean is the elected RDN Director for the electoral area. According to the

: *Population: 3,884 (exclusive of any residents of Indian Reserves) *% Change (1996–2001): 10.7 *Dwellings: 2,436 *Area (km²): 277.41 *Density (persons per km²): 14.0 Contains the communities of

Bowser , also known as King Bowser or King Koopa, is a Character (arts), fictional character and the Antagonist, main antagonist of Nintendo's ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise."The Top 100 Videogame Villains". IGN. Retrieved October 8, 2010. ...

, Deep Bay, Dunsmuir and

Horne Lake Horne Lake is located west of Qualicum Beach. Named after Adam Grant Horne, Hudson's Bay Company storekeeper at Nanaimo, who made the first recorded sighting of this lake in 1856. See also *List of lakes of British Columbia This is an incomple ...

, as well as the Shaw Hill area in its southeastern part.

Demographics

As a

census division Census divisions, in Canada and the United States, are areas delineated for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government in and of themselves. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic uni ...

in the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

, the Regional District of Nanaimo 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. *Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.

Administrative role

The Regional District of Nanaimo categorizes its responsibilities into five "action areas": * The Regional Federation * Strategic and Community Development * Transportation and Solid Waste * Regional and Community Utilities * Recreation and Parks

References

Statistics Canada Community Profile: Nanaimo (regional district)

Notes

External links

* {{Coord, 49, 15, 00, N, 124, 20, 00, W, display=title

Mid Vancouver Island Populated places established in 1967