Annacis Island is a narrow

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

under the jurisdiction of City of Delta in

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 ...

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 ...

, located just downstream of the south arm of the

Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...

bifurcation Bifurcation or bifurcated may refer to: Science and technology * Bifurcation theory, the study of sudden changes in dynamical systems ** Bifurcation, of an incompressible flow, modeled by squeeze mapping the fluid flow * River bifurcation, the for ...

between

Lulu Island Lulu Island is the name of the largest island in the estuary of the Fraser River, located south of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and the List of Canadian islands by population, second-most populous island in British Columbia, after Vancou ...

to the north and the Delta

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

to the south. The island is now mostly an industrial zone, and contains one of

Metro Vancouver The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and Corporation, corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as o ...

's secondary

wastewater treatment Wastewater treatment is a process which removes and eliminates contaminants from wastewater. It thus converts it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once back in the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on ...

plants, the Annacis Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. The island is also home to the

British Columbia Institute of Technology The British Columbia Institute of Technology (also referred to as BCIT), is a public polytechnic institute in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The technical institute has five campuses located in the Metro Vancouver region, with its main cam ...

's Annacis Island campus. The southern part of the island is connected to Delta via the Alex Fraser Bridge, which is part of Highway 91. Connections northward to Richmond and

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...

are via smaller bridges on Highway 91. At the eastern end of the island there is also the Annacis Island Swing Bridge which connects the island to the Queensborough neighborhood of New Westminster on the eastern end of Lulu Island. Annacis Island is served by a public bus that connects to 22nd Street Station in New Westminster. The wider part of the Fraser River south of the island is known as Annieville Channel (upstream) and City Reach (downstream), while the more narrow channel north of the island is Annacis Channel. The eastern (upstream) tip of the island is known as Shoal Point, and the western (downstream) tip as Purfleet Point.

Origin of the name

The island's name is derived from "Annance's Island," named for Noel François Annance, an

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...

and a

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

clerk, who travelled with Chief Factor James McMillan to found Fort Langley in 1827.

History

Once a farming and fishing island, the island opened on 1955 as Canada's first industrial park. On August 7, 2017, a fire broke out in a warehouse on Annacis Island.

References

{{coord, 49, 10, 00, N, 122, 56, 59, W, region:CA-BC_type:isle, display=title Islands of the Fraser River Delta, British Columbia