Location
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Quick Facts
Capital	Victoria (British Columbia)
Area	944,735 km2
Population	4,095,900 (2002 est.)
Time Zone	UTC -8 & -7

British Columbia (BC) [1] is the western most province in Canada. Like much of Canada, it is a large place. British Columbia is about four times the size of Great Britain with less than one tenth of the population.

British Columbia is a very mountainous region. There are a number of major mountain ranges ending with the Rocky Mountains that divide BC and Alberta.

Like in most places worth visiting, there is a little something for everyone in this region. However, you will want to spend at least some time outside of the main cities in this region, and if you enjoy a very active and adventurous vacation, there are many options here to explore. "Ecotourism" is an often mentioned attraction in this part of Canada. Whether backpacking in the majestic forests or coast mountains, or kayaking through the many groups of islands, getting off the beaten path is sure to lead to a memorable trip.

Regions

Map of British Columbia Regions

British Columbia contains 28 regional districts, however, for travel purposes many of these can be grouped together thusly:

• Vancouver Island - home of British Columbia's capital, and all sorts of marine adventures.
  • Sub-regions: Northern Gulf Islands | Southern Gulf Islands
• Lower Mainland - over half of British Columbia's population lives here.
  • Sub-regions: Greater Vancouver | Fraser Valley | Sea to Sky | Sunshine Coast
• Okanagan-Similkameen - sun and fun, wineries and beaches.
  • Sub-regions: Okanagan | Similkameen
• Thompson-Shuswap - mountains to the north, and outdoor paradise to the east.
  • Sub-regions: North Thompson | Shuswap
• Cariboo-Chilcotin - canyons and plains, remote hiking and cattle drives.
  • Sub-regions: Cariboo | Chilcotin | Fraser Canyon | Central Coast
• Kootenays - lakes, hot springs and world famous cat skiing.
  • Sub-regions: West Kootenays | East Kootenays | Columbia-Rockies
• North Coast - untouched wilderness and native culture. Famous for fishing.
  • Sub-regions: Queen Charlotte Islands
• Peace River - limitless vistas and the Alaska Highway.
• The Canadian Rockies overlap with parts of the Kootenays.

Cities

• Vancouver is the largest city in British Columbia, and the largest metropolitan area west of Toronto.
• Whistler is a summer and winter outdoor destination.
• Kamloops is called the tournament Capital of Canada.
• Kelowna is the largest city in the British Columbia interior.
• Penticton is a popular summer destination on Okanagan Lake.
• Prince George is the largest city in Northern British Columbia and the center of the BC Forest Industry.
• Prince Rupert is the largest city on the coast north of Vancouver.
• Victoria is the Provincial capital on the south tip of Vancouver Island.
• Nanaimo is a hub city of Vancouver Island.
• Tofino is a resort town on the west coast of Vancouver Island near Long Beach.
• Dawson Creek is the official start of the Alaska Highway, in Peace River Country.
• Fort St. John in Northern BC is the center of the BC oil and gas industry.

Understand

Ferry arriving in Horseshoe Bay

BC was the sixth province to join the Confederation of Canada, in 1871. Being on the Pacific, it has always had a strong Asian influence.

The indigenous people of BC have been called Indians or Native Canadians, but now the generally accepted term is First Nation.

Prior to arrival of Europeans BC was a very prosperous area. This was largely due the abundance of salmon. This was demonstrated by the advanced culture that existed in BC. There were literally dozens of separate languages and peoples in BC. Initially the arrival of Europeans was a positive relationship. However, eventually the Europeans brought smallpox. In a particularly disgraceful occurrence there were cases where individuals intentionally spread Small Pox amongst the First Nations. Small Pox decimated the First Nations people of the coast. There were a number of communities that were entirely wiped out.

Many First Nations people were encouraged or even forcibly required to send their children to residential schools during the early to mid 20th century. These schools were government sponsored and church run. The primary intent of the schools was to assimilate the First Nation population. Children were not allowed to speak their native languages or return home to visit their family.

Many of the First Nation communities have being trying to revive their culture and are now often the center of much of the ecotourism industry.

With a few exception, the BC first Nations of BC (unlike the rest of Canada) have never signed treaties or officially ceded their territory to Canada. Therefore the official ownership of much of the province is contested as the First Nations claim much of the province as their territory. The courts have generally acknowledged that there is a basis for the claims based on historical use of the land and has urged the governments to negotiate a settlement to these claims. Settling these land claims is an enormous issue that the Province and the Country have been trying to do. So far only one modern treaty has been signed in the Nis'ga territory in Northern BC.

Talk

Although Canada is officially a bilingual French/English country, you would be hard pressed to find many French-speaking people in BC. Services from the federal government are officially available in both English and French. Provincial and municipal governments operate in English only. Some businesses, especially in Vancouver and Victoria offer services in a number of languages (primarily Asian ones). Banks sometimes indicate by a sign in the window which languages are offered.

At one time Chinook Jargon, a trading language, was common and almost became the official language of BC. Now there are very few speakers of the language, but many terms from the language are common slang terms in BC.

Cheechaku 

Newcomer (more common in Northern BC and Yukon).

Chuck 

The water (usually the ocean).

High Muckamuck 

The chief, or boss.

Kultus 

Bad or worthless.

Skookum 

Strong, powerful, or impressive.

Get in

By Plane

The Vancouver airport is the major international airport, which is served by most major international airlines. Victoria also has an international airport that has service to a number of locations within Canada and to some in the United States.

By Car

There are land border crossings from the United States into BC from Washington (state), Idaho, Montana and Alaska. BC is also connected to Alberta and the Yukon by highways.

By Boat

There are ferrys from Washington (state) into Victoria, and from Alaska into Prince Rupert.

By Rail

There is rail service by Amtrak from Seattle to Vancouver. Within Canada, travellers can take VIA Rail along the historic and scenic Canadian Pacific Railroad.

Get around

BC is a large province. The most convenient way to get to much of the province is by air. However, this can be quite expensive. It is often more expensive to fly to some point in BC than it is to fly to Europe. Vancouver is the regional hub for most air service within BC. Float planes can also be convenient for accessing many coastal locations.

Getting around here is not always easy. Many worthwhile destinations are outside of the cities and not accessible by public transportation options. This makes renting a car quite a popular option for getting around. If you look around however, you will find other options, mostly buses of some variety or another.

Pacific Coach Lines and Greyhound operate standard bus service on some of the more popular routes between cities. Sometimes you can arrange to be dropped off at points in between, and in the summer, many different guided bus tours are available. Bigfoot Adventure Tours runs a unique service on less travelled routes that is a combination between "just getting you there" and a tour of some very worthwhile destinations. They have a number of quite flexible packages available, many of them connecting the coast with popular destinations in the Canadian Rockies.

You will also find that the ferry service (provided by BCFerries) is indispensable to access many island and coastal communities. Some of the smaller islands can be visited on foot or by bicycle, but in many cases additional road transportation is necessary. Although ferry service is generally reliable, taking an automobile on board is rarely cheap, and you will likely find it cheaper to take the ferry as a foot passenger and rent an automobile from your destination. If you are taking bus service across a ferry, you should confirm when buying your bus ticket that the ferry fare is included.

See

• International Buddhist Temple [2] is the most authentic example of traditional palatial Chinese architecture in North America. It is an edifice straight out of the Chinese past, as it resembles any authentic temple that can be found along the banks of the Yangtze River, where one of the world’s oldest civilizations originated. Come explore traditional Chinese art, culture, and the Buddhist philosophy inside this magnificent place. Free admission.

Do

• Backpack the West Coast Trail
• Kayak Desolation Sound, Telegraph Cove, the Broken Islands, the Queen Charlotte Islands.
• Scramble the Rockies!
• Rock climb the world famous Stawamus Chief in Squamish.

Drink

The legal drinking age in BC is 19.

Alcohol is available from the government liquor stores (BCL). It is also available from private beer and wine stores which are usually associated with a pub or bar. Most BCL stores close at 8pm while most private liquor stores are open until 11pm. You cannot buy alcohol in grocery stores.

BC is home to a number of breweries, one of the Largest is the Columbia Brewery in Creston which brews Kokanee. In Vancouver the Granville Island Brewery makes popular beer, both the Granville Island Brewery and the Columbia Brewery offer tours.

Stay Safe

Outside of the metropolitan areas, much of BC is remote wilderness. Avalanches are common killers of back country skiers in the spring, and always inform yourself about local concerns with carnivorous wildlife, i.e. bears and cougars (sometimes they eat people).

Petty property crime is a problem in the major cities, so don't leave items visible in a vehicle. Violent crime is relatively infrequent. Simple precautions will normally preclude a brush with crime.