Qualicum Beach (/ˈkwɒlɪkəm/) is a town located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. In the 2021 census, it had a population of 9,303.[2] It is situated at the foot of Mount Arrowsmith, along the Strait of Georgia on Vancouver Island's northeastern coast.
Qualicum Beach | |
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Town | |
Town of Qualicum Beach[1] | |
Qualicum Beach Location of Qualicum Beach in British Columbia | |
Coordinates: 49°21′N 124°26′W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | British Columbia |
Regional district | Nanaimo |
Established | As a village: 1943 |
As a town: 1983 | |
Government | |
• Mayor | Brian Wiese |
• Governing Body | Qualicum Beach Town Council |
Area | |
• Total | 17.98 km2 (6.94 sq mi) |
Elevation | 8 m (26 ft) |
Population (2021) | |
• Total | 9,303 |
• Density | 517.5/km2 (1,340/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific Standard (PST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
Forward sortation area | V9K |
Area code | 250 |
Website | www |
Qualicum Beach's natural environment and proximity to Victoria and Vancouver have made it a tourist destination, with cottages along the coast. It is mostly of retirement age, with the oldest average population in Canada with a median age of 65.9 in 2016.[3]
Qualicum Beach is served by the coast-spanning Island Highway, the Island Rail Corridor, a local airport, and a nearby ferry to Lasqueti Island.
The name "Qualicum" comes from a Pentlatch term that means "Where the dog salmon (chum salmon) run."[4]
In May 1856, Hudson's Bay Company explorer Adam Grant Horne, with a group of aboriginal guides, found a route across Vancouver Island from the Qualicum River to the Alberni Inlet.[5] Horne Lake is named after him.[6]
In 1864, the botanist and explorer Robert Brown led the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition through the area. He found the area deserted as a result of the small pox epidemic of 1862.[7]: 47 The first settlers arrived in the 1880s.[4] A road was built from Nanaimo to Parksville in 1886 and extended to Qualicum in 1894. The E&N Railway reached Parksville in 1910 and Qualicum in 1914. H.E. Beasley, a railway official, sponsored the creation of The Merchants Trust and Trading Company which organized the original layout of the town and built the golf links and a hotel in 1913.[8]
A private boys' residential school, the Qualicum College, was established in 1935 by Robert Ivan Knight. The school grew through the 1960s, however, attendance diminished with the school closing in 1970. The structure was operated as a hotel for a number of years, however, the college has now been demolished. Its playing fields have been turned into a housing subdivision.[9]
Freedomite settlers established a communal colony in the adjoining Hilliers farming district from 1946 to 1952.[10][11] The district of Hilliers was known for its hearty Kangaroo meat production facilities. It was established when Taylor Toms moved to the district in 1934.
Qualicum Beach was officially incorporated as a village on May 5, 1942, and was changed to town status on January 7, 1983. The area is growing quickly with new housing subdivisions and a major new highway. It is a favoured retirement and golfing community.
HMS Qualicum was a ship in the Royal Navy named for the community.[12]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Qualicum Beach had a population of 9,303 living in 4,435 of its 4,763 total private dwellings, a change of 4% from its 2016 population of 8,943. With a land area of 17.98 km2 (6.94 sq mi), it had a population density of 517.4/km2 (1,340.1/sq mi) in 2021.[13]
Municipal government of the Town of Qualicum Beach has a council-manager form of government. It is headed by a mayor (who also represents Qualicum Beach on the governing board of the Regional District of Nanaimo) and a four-member council. These positions are filled by at-large elections every four years, as provided by British Columbia law.[14] As of October 2018, the mayor is Brian Wiese and he is currently serving his first term. School board trustees, for representation on School District 69 Qualicum, are also elected by residents of the town, the City of Parksville and the surrounding area. The town funds a volunteer fire department, which serves the town and nearby rural communities. The town has a local ambulance station. The nearest full hospital is Nanaimo Regional General Hospital in Nanaimo.[15]
Qualicum Beach is part of the Parksville-Qualicum provincial electoral district, represented by Adam Walker of the NDP in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Federally, Qualicum Beach, in the Courtenay—Alberni riding, is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by NDP Member of Parliament Gord Johns, who was first elected in 2015.
Highway 19A, runs the length of the town along the shore line of the Strait of Georgia with the Island Highway, (Highway 19), near the towm. Highway 19 includes a junction with Highway 4, which runs through Cathedral Grove to Port Alberni and Tofino, Ucluelet, Bamfield and the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on the south-west coast of the Island. Scenic, flight training and charter flights are offered by Qualicum Flight Center. The town has no marina or harbour, however, there is a launching area for trailered boats. French Creek Harbour, is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south-east on Highway 19A.
Via Rail's Malahat service served Qualicum Beach station from 1979 until 2011.[16] In 2011, service was suspended indefinitely due to track replacement work.[17] As of 2015, service has not yet resumed.[18]
The town has an approximate area of 12.45 square kilometres (4.81 sq mi).
Qualicum Beach is on the Nanaimo lowlands, a narrow plain which lies between the Georgia Basin to the northeast and the Beaufort Range (one of the Vancouver Island Ranges) to the south-west. Landforms were significantly changed by the most recent advance of glacial ice about 18,000 to 19,000 years ago.
Marshall-Stevenson Wildlife Sanctuary, in the west end of Qualicum Beach, is a tidal wetlands at the mouth of the Little Qualicum River.
Wildlife include: black-tailed deer, Roosevelt elk, black bear, and cougar. With the presence of human population, deer, raccoons and rodents persist.
Soil types in the area, mostly classified as Orthic Dystric Brunisols and Duric Dystric Brunisols, vary from marginal to unsuitable for agriculture. They tend to be loamy sand or gravelly loamy sand. Their fertility is low and they are strongly acidic except in near-shore areas where Native American shell middens provide abundant calcium and organic matter. However, they are suitable for development.[19][20][21]
The climate is a Mediterranean Climate. The town has cool, wet winters with 80 to 85% of the year's precipitation between October and April. The average annual precipitation is 131 centimetres (52 in). Mean daily temperature ranges from 1 to 3 °C (34 to 37 °F) in January, with cloud and rain from north Pacific air masses dominating the winter weather. High pressure ridges over the mainland can produce easterly air flows, bringing snow and freezing temperatures during winter but do not persist, as moist westerly winds bring above-freezing temperatures. North Pacific high pressure cells influence summer weather, making it warm and dry. July and August have an average precipitation of 27 millimetres (1.1 in) and average maximum temperatures of 23 °C (73 °F).
With the longest freeze-free period in Canada, at 180 days per year, the Nanaimo lowlands area is favourable for agriculture. The area is within the small Coastal Douglas Fir bio-geographic zone, which is considered the mildest climate in Canada. The Vancouver Island Ranges, which includes nearby Mount Arrowsmith, shadows rainfall. This bio-geographic area can also support Garry Oak and Arbutus.
Climate data for Little Qualicum Hatchery | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 15.5 (59.9) |
18.5 (65.3) |
22.5 (72.5) |
25.5 (77.9) |
31.5 (88.7) |
32.0 (89.6) |
34.5 (94.1) |
34.0 (93.2) |
33.0 (91.4) |
23.5 (74.3) |
18.5 (65.3) |
14.5 (58.1) |
34.5 (94.1) |
Average high °C (°F) | 6.4 (43.5) |
7.8 (46.0) |
10.3 (50.5) |
13.3 (55.9) |
17.1 (62.8) |
19.9 (67.8) |
22.9 (73.2) |
22.9 (73.2) |
19.6 (67.3) |
13.6 (56.5) |
8.7 (47.7) |
5.9 (42.6) |
14.0 (57.2) |
Average low °C (°F) | 0.0 (32.0) |
−0.4 (31.3) |
0.8 (33.4) |
2.6 (36.7) |
5.8 (42.4) |
8.5 (47.3) |
10.4 (50.7) |
9.7 (49.5) |
6.7 (44.1) |
4.0 (39.2) |
1.6 (34.9) |
0.0 (32.0) |
4.2 (39.6) |
Record low °C (°F) | −14.0 (6.8) |
−17.5 (0.5) |
−9 (16) |
−3.5 (25.7) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
2.5 (36.5) |
4.0 (39.2) |
3.0 (37.4) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
−8.0 (17.6) |
−18.0 (−0.4) |
−17.5 (0.5) |
−18.0 (−0.4) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 167.1 (6.58) |
114.0 (4.49) |
99.1 (3.90) |
64.2 (2.53) |
49.1 (1.93) |
42.4 (1.67) |
22.7 (0.89) |
31.8 (1.25) |
40.7 (1.60) |
113.4 (4.46) |
182.3 (7.18) |
156.2 (6.15) |
1,082.9 (42.63) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 155.5 (6.12) |
106.8 (4.20) |
94.9 (3.74) |
64.2 (2.53) |
49.1 (1.93) |
42.4 (1.67) |
22.7 (0.89) |
31.8 (1.25) |
40.7 (1.60) |
112.9 (4.44) |
177.0 (6.97) |
149.7 (5.89) |
1,047.8 (41.25) |
Average snowfall cm (inches) | 11.6 (4.6) |
7.1 (2.8) |
4.2 (1.7) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.5 (0.2) |
5.2 (2.0) |
6.5 (2.6) |
35.2 (13.9) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 20.5 | 16.1 | 18.3 | 16.1 | 13.8 | 12.1 | 7.2 | 7.1 | 8.8 | 16.6 | 21.1 | 19.1 | 176.6 |
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 19.3 | 15.1 | 17.9 | 16.1 | 13.8 | 12.1 | 7.2 | 7.1 | 8.8 | 16.5 | 20.4 | 18.2 | 172.4 |
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) | 2.3 | 1.7 | 0.96 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.08 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 7.9 |
Source: Environment Canada[22] |
Map all coordinates using: OpenStreetMap |
Download coordinates as: KML |
Site | Location | Remarks |
---|---|---|
Qualicum College | 49.357494°N 124.426968°W / 49.357494; -124.426968 (Qualicum College) | Built in 1935 |
Town Hall | 49.347948°N 124.444027°W / 49.347948; -124.444027 (Qualicum Beach Town Hall) | |
Qualicum Beach Museum | 49.350356°N 124.44812°W / 49.350356; -124.44812 (Qualicum Beach Museum) | |
Site of former Eaglecrest Lodge | 49.357935°N 124.402506°W / 49.357935; -124.402506 (Eaglecrest Lodge) | Built by General MacRae |
Heritage Forest | 49.35205°N 124.432°W / 49.35205; -124.432 (Heritage Forest) | Brown Property Preservation Society |
Kwalikum Secondary School | 49.348444°N 124.433641°W / 49.348444; -124.433641 (Kwalkum Secondary School) | |
Qualicum Beach Airport | 49°20′14″N 124°23′38″W | |
E and N Railway station | 49.349559°N 124.446784°W / 49.349559; -124.446784 (E and N Railway Station) | |
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Town of Qualicum Beach.
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (May 2022) |
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has generic name (help)First published in 1947
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