Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east 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 ...
, in
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. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating from the shoreline like the spokes of a wagon wheel, and to its relatively central location on Vancouver Island.
Nanaimo is the headquarters of the
Regional District of Nanaimo
The Regional District of Nanaimo is a regional district located on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the south by the Cowichan Valley Regional District, to the west by the Alberni-Clayoquot Re ...
.
Nanaimo is served by the
Island Highway along the east coast, the
BC Ferries
British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., Trade name, operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, State-owned enterprise, publicly owned Canadian c ...
system, and
its regional airport. It is also on the dormant
Island Rail Corridor
The Island Corridor, previously the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway (E&N Railway), is a railway operation on Vancouver Island. It is owned by the Island Corridor Foundation, a registered charity. The railway line is in length from Victoria, Brit ...
.
History
The
Indigenous peoples
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
of the area that is now known as Nanaimo are the
Snuneymuxw. An anglicized spelling and pronunciation of that word gave the city its current name.
The first Europeans known to reach
Nanaimo Harbour
Nanaimo Harbour, also known as the Port of Nanaimo, is a natural Harbor, harbour on the east coast of Vancouver Island in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. The city of Nanaimo runs along the west ...
were members of the 1791 Spanish voyage of
Juan Carrasco, under the command of
Francisco de Eliza. They gave it the name ''Bocas de Winthuysen''
after naval officer
Francisco Javier Winthuysen y Pineda. When the British
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 ...
(HBC) established a settlement here in 1852, they named it Colvile Town after HBC governor
Andrew Colvile. In 1858 it was renamed as Nanaimo, after the local indigenous people.
The city has been called "The Harbour City" since the lead-up to
Expo 86
The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a world's fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...
.
The HBC attempted to start a coal mine at
Port Rupert but the project had been unsuccessful. In 1850 Snuneymuxw Chief Che-wich-i-kan, commonly known as "Coal Tyee", brought samples of coal to Victoria. A company clerk was dispatched and eventually the governor James Douglas visited the future site of Nanaimo.
While open to selling coal, the Snuneymuxw wished to retain control of it and retain the exclusive right to mine it. Chief Wun-wun-shum offered to sell coal for five barrels in exchange for one blanket. The HBC representative
Joseph William McKay deemed this "impertinent". The Snuneymuxw retained their rights to the resource for a while, but gradually lost them due to other tribes and miners from the failed Port Rupert project.
By 1852, the first shipment of Nanaimo coal was loaded on the ''Cadboro''.
Construction of the
Nanaimo Bastion began in 1853 and was finished in 1855.
On 27 November 1854, 24 coal miners and their families from England arrived at the settlement aboard the ''Beaver'' and ''Recovery''. They had travelled seven months on the ship ''Princess Royal'' arriving at
Esquimalt
The Township of Esquimalt () is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Jua ...
two days earlier. They transferred to the two smaller vessels for the trip to Colvile Town.
They were greeted by Joseph William McKay and 21 Scottish miners.
During World War I, the provincial government established an
Internment camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...
for Ukrainian detainees, many of them local, at a Provincial jail in Nanaimo. It operated from September 1914 to September 1915.
In the 1940s, lumber supplanted coal as the main business. Minetown Days have been celebrated in the neighbouring community of
Lantzville to highlight some of the locale's history.
In the late nineteenth century, numerous immigrants came from China and settled here. What was known as the first Chinatown in Nanaimo was founded during the gold rush years of the 1860s; it was the third largest in British Columbia.
[Introduction]
"
Archive
. ''Nanaimo Chinatowns Project'', Malaspina University-College. Retrieved on 15 February 2015. In 1884, because of mounting racial tensions related to the Dunsmuir coal company's hiring of Chinese strikebreakers, the company helped move Chinatown to a location outside city limits.
[Chinese Community]
. Vancouver Island University. Retrieved on 15 February 2015.
In 1908, when two Chinese entrepreneurs bought the site and tried to raise rents, the community and 4,000 shareholders from across Canada combined forces and bought a site for the third Chinatown, at a new location focused on Pine Street. That third Chinatown burned down on 30 September 1960 but it was by then mostly derelict and abandoned. A fourth Chinatown, also called Lower Chinatown or "new town", boomed for a while in the 1920s on Machleary Street.
[
]
Location and geography
Located on the east coast of Vancouver Island, Nanaimo is about north-west of Victoria, and west of Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, separated by 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 ...
, and linked to Vancouver via the Horseshoe Bay BC Ferries
British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., Trade name, operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, State-owned enterprise, publicly owned Canadian c ...
terminal in West Vancouver and the Duke Point terminal to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal in Tsawwassen. As the site of the main ferry terminal, Nanaimo is the gateway to many other destinations both on the northern part of the island—Tofino
Tofino ( , Nuu-chah-nulth language, Nuu-chah-nulth: ''Načiks'') is a town of approximately 2,516 residents on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. The District ...
, Comox Valley, Parksville, Campbell River, Port Alberni, Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park—and off its coast— Saysutshun, Protection Island, Gabriola Island, Valdes Island, and many other of the Gulf Islands
The Gulf Islands is a group of islands in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia Coast, mainland coast of British Columbia.
Etymology
The name "Gulf Islands" comes from "Gulf of Georgia", the original term used by Geor ...
. A private passenger ferry service connecting to Vancouver, named Hullo, began operating in August 2023.
Buttertubs Marsh is a bird sanctuary located in the middle of the city. The marsh covers approximately . Within this is the "Buttertubs Marsh Conservation Area", owned by the Nature Trust of British Columbia.
Climate
Like much of coastal British Columbia, Nanaimo experiences a temperate climate with mild, rainy winters and warm, dry summers. Due to its relatively dry summers, the Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
places it at the northernmost limits of the ''Csb'' or warm-summer Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
zone. Other climate classification systems, such as Trewartha, place it firmly in the Oceanic zone (''Do'').
Nanaimo is usually shielded from the Aleutian Low's influence by the mountains of central Vancouver Island, so that summers are unusually dry for its latitude and location—though summer drying as a trend is found in the immediate lee of the coastal ranges as far north as Skagway, Alaska.
Heavy snowfall does occasionally occur during winter, with a record daily total of on 12 February 1975, but the mean maximum cover is only .
The highest temperature ever recorded in Nanaimo was on 16 July 1941. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 30 December 1968.
Transportation
Nanaimo is served by two airports: Nanaimo Airport (YCD) with services to Vancouver (YVR), Toronto (YYZ), and Calgary (YYC) and Nanaimo Harbour Water Aerodrome (ZNA) with services to Vancouver Harbour (CXH), Vancouver Airport (YVR South Terminal), and Sechelt (YHS);.
Nanaimo also has three BC Ferry terminals located at Departure Bay, Duke Point, and downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
. The downtown terminal services Gabriola Island while Departure Bay and Duke Point service Horseshoe Bay and Tsawwassen respectively.
A private passenger ferry operates between Nanaimo Harbour and Protection Island. A seasonal passenger ferry operates between Swy-a-Lana Lagoon and Saysutshun (Newcastle Island Marine) Park.
Since 2023 Hullo has operated a high speed passenger-only ferry service between downtown Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver. Travel time between the cities is 75 minutes.
Highways 1, 19, and 19A traverse the city. Highway 19 (Nanaimo Parkway) acts as an expressway bypass to the west of Nanaimo while Highway 1, then Highway 19A traverses the length of Nanaimo as an arterial road within the city proper.
Bus service in the city is provided by Nanaimo Regional Transit and offers city-wide service as well as region service connecting Parksville and Qualicum Beach to the north, and Ladysmith and Duncan to the south.
The Island Rail Corridor
The Island Corridor, previously the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway (E&N Railway), is a railway operation on Vancouver Island. It is owned by the Island Corridor Foundation, a registered charity. The railway line is in length from Victoria, Brit ...
passes through Nanaimo and has a base of operations and yard in the downtown waterfront area.
The Nanaimo Port Authority operates the inner Harbour Basin marina providing mooring for smaller vessels and the W. E. Mills Landing and Marina providing mooring for larger vessels. The Port Authority also operates two terminal facilities one at Assembly Wharf (near the downtown core) and the second at Duke Point for cargo operations. In 2011, the Authority completed the addition of a $22 million cruise ship terminal at Assembly Wharf capable of handling large cruise ships including providing Canada Border Services Agency
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; , ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border guard, border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and Customs, customs services in Canada.
...
clearance.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by 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 ...
, Nanaimo had a population of 99,863 living in 43,164 of its 45,138 total private dwellings, an increase of from its 2016 population of 90,504. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
At the census metropolitan area
The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of stat ...
(CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Nanaimo CMA 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.
In 2016, the average age of a Nanaimoite is 45.5 years old, higher than the national median at 41.2.
In Nanaimo, there are 40,885 private dwellings, 39,165 which are occupied by usual residents (95.8% occupancy rate). The median value of these dwellings are $359,760, which is higher than the national median at $341,556. The average (after-tax) household income in Nanaimo is $48,469, lower than the national median at $54,089. The median individual income is $34,702, which is also lower than the national median ($38,977). The unemployment rate was 7.7%.
Ethnicity
*Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.
Language
Nanaimo's population is predominantly Anglophone
The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...
. As of the 2016 census 86.7% of residents claimed English as their mother tongue. Other common first languages were Chinese Languages (2.0%), French (1.3%), German (1.2%) and Punjabi (1.0%).
Religion
According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Nanaimo included:
*Irreligion
Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, ...
(60,365 persons or 62.2%)
*Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
(31,135 persons or 32.1%)
*Sikhism
Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...
(1,330 persons or 1.4%)
*Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
(1,000 persons or 1.0%)
*Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
(785 persons or 0.8%)
*Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
(650 persons or 0.7%)
*Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
(230 persons or 0.2%)
* Indigenous Spirituality (170 persons or 0.2%)
Economy
The original economic driver was coal mining; however, the forestry industry supplanted it in the early 1960s with the building of the MacMillan Bloedel pulp mill at Harmac in 1958, named after Harvey MacMillan. Today the pulp mill is owned by the employees and local investors and injects well over half a million dollars a day into the local economy and makes the entire area smell like sulfur
Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...
multiple times a year. The largest employer is the provincial government. The service, retail and tourism industries are also big contributors to the local economy.
Technological development on Nanaimo has been growing with companies such as "Inuktun" and the establishment of government-funded Innovation Island as a site to help Nanaimo-based technological start ups by giving them access to tools, education and venture capital.
The average sale price of houses in Nanaimo for 2011 was approximately $350,000. A recent surge of higher-density real estate development, centred in the Old City / Downtown area, as well as construction of a city-funded waterfront conference centre, has proven controversial. Proponents of these developments argue that they will bolster the city's economy, while critics worry that they will block waterfront views and increase traffic congestion. Concerns have also been raised about the waterfront conference centre's construction running over its proposed budget. Nanaimo has also been experiencing job growth in the technology sector.
Media outlets
Nanaimo is served by one newspaper: the ''Nanaimo News Bulletin'' (33,000 copies twice a week—audited), which is owned by Black Press
Black Press Group Ltd. (BPG) is a Canadian commercial printer and newspaper publisher founded in 1975 by David Holmes Black. Based in Surrey, British Columbia, it was previously owned by the publisher of ''Toronto Star'' ( Torstar, 19.35%) and B ...
. ''The Harbour City Star'', also owned by publisher Black Press, was closed in 2016. On 29 January 2016, the 141-year-old ''Nanaimo Daily News'', shut down. Nanaimo also hosts a bureau for CIVI-DT (CTV 2
CTV 2 is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language, English-language television system owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The system consists of four terrestrial owned-and-operated station, owned-and-operated television stat ...
Victoria, cable channel 12) and a satellite office for CHEK-DT (Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
, cable channel 6).
Nanaimo is also served by the Jim Pattison Group
The Jim Pattison Group is a Canadian conglomerate based in Vancouver. Jim Pattison, a Vancouver-based entrepreneur, is the chairman, CEO, and sole owner of the company. The Jim Pattison Group, Canada's second largest privately held company, h ...
's CHWF-FM (The Wolf) and CKWV-FM (The Wave), as well as CHLY-FM, an independent community campus radio
Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...
station and Vista Radio's CKAY-FM (ICON Radio). CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...
is heard over CBU from Vancouver, with CBU-FM (CBC Music
CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...
) and CBCV-FM available as HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...
signals.
Politics
Federal
In the House of Commons of Canada
The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...
, Nanaimo is represented by Lisa Marie Barron
Lisa Marie Barron is a Canadian politician from British Columbia. She was elected to represent the riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2021 Canadian federal election. She is a member of the New Democratic P ...
of the NDP, representing the riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith since the 2021 election. The city was split into two separate ridings, Nanaimo—Cowichan ( Jean Crowder, New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...
), which includes South Nanaimo and Cassidy, and Nanaimo—Alberni ( James Lunney, Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
elected as a Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
), which includes North Nanaimo and Lantzville, until the 2012 federal electoral redistribution.
Provincial
In the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia () is the deliberative assembly of the Legislature of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The other component of the Legislature is the lieutenant governor of British Columbi ...
, Nanaimo is represented by the ridings of Nanaimo-Lantzville
Nanaimo-Lantzville is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. Created under the 2021 British Columbia electoral redistribution, the riding will first be contested in the 2024 British Columbia ...
( George Anderson, BC NDP
The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum and is one of the two major parties in British Columbia; since ...
) and Nanaimo-Gabriola Island
Nanaimo-Gabriola Island is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. Created under the 2021 British Columbia electoral redistribution, the riding was first contested in the 2024 British Columbia g ...
(Sheila Malcolmson
Sheila Malcolmson (born March 26, 1966) is a Canadian politician who has served as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for the electoral district of Nanaimo since January 30, 2019. She was previously the federal Member of ...
, BC NDP
The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum and is one of the two major parties in British Columbia; since ...
).
Leonard Krog
Leonard Eugene Krog is a Canadian politician and lawyer in British Columbia, who currently serves as mayor of Nanaimo. He previously served in the provincial legislature on two occasions as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party ...
resigned in 2018 to accept the position of Mayor of Nanaimo. In response, Sheila Malcolmson resigned from federal politics and successfully ran for the vacated position. She was re-elected in the 2024 British Columbia general election.
Civic
The mayor of Nanaimo is currently Leonard Krog
Leonard Eugene Krog is a Canadian politician and lawyer in British Columbia, who currently serves as mayor of Nanaimo. He previously served in the provincial legislature on two occasions as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party ...
, who replaced Bill Mackay in 2018.
The most well-known mayor Nanaimo ever had was Frank J. Ney, who instigated Nanaimo's well-known bathtub races, which he regularly attended dressed as a pirate. There is a statue to commemorate Ney—dressed in his pirate costume—at Swy-a-Lana Lagoon, which is on the Nanaimo waterfront. Ney was also an MLA for the Social Credit party while he was mayor. An elementary school has been named in his honour.
Mark Bate became Nanaimo's first mayor in 1875. He served an additional 15 one-year terms as mayor (1875–1879, 1881–1886, 1888–1889, and 1898–1900).
Open government
The city's planning department has steadily produced enough municipal data to warrant a ''Time'' magazine article on open-government. Nanaimo has been dubbed "the capital of Google Earth". Working directly with Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
, the city fed it a wealth of information about its buildings, property lines, utilities and streets. The result is earth.nanaimo.ca, a wealth of city data viewed through the Google Earth
Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...
3D mapping program. Their Open Data Catalogue is available at data.nanaimo.ca.
Education
Nanaimo has over 30 elementary and secondary schools, most of which are public and are operated by School District 68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith.
Aspengrove School is a JrK-grade 12 Independent (private) school accredited as an International Baccalaureate World School and offers the IB Primary Years, IB Middle Years and IB Diploma programme and received a 10 out of 10 by the IB Organization (IBO) in 2011.
The '' Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique'' operates two Francophone schools, ''École Océane'' primary school and the ''École secondaire de Nanaimo''.
The main campus of Vancouver Island University is located in Nanaimo, which brings many international students, mostly East Asian, to the city.
The Pacific Biological Station
The Pacific Biological Station, located on the north shore of Departure Bay, was established in 1908. It is the oldest fisheries
Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...
research centre on the Pacific coast
Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean.
Geography Americas North America
Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...
. Operated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the station forms a network with eight other scientific facilities.
Museums
The Nanaimo Art Gallery is a public art museum located downtown at 150 Commercial Street. In addition to contemporary exhibitions by local, national and international artists, the Gallery operates Art Lab which offers year-round art-based programs for learners of all ages. The Gallery also holds a collection of artwork, operates The Gallery Store, which features work by local artists and artisans, and runs Artists in the Schools, a program that operates across three school districts.
The Nanaimo Museum is a public historical museum located downtown on the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation at 100 Museum Way.
The Vancouver Island Military Museum is a public military historical museum located at 100 Cameron Road.
Arts and culture
The Port Theatre in downtown Nanaimo hosts many performers and shows during the year.
The Nanaimo bar, which is a no-bake cookie bar with custard filling, is a Canadian dessert named after Nanaimo.
Nanaimo hosts the annual Nanaimo Marine Festival. Part of the festival includes the bathtub race. The race starts in the Nanaimo Harbour
Nanaimo Harbour, also known as the Port of Nanaimo, is a natural Harbor, harbour on the east coast of Vancouver Island in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. The city of Nanaimo runs along the west ...
downtown, goes around Entrance Island, north-west to Winchelsea Islands by Nanoose Bay and finish in Departure Bay back in Nanaimo. Until the 1990s the race alternated between racing from Nanaimo to Vancouver and from Vancouver to Nanaimo.
Sports and recreation
* Nanaimo is home to the largest sports club on Vancouver Island, Nanaimo United Football Club. NUFC is home to over 1,700 members, and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Canada, having been formed in 1903.
* Nanaimo is home to North America's first legal, purpose-made bungee jumping bridge, operated by WildPlay Element Parks.
* Nanaimo is home to the Canadian Junior Football League
The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in five provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl. Many CJFL players move on to professional footbal ...
's Vancouver Island Raiders, who play at Caledonia Park.
* Nanaimo is home to the British Columbia Hockey League
The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is an independent Canadian Junior ice hockey league with 21 teams in British Columbia and Alberta. It was classified as a Junior "A" league within the Hockey Canada framework, until it became independe ...
's Nanaimo Clippers
The Nanaimo Clippers are a junior ice hockey team based in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Island Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at Frank Crane Arena.
Franchise his ...
and to the Western Lacrosse Association
The Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) is a men's Senior A box lacrosse league with seven teams in British Columbia. The playoff championship team each season advances to the play against the Major Series Lacrosse champions for the Mann Cup. The ...
's Nanaimo Timbermen, both of which play at the Frank Crane Arena.
* Nanaimo is home to the Nanaimo Buccaneers of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League, who play at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.
* The Nanaimo NightOwls, of the West Coast League, play at Serauxmen Stadium.
* Football Nanaimo plays at Pioneer Park.
* Nanaimo is home to the Senior A lacrosse team the Timbermen of the Western Lacrosse Association. Nanaimo is also home to the Junior A Timbermen and Junior B Timbermen.
* Nanaimo is home to the Nanaimo Hornets Rugby Football Club, part of the British Columbia Rugby Union. Established in 1888 it is the second oldest rugby club in Western Canada. Their home ground and club is situated in Pioneer Park (since 1968).
Notable people
*Iain Baird
Iain Baird (born January 1, 1963) is a Canadian former soccer defender (football), defender who earned nine cap (sports), caps with the Canada men's national soccer team, Canadian national soccer team between 1984 and 1986.
Baird played for t ...
, professional soccer player
* Terry Beech, politician
* Red Carr, professional ice hockey player
* Gene Carr, professional ice hockey player
* Justin Chatwin, actor
* Glen Clark, 31st Premier of British Columbia
The premier of British Columbia is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of British Columbia. Until the early 1970s, the title ''prime minister of British Columbia'' was often used. The word ''premier'' is derived ...
* Jimmy Claxton, baseball pitcher who broke US baseball's racial colour barrier
* Raymond Collishaw, Canadian World War I flying ace
* Allison Crowe, singer-songwriter and pianist
* John DeSantis, actor
* Michael Edgson, swimmer
* Jodelle Ferland, actress
* David Gogo, blues guitarist
* Paul Gogo, keyboardist for the rock band Trooper
* Christopher Hart, actor and magician
* Al Hill (born 1955), ice hockey player and scout
* Bob Hindmarch, professor and ice hockey coach
* Constance Isherwood, lawyer
* Christine Jensen, Composer and conductor
* Ingrid Jensen, jazz trumpeter
* Susan Juby (born 1969), author
* Ethan Katzberg (born 2002), athlete, Olympic Gold Medal, 2023 Hammer throw world champion
* Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, ''Billboard (magazi ...
, jazz pianist and vocalist
* Tim Lander, poet
* Marc-André Leclerc, alpinist
* Callum Montgomery (born 1997), professional soccer player
* Susan Morgan (born 1949), Oregon politician
* Tyson "TenZ" Ngo, former professional e-sports player and online streamer
* Phil Olsen, Olympian javelin
* Steve Smith, professional downhill mountain biker
* Shane Sutcliffe (born 1975), boxer
* Kirsten Sweetland, triathlete
* May Tully, vaudeville actress, writer, director
* Lorna Vinden, wheelchair athlete
* Cameron Whitcomb, singer and songwriter
* Layla Zoe, blues and blues rock musician and songwriter
Sister city
Nanaimo has one sister city:
* Saitama (←Iwatsuki City), Saitama Prefecture
is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...
, Japan, since 1996
See also
* 1887 Nanaimo mine explosion
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{Coord, 49, 09, 51, N, 123, 56, 11, W, type:city_region:CA-BC, display=title
Cities in British Columbia
Mining communities in British Columbia
Populated places established in 1853
Populated places on the British Columbia Coast
Port cities and towns on the Canadian Pacific coast
Mid Vancouver Island