Peachland is a

district municipality A district municipality is a designation for a class of municipalities found in several locations, including Canada, Lithuania, and South Africa. Canada British Columbia Under provincial law, municipalities in British Columbia are to be desi ...

in the Okanagan Valley on the west side of Okanagan Lake in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

, Canada. It was founded in 1899 by John Moore Robinson, although the region had long been home to the

Okanagan people The ''Syilx'' () people, also known as the Okanagan, Okanogan or Okinagan people, are a First Nations and Native American people whose traditional territory spans the Canada–US boundary in Washington state and British Columbia in the Okanaga ...

. Peachland is approximately half-an-hour's drive south of the city of Kelowna and about a 20-minute drive north of Summerland. The Okanagan Valley is very narrow in the area and there are few terraces that mark former lake levels and the former lake bottom. As a result, the city is largely located on a steep sidehill. Like many other areas in the Okanagan, Peachland is rapidly growing, with new residents coming from all across Canada. Across the lake from Peachland is Rattlesnake Island, home of the legendary Ogopogo. Peachland is approximately 370 km from

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

, British Columbia, on the British Columbia south coast.

History

Peachland was founded on the site of a tiny community called Camp Hewett.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), 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 cultu ...

, Peachland had a population of 5,789 living in 2,689 of its 2,936 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 5,428. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Peachland included: *

Irreligion Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ...

(3,165 persons or 54.9%) *

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

(2,465 persons or 42.8%) *

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...

(30 persons or 0.5%) *

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

(15 persons or 0.3%) * Indigenous Spirituality (15 persons or 0.3%) *

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

(10 persons or 0.2%) *Other (60 persons or 1.0%)

Government

Federally, Peachland is, since 2015, within the electoral district of Central Okanagan — Similkameen — Nicola. The current MP is Conservative Dan Albas, elected in the 2011 (in the previous constituency of

Okanagan—Coquihalla Okanagan—Coquihalla was a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that had been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2015. Geography The electoral district included the towns of Pentict ...

)Canadian federal election following former MP Stockwell Day's retirement from public life. The local MLA for the area is Dan Ashton. The municipal government of Peachland consists of the mayor and six

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

councillors, elected to three-year terms. One former councillor, Jean Fraser, was elected in 1995 and served several consecutive terms. In her last election she received the highest number of votes in the municipality's history. Fraser retired from council on November 13, 2011, as she felt the work she could do on council was complete. The current mayor is Patrick Van Minsel who defeated Cindy Fortin by a landslide vote in the 2022 municipal election.

Climate

The climate of Peachland is very similar to that of neighboring Kelowna, but with a greater moderating influence from Okanagan Lake. This is partly due to its proximity to the water, as well as the greater width of the lake in this area (up to 5 kilometres). As most of the city is built into a mountainside, it is typically shielded from cold northerly winds and also has an overall southern exposure. This helps warm the area slightly during spring, summer, and fall, but particularly in winter. Proximity to the lake results in more moderation relative to Okanagan cities that are farther away from it. Average January high temperatures in Peachland are nearly 1.5 degrees warmer than in Kelowna, while the reverse is true in July. The city's southern orientation provides protection from winds from the north while also encouraging those from the south, which blow across the lake directly toward the city and can cause mild

lake-effect snow Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated up by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises up throug ...

. The steep mountainside on which Peachland is built can enhance this effect somewhat via the action of orographic lift. Ordinarily, precipitation in the Okanagan generally decreases from north to south, with the city of Vernon receiving approximately 4 more inches of rain and snow per year than the city of Penticton and 2 more inches than Kelowna.

Events and industries

Peachland is home to several events and industries. Hainle Vineyards, the first ice wine maker in North America,Hainle Vineyards History
operates its organic winery in Peachland. Peachland is the location of the annual Peachland World of Wheels Car Show and the home of the legendary lake monster Ogopogo. Peachland is home to Zipzone Adventure Park, one of the highest zip lines in Canada and the world.

Notable people

* George H. V. Bulyea *

James B. Hawkes James Benjamin Hawkes (9 January 1857 - 29 July 1936) was a Canadian pioneer and politician who served as an Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, MLA in the Northwest Territories. Early life James Hawkes came to Canada from Englan ...

References

External links

* * {{Coord, 49, 46, 25, N, 119, 44, 13, W, scale:60000, display=title Populated places in the Regional District of Central Okanagan District municipalities in British Columbia Populated places on Okanagan Lake Populated places in the Okanagan Country