Metchosin

Template:Use Canadian English Template:For-multi Template:Use mdy dates Template:Main otherTemplate:Template otherTemplate:Main other The District of Metchosin (Template:IPAc-en) is a municipality and community in Greater Victoria on the southern tip of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is a coastal community adjacent to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Metchosin is part of the Western Communities and one of the 13 regional municipalities.

The origin of its name is a Straits Salish word, smets-shosin, meaning "place of stinking fish" or "place smelling of fish oil."

History

Following the establishment of farms by the Puget Sound Agricultural Company in the Victoria area, independent settlers entered the Metchosin area. In 1851, Captain Cooper bought land on the shores of Witty’s Lagoon, that became the first farm in Metchosin, called Bilston Farm and farmed by Thomas Blinkhorn. Other settlers followed and cleared the arable land.

In 1861, Race Rocks Lighthouse was built. In the early 1880s, two quarantine stations were built by the federal government, first on Albert Head in 1883 and then William Head, which inspected and controlled all people entering Canada for infectious diseases. Starting in 1924, Bentinck Island was used as a leper colony. As medical procedures progressed, the leper colony was closed in 1956, and in 1958, the quarantine station at William Head was converted into a minimum-security prison. The station at Albert Head became part of CFB Esquimalt.

In 1984, the Municipality of the District of Metchosin was incorporated, mainly to protect its rural character from the encroaching suburban sprawl.

Geography

Climate

Metchosin has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb) in parts caused by the rain shadow and to the east of the strait of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but keeping some oceanic characteristics (Cfb). Sligo, Ireland has very close temperatures with only a slightly warmer summer. The biggest difference is in the summer drying, common of the Pacific Northwest. Template:Weather box

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Metchosin had a population of 5,067 living in 1,856 of its 1,938 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 4,708. With a land area of Template:Cvt, it had a population density of Template:Pop density in 2021.

Ethnicity

Panethnic groups in the District of Metchosin (1996−2021)

Panethnic group	2021		2016		2011		2006		2001		1996
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
EuropeanTemplate:Efn	4,300		4,245		4,155		4,360		4,255		4,155
Indigenous	225		135		210		115		180		40
East AsianTemplate:Efn	85		95		70		45		25		75
South Asian	35		10		30		45		50		20
African	25		10		0		35		60		75
Southeast AsianTemplate:Efn	20		20		0		20		20		60
Middle EasternTemplate:Efn	0		10		0		20		25		10
Latin American	0		0		0		35		20		30
Other/MultiracialTemplate:Efn	0		10		0		15		10		0
Total responses	4,710		4,520		4,490		4,690		4,625		4,455
Total population	5,067		4,708		4,803		4,795		4,857		4,709
Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses

Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Metchosin included:

• Irreligion (3,120 persons or 66.2%)
• Christianity (1,480 persons or 31.4%)
• Buddhism (20 persons or 0.4%)
• Other (80 persons or 1.7%)

Parks

• Albert Head Lagoon Regional Park
• Blinkhorn Nature Park
• Buckbrush Swamp
• Devonian Regional Park
• Matheson Lake Regional Park
• Witty's Lagoon Regional Park
• Galloping Goose Regional Park

External links

• Template:Official website