Central Saanich is a district municipality in Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Capital Regional District. It is located on the Saanich Peninsula, in the far south-east of Vancouver Island. It is the traditional territory of the W̱SÁNEĆ people. The district began as a farming community, and many hobby farms, along working farms and vineyards, still exist. In recent decades, the area has seen increasing residential, commercial, and industrial development, especially around the neighbourhoods of Brentwood Bay and Saanichton, which are occasionally referred to as separate communities.
The area's best-known tourist attractions are the Butchart Gardens, located in the Brentwood Bay area, Gowlland Tod Provincial Park, and Island View Beach.
The mayor of Central Saanich is former district councillor Ryan Windsor. Municipal councillors last elected in 2022 include Niall Paltiel, Sarah Riddell, Zeb King, Bob Thompson, Gord Newton, and Christopher Graham.
Geography Neighbourhoods of Central Saanich: Brentwood Bay Saanichton Island View Keating Tanner Ridge (also Saanich)
Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Central Saanich had a population of 17,385 living in 7,105 of its 7,621 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 16,814. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Ethnicity Panethnic groups in the District of Central Saanich (1996−2021)Panethnic group202120162011200620011996 European 15,065 14,745 14,435 14,585 14,635 13,635 Indigenous 655 660 420 215 200 85 South Asian 490 365 225 195 140 225 East Asian 405 355 230 310 105 210 Southeast Asian 255 175 115 205 175 100 African 105 80 115 35 50 105 Latin American 90 50 65 25 10 45 Middle Eastern 35 0 60 20 10 0 Other/multiracial 80 20 35 25 15 35 Total responses 17,170 16,470 15,725 15,605 15,320 14,450 Total population 17,385 16,814 15,936 15,745 15,348 14,611
Religion According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Central Saanich included: Irreligion (10,150 persons or 59.1%) Christianity (6,365 persons or 37.1%) Sikhism (270 persons or 1.6%) Judaism (110 persons or 0.6%) Buddhism (70 persons or 0.4%) Islam (40 persons or 0.2%) Hinduism (15 persons or 0.1%) Other (150 persons or 0.9%)
Potato ban
The production of potatoes from Central Saanich, east of the West Saanich Road, was banned in 1982 due to infestation by the golden nematode. Potatoes from this region of Central Saanich are banned from entry into the United States.
Notable people Jamie Benn, ice hockey winger for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Silken Laumann, Canadian champion rower. Wife and husband Lorna Crozier and Patrick Lane, both award-winning Canadian poets. Roy Sydney Baker-Falkner, grew up in Saanich in the 1920s and went on to be one of the top Second World War Naval Aviators from Canada and UK., and one of the few Canadians who took part in the Battle of Britain.
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