Fraser Valley | |
|---|---|
| Fraser Valley Regional District | |
.jpg) View departingAbbotsford Airport | |
 Logo | |
 Location in British Columbia | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | British Columbia |
| Seat | Chilliwack |
| Government | |
| • Type | Regional district |
| • Body | Board of directors |
| • Chair | Patricia Ross (Abbotsford) |
| • Vice chair | Chris Kloot (Chilliwack) |
| • Electoral areas |
|
| Area | |
| • Land | 13,335.28 km2 (5,148.78 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[2] | |
• Total | 324,005 |
| • Density | 24.3/km2 (63/sq mi) |
| Website | www |
TheFraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) is aregional district inBritish Columbia, Canada. Its headquarters are in the city ofChilliwack. The FVRD covers an area of 13,361.74 km2 (5,159 sq mi). It was created in 1995[4] by an amalgamation of theFraser-Cheam Regional District andCentral Fraser Valley Regional District and the portion of theDewdney-Alouette Regional District from and including theDistrict of Mission eastwards.
The FVRD is the third most populous Regional District in British Columbia,[4] incorporating roughly the eastern half of theLower Mainland of southwestern BC, and is bordered byWhatcom County, Washington to the south,Metro Vancouver to the west, theOkanagan-Similkameen Regional District to the east, theSquamish-Lillooet Regional District to the northwest, and theThompson-Nicola Regional District to the northeast.
It also includes unincorporated areas north of theCity of Pitt Meadows, which were part of the Dewdney-Alouette Regional District but which were not transferred to theMetro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD) when it expanded to include Pitt Meadows andMaple Ridge.
As acensus division in the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, the Fraser Valley Regional District had a population of324,005 living in118,217 of its124,988 total private dwellings, a change of9.5% from its 2016 population of295,934. With a land area of 13,319.34 km2 (5,142.63 sq mi), it had a population density of24.3/km2 (63.0/sq mi) in 2021.[5]
| Area | Population (2006) | Population (2011) | Population (2016) | Population (2021) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City ofAbbotsford | 123,864 | 133,497 | 141,397 | 153,524 |
| City ofChilliwack | 69,217 | 77,936 | 83,788 | 93,203 |
| City ofMission | 34,505 | 36,426 | 38,554 | 41,519 |
| District of Hope | 6,185 | 5,969 | 6,181 | 6,686 |
| District of Kent | 4,738 | 5,664 | 6,067 | 6,300 |
| Village of Harrison Hot Springs | 1,573 | 1,468 | 1,468 | 1,905 |
| Electoral Area "A" | 478 | 442 | 405 | 495 |
| Electoral Area "B" | 796 | 721 | 892 | 869 |
| Electoral Area "C" | 952 | 973 | 1,023 | 1,133 |
| Electoral Area "D" | 1,296 | 1,346 | 1,529 | 2,092 |
| Electoral Area "E" | 3,481 | 3,358 | 1,540 | 1,568 |
| Electoral Area "F" | 1,339 | 1,303 | 1,293 | 1,384 |
| Electoral Area "G" | 1,914 | 1,764 | 1,776 | 1,692 |
| Electoral Area "H" | 394 | N/A (dissolved) | 1,847 | 2,459 |
| First Nation Reserves | 8,164 | 9,161 |
| Panethnic group | 2021[2] | 2016[6] | 2011[7] | 2006[8] | 2001[9] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | |
| European[a] | 212,630 | 66.93% | 208,025 | 72.04% | 205,540 | 75.66% | 199,415 | 78.56% | 193,020 | 82.54% |
| South Asian | 53,585 | 16.87% | 39,920 | 13.82% | 33,375 | 12.29% | 26,365 | 10.39% | 19,295 | 8.25% |
| Indigenous | 24,010 | 7.56% | 22,205 | 7.69% | 18,540 | 6.82% | 14,535 | 5.73% | 11,525 | 4.93% |
| Southeast Asian[b] | 8,480 | 2.67% | 4,985 | 1.73% | 3,115 | 1.15% | 2,820 | 1.11% | 2,515 | 1.08% |
| East Asian[c] | 7,940 | 2.5% | 6,700 | 2.32% | 5,890 | 2.17% | 6,375 | 2.51% | 4,245 | 1.82% |
| African | 3,520 | 1.11% | 2,495 | 0.86% | 1,840 | 0.68% | 1,275 | 0.5% | 915 | 0.39% |
| Latin American | 3,045 | 0.96% | 2,050 | 0.71% | 1,385 | 0.51% | 1,785 | 0.7% | 1,325 | 0.57% |
| Middle Eastern[d] | 2,045 | 0.64% | 860 | 0.3% | 635 | 0.23% | 495 | 0.2% | 255 | 0.11% |
| Other[e] | 2,405 | 0.76% | 1,515 | 0.52% | 1,330 | 0.49% | 780 | 0.31% | 755 | 0.32% |
| Total responses | 317,670 | 98.04% | 288,765 | 97.58% | 271,655 | 97.86% | 253,840 | 98.76% | 233,850 | 98.44% |
| Total population | 324,005 | 100% | 295,934 | 100% | 277,593 | 100% | 257,031 | 100% | 237,550 | 100% |
According to the 2011 Census, 76.47% of Fraser Valley's population haveEnglish asmother tongue;Punjabi is themother tongue of 10.02% of the population, followed byGerman (3.49%),Dutch (1.39%),French (1.07%),Korean (0.69%),Spanish (0.66%),Tagalog (0.35%),Chinese, n.o.s. (0.33%), andVietnamese (0.30%).[10]
| Language | 2021[2] | 2011[7] | 2001[11] | 1991[f][12] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | |
| English | 306,300 | 96.42% | 264,790 | 97.47% | 229,090 | 97.96% | 176,445 | 98.59% |
| Punjabi | 47,065 | 14.82% | 30,595 | 11.26% | 17,935 | 7.67% | 7,595 | 4.24% |
| French | 13,695 | 4.31% | 12,625 | 4.65% | 12,290 | 5.26% | 8,470 | 4.73% |
| Hindustani[g] | 10,295 | 3.24% | 4,010 | 1.48% | 4,180 | 1.79% | 1,275 | 0.71% |
| German | 7,600 | 2.39% | 10,205 | 3.76% | 13,555 | 5.8% | 14,860 | 8.3% |
| Spanish | 5,795 | 1.82% | 3,900 | 1.44% | 3,360 | 1.44% | 1,675 | 0.94% |
| Chinese[h] | 3,735 | 1.18% | 2,295 | 0.84% | 1,975 | 0.84% | 1,200 | 0.67% |
| Dutch | 3,565 | 1.12% | 4,730 | 1.74% | 5,525 | 2.36% | 4,825 | 2.7% |
| Tagalog | 3,275 | 1.03% | 1,190 | 0.44% | 545 | 0.23% | 240 | 0.13% |
| Korean | 2,170 | 0.68% | 2,045 | 0.75% | 1,100 | 0.47% | 190 | 0.11% |
| Vietnamese | 2,040 | 0.64% | 730 | 0.27% | 985 | 0.42% | 435 | 0.24% |
| Polish | 805 | 0.25% | 730 | 0.27% | 755 | 0.32% | 605 | 0.34% |
| Ukrainian | 555 | 0.17% | 625 | 0.23% | 1,055 | 0.45% | 1,110 | 0.62% |
| Total responses | 317,670 | 98.04% | 271,655 | 97.86% | 233,850 | 98.44% | 178,975 | 98.21% |
| Total population | 324,005 | 100% | 277,593 | 100% | 237,550 | 100% | 182,243 | 100% |
While the member municipalities provide for their own municipal services, the FVRD acts as the local government for the electoral areas. As a local government or regional district, it can provide services such as water piping, storm sewers, sanitary sewers, street lighting, waste management, fire protection, mosquito control,enhanced 911 service, emergency preparedness/recovery, cablevision, air quality monitoring, library funding, growth management, park maintenance, building inspections and bylaw enforcement, planning, and development approvals. Each area does not necessarily receive all these services so each electoral area pays property taxes, through the provincial government, in accordance with the particular services they receive. The FVRD has opted to implement a regional growth strategy, as allowed by Section 25 of the BC Local Government Act.
The regional district is a federation of municipalities and electoral areas. Each municipality appoints councillors to the board of directors for the regional district in proportion to their relative population sizes and the electoral areas directly elect one director each.
Economically, the area has grown around resource extraction, specifically farming, logging and gravel mining. Much of the Fraser Valley's land base is within theAgricultural Land Reserve (ALR). The balance, not privately owned is inCrown Lands. Retirement and recreational services (like campgrounds, RV parks, boating, skiing etc.) have become increasingly important. However, most commercial and industrial activities are kept within the municipal boundaries and leaving the electoral areas for farming and rural residential uses.
The areas in a regional district that are not incorporated are called ‘electoral areas’.
Boston Bar andNorth Bend, with populations nearing 200 people each, are the two main small towns in this area. Other residents of this area live in small subdivisions (i.e.Canyon Alpine andFalls Creek) or Indian reserves which line theFraser Canyon.
Communities in this area are connected by three highways (Highway #1, #3, #5) which radiate out of the District of Hope. The communities ofDogwood Valley,Emory Creek, andChoate are just north of Hope and have a combined population of about 133 people.Sunshine Valley is a community onBC Highway 3 southeast of Hope with 164 people and was originally a Japanese internment camp named Tashme. Other communities in this area includeLaidlaw, west of Hope, andSpuzzum, north ofYale.
Communities in this area includeLake Errock with 368 people,Harrison Mills with 141 people, and the resort town ofHemlock Valley, with only 15 permanent residents (but several hundred hotel guests and condo residents during the ski season). There are vacation homes on islands inHarrison Lake.
The population of this area lives in the unincorporated villages ofPopkum andBridal Falls. Combined they have a population of 972 people.
The Chilliwack River runs east-west through this area. Most of the population live in the small area between the mountains and the river, which is generally divided into three areas:Slesse Park,Baker Trails andBell Acres.
Other residents of this area live on the north end ofCultus Lake, or in theColumbia Valley, south of Cultus Lake, bordering Washington state.
Area F lies between the boundaries of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District to the north and west, the Metro Vancouver Regional District to the west, Electoral Area G and the cities of Mission and Maple Ridge to the South, and Electoral Area C to the east. The Area F population of approximately 1,300 people lives exclusively in the southern, lowland portion of Area F, specifically that between Hatzic Lake and the southeast end of Stave Lake, as everything in this electoral area north ofStave Lake is inaccessible or uninhabitable. This inhabited lowland area is also known asHatzic Valley, and includes the unincorporated localities of McConnell Creek and Miracle Valley in the north, and Hatzic Prairie and the farming town ofDurieu in the south.
This small but populous (~1,800 pop.) Electoral Area lies mainly north of theFraser River but also encompasses portions of Sumas Mountain to the south (formerly Electoral Area "H".) Area "G" borders the District of Mission to the west, Electoral Areas "F" and "C" to the North and East and the city ofAbbotsford, British Columbia to the south. It includes the communities ofHatzic Island,Dewdney,Nicomen Island, andDeroche. FVRD local services provided to Area "G" include the Dewdney and Deroche Community Water Systems, North Fraser Fire Protection, North Side Street Lighting and North Side Garbage.
Farming (dairy, nursery and blue berries) and resource extraction (forestry and aggregate) along with recreation are the primary activities. Approximately one-quarter of the residents live on Hatzic Island with much of the Electoral Area's remaining population residing in more rural locations and on Leq’a:mel First Nation Reserve lands.
The Sasquatch Lions Club (member club of Lions Clubs International) is the predominant service organization found in Area "G" and the Deroche and District Community Association has been active since 1908.[citation needed]
This new Electoral Area H was re-established in 2014 to include Cultus Lake and Columbia Valley.[13] Previously, Electoral Area H was dissolved in 2008, with privately owned lands within the area being annexed into Abbotsford, and crown lands being reassigned to Electoral Area "G".[14] The previous area consisted of the majority ofSumas Mountain.
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Places adjacent to Fraser Valley Regional District | |
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