The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05 million people as of the 2021 Canadian census, the Lower Mainland contains sixteen of the province's 30 most populous municipalities and approximately 60% of the province's total population.
Abbotsford is a city located in British Columbia, adjacent to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver and the Fraser River. With a census population of 153,524 people, it is the largest municipality in the province outside metropolitan Vancouver. Abbotsford–Mission has the third-highest proportion of visible minorities among census metropolitan areas in Canada, after the Greater Toronto Area and the Greater Vancouver CMA. It is home to Tradex, the University of the Fraser Valley, and Abbotsford International Airport.
Abbotsford International Airport is located in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, 2.2 nautical miles southwest of the city centre. It is the second largest airport in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, after Vancouver International Airport (YVR), and is in close proximity to British Columbia Highway 1, and the US border. It is located about 65 kilometres (40 mi) from downtown Vancouver.
Fraser Valley Mariners is a Canadian soccer team based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 2003, the team plays in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference.
Kelly Lochbaum is a former Canadian Football League linebacker for the BC Lions. He is currently a real estate agent in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
Conair Group Inc. of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, formerly known as Conair Aviation, is a company specializing in retrofitting firefighting aircraft, maintaining customer and company-owned aircraft and aerial firefighting. Conair currently employs over 250 staff and has a fleet of aircraft that are broken down into two categories; air attack, and airtankers. Conair specializes in fire management support by providing services and products to forest protection agencies around the world. In 1996 Conair became a Canadian Air Tractor dealer for the AT-802F air tanker. A former Conair Group division; Cascade Aerospace was acquired by the IMP Group of Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2012.
Edward D. "Ed" Fast is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Abbotsford since 2006. A member of the Conservative Party of Canada, he was Minister for International Trade and Minister for the Asia–Pacific Gateway from 2011 to 2015 under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Aldergrove is a community in the Township of Langley within British Columbia, Canada, approximately 59 km (37 mi) east of Vancouver. The community is urban in nature and, although not incorporated as a town, is often referred to as one. Aldergrove is located at the southeastern edge of both the Township of Langley and the Greater Vancouver metropolitan area, near the western edge of the Abbotsford metropolitan area. It is home to the Lynden–Aldergrove Border Crossing, one of the Lower Mainland's five land border crossings, connecting it with Lynden, Washington.
CKKS-FM is a radio station licensed to Chilliwack, British Columbia and serving Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Owned by Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts a modern rock format.
Sikhism in Canada has nearly 800,000 adherents who account for 2.1% of Canada's population as of 2021, forming the country's fastest-growing and fourth-largest religious group. The largest Sikh populations in Canada are found in Ontario, followed by British Columbia and Alberta. As of the 2021 Census, more than half of Canada's Sikhs can be found in one of four cities: Brampton (163,260), Surrey (154,415), Calgary (49,465), and Edmonton (41,385).
Abbotsford Senior Secondary School is a public high school in Abbotsford, British Columbia, part of School District 34 Abbotsford.
The Abbotsford Centre, formerly Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre, is a 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Abbotsford, British Columbia. The arena was expected to cost $64.7 million. Construction began on September 24, 2007. As of 2023, it is the home of the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League (AHL) after previously hosting AHL's Abbotsford Heat from 2009 to 2014.
Columbia Bible College (CBC) is an evangelical Mennonite Bible College in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. It is affiliated with two regional Mennonite conferences, British Columbia Mennonite Brethren and Mennonite Church British Columbia. Columbia is accredited by the international Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE), and is registered with the British Columbia Private Career Training Institution Association (PCTIA).
The McBarge, officially named the Friendship 500, is a former McDonald's restaurant, built on a 187-foot-long (57 m) barge for Expo '86 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Moored on Expo grounds in Vancouver's False Creek, it was the second floating McDonald's location in the world, intended to showcase future technology and architecture. Although the floating design allowed for the barge to operate in a new location following the exhibition, the derelict McBarge was anchored empty in Burrard Inlet from 1991, amid industrial barges and an oil refinery, until it was moved in December 2015 to Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Apart from brief use by its original owner, McDonald's, in 1986, the McBarge has never actively been used for anything and has been drifting from owner to owner for thirty-four years.
The Mennonite Educational Institute (MEI) is an independent country day school located in Abbotsford British Columbia, approximately 70 kilometres from Vancouver. MEI consists of four divisions — a preschool, elementary, middle, and secondary school — and is regularly ranked as one of the top schools in British Columbia. Initially founded in the first-half of the 20th century as an independent high school by a group of churches belonging to the Mennonite community, the MEI schools now welcomes students from a wide-range of religious, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. While weekly chapel services are still held, students are welcome to come from any faith or background. MEI has a strong tradition of both academic, musical, and athletic performance with graduating students going on to attend top universities across Canada, the US, and UK. The MEI Eagles, the school's official sporting teams, have competed in a wide range of national and international competitions.
The Gur Sikh Temple, in Abbotsford, British Columbia, is the oldest existing Sikh gurdwara in North America and a National Historic Site Canada. It is the only gurdwara outside of India and Pakistan that is designated as national historic site.
The Abbotsford School District is a public school district in Clark and Marathon counties, Wisconsin, United States, based in Abbotsford, Wisconsin.
(Note: there is also an Abbotsford School District in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.) School District 34 Abbotsford
The South Asian community in British Columbia was first established in 1897. The first immigrants originated from Punjab, British India, a northern region and state in modern-day India and Pakistan. Punjabis originally settled in rural British Columbia at the turn of the twentieth century, working in the forestry and agricultural industries.
The Matsqui people are a Sto:lo Aboriginal group located in the Central Fraser Valley region of British Columbia, Canada. Their band government is the Matsqui First Nation, a member of the Sto:lo Nation tribal council. The core traditional territory of the Matsqui stretches along the Fraser River from Crescent Island to Sumas Mountain, and southward beyond the Canada-United States border. Today the band administers four reserves and has a population of 225. Their original language is Halq'eméylem.
