Hope is a district municipality at the confluence of the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Hope is at the eastern end of both the Fraser Valley and the Lower Mainland region, and is at the southern end of the Fraser Canyon. To the east, over the Cascade Mountains, is the Interior region, beginning with the Similkameen Country on the farther side of the Allison Pass in Manning Park. Located east of Vancouver, Hope is at the southern terminus of the Coquihalla Highway and the western terminus of the Crowsnest Highway, locally known as the Hope-Princeton (Highways 5 and 3, respectively), where they merge with the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1). Hope is at the eastern terminus of Highway 7. As it lies at the eastern end of the Fraser Valley in the windward Cascade foothills, the town gets very high amounts of rain and cloud cover – particularly throughout the autumn and winter.
Hope is a member municipality of the Fraser Valley Regional District which provides certain municipal services to unincorporated settlements and rural areas.
The District of Hope includes Hope (the previous Town of Hope) and surrounding areas, including the communities of Kawkawa Lake, Silver Creek, Flood, and Lake of the Woods.
History
The Stó:lō have lived in the Fraser Valley since 8,000 to 10,000 years ago.
In late 1782, a smallpox epidemic among the Stó:lō killed thousands – an estimated two-thirds of the population.
Explorer Simon Fraser arrived in what is now Hope in 1808, and the Hudson's Bay Company created the Fort Hope trading post in 1848. The area was transformed by the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, beginning in 1858. The following year Governor James Douglas laid out the Fort Hope town site. Hope became part of the new British colony of British Columbia when it was created on 2 August 1858. Along with the rest of British Columbia, Hope became part of Canada in 1871.
Late in 1859, Reverend Alexander St. David Francis Pringle arrived in Hope, and on 1 December of that year, founded the first library on the British Columbia mainland. Within two years, he also founded the Christ Church Anglican church, the oldest church on the British Columbia mainland that still holds services on its original site. It is a National Historic Site of Canada.
In 1891, the subdistrict of Hope had a population of 774.Government of Canada (Department of Agriculture, Census Branch). Census of Canada, 1890-1891, 1893, table 2.
Hope incorporated as a village on 6 April 1929, became a town on 1 January 1965, and was reincorporated as a District Municipality named the District of Hope on 7 December 1992.
Naming Fort Hope was established in 1848–49 by chief trader Henry Newsham Peers. He discovered a route through the mountains that did not dip below the 49th parallel, which had become the American border. Thus, the hope that his route would be workable was fulfilled.
World War II
During World War II an internment camp for Japanese Canadians was set up near Hope at Tashme, now known as Sunshine Valley, just beyond the 100-mile exclusion zone from the coast.
Recent history In 2011, the metal Kawkawa Bridge was demolished; previously, it was featured in the 1982 Rambo film, First Blood. In 2020, a wood carved statue of Sylvester Stallone character John Rambo was erected in Hope. In 2025, the Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Vancouver protested the display of the flag of the Republic of China at the town's central bus stop, which led to its removal.
Geography
Hope is at the easternmost point of British Columbia's lower mainland area and is usually considered to be part of the Fraser Canyon area or "eastern Fraser Valley" as "Lower Mainland" is commonly understood as synonymous with "greater Vancouver". There are relatively significant peaks to the north, east, and south of the townsite. Only to the west can flat land be seen, and that view is dominated by the broad lower reaches of the Fraser River. The segment from Lytton to Hope separates the Cascade Mountains and Coast Mountains, thereby forming the lower part of the Fraser Canyon, which begins far upriver near Williams Lake. At Hope, the river enters a broad flood plain extending to the coast and Vancouver.
The Coquihalla and Sumallo Rivers and Silverhope Creek rise in the Cascade Mountains northeast and southeast and south of Hope, respectively, and empty into the Fraser River. The Skagit River begins south of Hope, across a low pass from the head of the Silverhope valley, which is the access to the Canadian shoreline of Ross Lake.
Climate Hope has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) with warm summers and moderately cold winters. Hope has a cloudy climate for most of the year. Late summer is the sunniest time of the year. The high, nearby mountains block direct sunshine when the sun is not high enough in the sky. This is reflected in the sunshine measurements for Hope so the Campbell–Stokes recorder, the standard method for measuring sunshine hours doesn't record all the hours that the sky is clear in Hope.
Demographics In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Hope had a population of 6,686 living in 2,939 of its 3,243 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 6,181. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Ethnicity Panethnic groups in the District of Hope (1996−2021)Panethnic group202120162011200620011996 European 5,125 4,930 4,920 5,150 5,285 5,390 Indigenous 720 645 465 600 525 400 East Asian 200 175 235 250 260 295 South Asian 100 155 35 35 10 40 Southeast Asian 75 80 115 15 35 10 Latin American 40 40 10 0 0 40 African 15 10 0 20 10 10 Middle Eastern 0 20 0 0 0 0 Other/multiracial 40 20 0 25 0 0 Total responses 6,335 6,065 5,800 6,115 6,120 6,190 Total population 6,686 6,181 5,969 6,185 6,184 6,247
Religion According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Hope included: Irreligion (3,375 persons or 53.3%) Christianity (2,645 persons or 41.8%) Hinduism (65 persons or 1.0%) Sikhism (45 persons or 0.7%) Buddhism (20 persons or 0.3%) Judaism (20 persons or 0.3%) Islam (15 persons or 0.2%) Indigenous Spirituality (15 persons or 0.2%)
Economy
Hope's labour force works in a variety of industries. Almost 50 percent of the labour force is involved in four main industries: accommodation and food services (17.1 percent), health care and social assistance (12.8 percent), retail trade (10.3 percent), and transportation and warehousing (8 percent) (2006 data).
One of the town's largest employers is Nestlé Waters. Nestlé, the world's biggest bottler of water, packages more than 300 million litres of water from Hope aquifers annually. Nestlé pays C$675 to the provincial government for this quantity of water (C$2.25 per million litres). The Nestlé bottling plant employs approximately 75 people.
Economic planning Hope's economic development planning is rooted in the community's strategic location, telecommunications infrastructure (high-speed internet), and strong support for new development and redevelopment. The 2014 Economic Profile identifies several sectors as significant areas of opportunity within the local economy: Tourism: including development of tourism products attractive to the primary market coming from the west. Virtual commuters: professionals able to serve their clientèle from off-site locations, such as consultants, photographers, graphic designers, and software developers. Natural resources: sustainable and responsible development of natural resource industries. Lifestyle manufacturing or services: such as coffee roasters, sustainable agriculture, micro-brewery, and other clean water-based industries. "Gap" retailers: independent, entrepreneurial retailers who can deliver niche services for local customers and travellers. In addition, the Revitalization Tax Exemption Bylaw, adopted by the Hope District Council in 2013, encourages property owners who develop or redevelop their properties to apply for financial incentives in the form of tax relief.
Arts and culture
Chainsaw wood carving Hope holds chainsaw wood carving competitions and exhibitions. Chainsaw wood carvings are displayed and exhibited throughout the downtown core of Hope. Memorial Park in downtown Hope has a display of chainsaw wood carvings. Hope is home to carver Pete Ryan, who made a number of the chainsaw wood carvings exhibited in downtown Hope.
Hope Arts Gallery The Hope Arts Gallery exhibits and sells a variety of art by local artists. It is located in downtown Hope and has several rooms displaying sculpture, pottery, paintings and drawings, jewellery, fabric arts, basketry, cards and gifts, and photography. The gallery is run by volunteers from the Hope Arts Guild. The gallery presents ART WALK, a self-guided tour to art and chainsaw wood carvings in Hope.
Hope Brigade Days One of Hope's largest events of the year is Hope Brigade Days, which occurs the weekend after Labour Day every September. Events include a parade, fireworks display, midway, chainsaw carving competition, demolition derby, kids' carnival, and 4x4 racing.
Attractions
Hope Museum The Hope Museum shows the history, culture and heritage of Hope. In downtown Hope, together with the Hope Visitor Centre, the Hope Museum is open year-round. Exhibits include First Nations culture, early Fort Hope, the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, the Kettle Valley Railway, pioneer life, logging, and mining.p.12B, The Hope Standard newspaper, Thursday 14 August 2008, Experience the Past special reprint section available at Hope Visitor Centre
Hope Recreation Complex The Hope Recreation Complex includes a library, pool, arena, and fitness centre. The Hope and District Recreation Complex is run by the Fraser Valley Regional District.
Hope Slide The Hope Slide was one of the largest landslides ever recorded in Canada. It occurred in the morning hours of 9 January 1965, near Hope, killing four people. A viewing site showing the Hope Slide is approximately a 15-minute drive east of Hope on Highway 3.Hope Slide Souvenir Edition, The Hope Standard, January 1965, available at the Hope Visitors Centre
Memorial Park and Friendship Garden
Immediately adjacent to the District Hall in Hope is a Japanese garden called the Friendship Garden, dedicated to the Japanese-Canadians who were interned nearby at Tashme during World War II. It was built by local Japanese-Canadians and presented to Hope on 27 July 1991. Men from that camp were employed during the war building the Hope-Princeton Highway.
Hope Memorial Park, adjacent to the District Hall and Friendship Garden, is the site of a concert series on Sunday afternoons in July and August.
Memorial Park was granted to the then-village of Hope in 1932 by the province of British Columbia. It occupies roughly in the heart of the town.
Othello Tunnels Othello Tunnels is the popular name for the main human-made features of Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park, east of Hope along the canyon of the Coquihalla River and a decommissioned railway grade, now a walking trail, leading eventually to Coquihalla Pass. Originally part of the Kettle Valley Railway, five tunnels and a series of bridges give views of the Coquihalla River as it passes through the river's narrow gorge.
There are two main options for hikers to explore Othello Tunnels. The Othello Tunnels portion of Kettle Valley Trail, 4 km to-and-back, is stroller-friendly and wheelchair-accessible. The Hope-Nicola Valley Trail Loop, a 5.5 km loop hiking trail, is relatively well-maintained but not accessible, nor recommended for people with mobility issues.
Sports
Curling The Hope Curling Club is near the Hope Recreation Complex. The club sponsors bonspiels such as the Men's Bonspiel every January, and the Mixed Curling Bonspiel.
Golf Hope has a golf course and club on the banks of the Coquihalla River.
Hope Icebreakers Junior Hockey Club