Fraser Valley Regional District

The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. Its headquarters are in the city of Chilliwack. The FVRD covers an area of 13,361.74 km2 (5,159 sq mi). It was created in 1995 by an amalgamation of the Fraser-Cheam Regional District and Central Fraser Valley Regional District and the portion of the Dewdney-Alouette Regional District from and including the District of Mission eastwards.

The FVRD is the third most populous Regional District in British Columbia, incorporating roughly the eastern half of the Lower Mainland of southwestern BC, and is bordered by Whatcom County, Washington to the south, Metro Vancouver to the west, the Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District to the east, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District to the northwest, and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District to the northeast.

It also includes unincorporated areas north of the City of Pitt Meadows, which were part of the Dewdney-Alouette Regional District but which were not transferred to the Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD) when it expanded to include Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge.

Demographics As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Fraser Valley Regional District 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.

Population by census subdivision AreaPopulation (2006)Population (2011)Population (2016)Population (2021)City of Abbotsford123,864133,497141,397153,524City of Chilliwack69,21777,93683,78893,203City of Mission34,505 36,42638,55441,519District of Hope6,185 5,9696,1816,686District of Kent4,738 5,6646,0676,300Village of Harrison Hot Springs1,573 1,4681,4681,905Electoral Area "A"478 442405495Electoral Area "B"796721892869Electoral Area "C"9529731,0231,133Electoral Area "D"1,2961,3461,5292,092Electoral Area "E"3,4813,3581,5401,568Electoral Area "F"1,3391,3031,2931,384Electoral Area "G"1,9141,7641,7761,692Electoral Area "H"394N/A (dissolved)1,8472,459First Nation Reserves8,1649,161

Ethnicity + Panethnic groups in the Fraser Valley Regional District (2001−2021)Panethnicgroup20212016201120062001 European 212,630 208,025 205,540 199,415 193,020 South Asian 53,585 39,920 33,375 26,365 19,295 Indigenous 24,010 22,205 18,540 14,535 11,525 Southeast Asian 8,480 4,985 3,115 2,820 2,515 East Asian 7,940 6,700 5,890 6,375 4,245 African 3,520 2,495 1,840 1,275 915 Latin American 3,045 2,050 1,385 1,785 1,325 Middle Eastern 2,045 860 635 495 255 Other 2,405 1,515 1,330 780 755 Total responses 317,670 288,765 271,655 253,840 233,850 Total population 324,005 295,934 277,593 257,031 237,550 Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.

Language According to the 2011 Census, 76.47% of Fraser Valley's population have English as mother tongue; Punjabi is the mother tongue of 10.02% of the population, followed by German (3.49%), Dutch (1.39%), French (1.07%), Korean (0.69%), Spanish (0.66%), Tagalog (0.35%), Chinese, n.o.s. (0.33%), and Vietnamese (0.30%).

+ Knowledge of languages in the Fraser Valley Regional District (1991−2021)Language2021201120011991 English 306,300 264,790 229,090 176,445 Punjabi 47,065 30,595 17,935 7,595 French 13,695 12,625 12,290 8,470 Hindustani 10,295 4,010 4,180 1,275 German 7,600 10,205 13,555 14,860 Spanish 5,795 3,900 3,360 1,675 Chinese 3,735 2,295 1,975 1,200 Dutch 3,565 4,730 5,525 4,825 Tagalog 3,275 1,190 545 240 Korean 2,170 2,045 1,100 190 Vietnamese 2,040 730 985 435 Polish 805 730 755 605 Ukrainian 555 625 1,055 1,110 Total responses 317,670 271,655 233,850 178,975 Total population 324,005 277,593 237,550 182,243

Services 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.

Political structure 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.

Economy Economically, the area has grown around resource extraction, specifically farming, logging and gravel mining. Much of the Fraser Valley's land base is within the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). The balance, not privately owned is in Crown 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.

Electoral area, geography, and climate The areas in a regional district that are not incorporated are called ‘electoral areas’.

Electoral area "A" Boston Bar and North 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 and Falls Creek) or Indian reserves which line the Fraser Canyon.

Electoral area "B" Communities in this area are connected by three highways (Highway #1, #3, #5) which radiate out of the District of Hope. The communities of Dogwood Valley, Emory Creek, and Choate are just north of Hope and have a combined population of about 133 people. Sunshine Valley is a community on BC Highway 3 southeast of Hope with 164 people and was originally a Japanese internment camp named Tashme. Other communities in this area include Laidlaw, west of Hope, and Spuzzum, north of Yale.

Electoral area "C" Communities in this area include Lake Errock with 368 people, Harrison Mills with 141 people, and the resort town of Hemlock Valley, with only 15 permanent residents (but several hundred hotel guests and condo residents during the ski season). There are vacation homes on islands in Harrison Lake.

Electoral area "D" The population of this area lives in the unincorporated villages of Popkum and Bridal Falls. Combined they have a population of 972 people.

Electoral area "E" 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 and Bell Acres.

Other residents of this area live on the north end of Cultus Lake, or in the Columbia Valley, south of Cultus Lake, bordering Washington state.

Electoral area "F" 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 of Stave Lake is inaccessible or uninhabitable. This inhabited lowland area is also known as Hatzic Valley, and includes the unincorporated localities of McConnell Creek and Miracle Valley in the north, and Hatzic Prairie and the farming town of Durieu in the south.

Electoral Area "G" This small but populous (~1,800 pop.) Electoral Area lies mainly north of the Fraser 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 of Abbotsford, British Columbia to the south. It includes the communities of Hatzic Island, Dewdney, Nicomen Island, and Deroche. 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.

Electoral Area "H" This new Electoral Area H was re-established in 2014 to include Cultus Lake and Columbia Valley. 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". The previous area consisted of the majority of Sumas Mountain.

Fraser Valley Regional District

Bron en licentie