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 the 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 in British Columbia next to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver, and the Fraser River. With a census population of 153,569 people (2021), 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.
Coast Capital Savings Federal Credit Union is a member-owned financial co-operative headquartered in Surrey, British Columbia. It has nearly 600,000 members through its 45-location branch network. In 2023, Coast Capital's net income was at $58.5 million. and has branches located in British Columbia, including Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Okanagan and Vancouver Island regions.
Chilliwack Coliseum is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. The venue is the home of the Chilliwack Chiefs and is owned by the team's parent company, the Chiefs Development Group. It hosts various events like the Junior A ice hockey championship tournament in 2018, concerts, and trade shows.
Alterna Savings and Credit Union Limited, commonly called Alterna Savings, is a credit union based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In addition to its credit union branches in Ontario, it also operates across Canada through its direct banking subsidiary Alterna Bank.
Gulf and Fraser Fishermen's Credit Union, operating as Gulf & Fraser, is a member-owned financial institution in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, and is the sixth largest credit union in British Columbia by asset size. With a history dating back to 1940, Gulf & Fraser provides banking and a variety of financial services including borrowing, investments and financial planning. It is insured by the Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, a crown corporation that insures the deposits of credit union members.
The British Columbia Rugby Union (BCRU) is the provincial administrative body for rugby union in British Columbia, Canada. The BCRU consists of nine sub-unions and 65 clubs. It was originally organized in New Westminster in 1889 where Alfred St. George Hamersley, the former England rugby union captain and recent immigrant to Vancouver, and member of Vancouver Football (Rugby) Club, became the first President. The same man is credited with founding the Amateur Athletic Club of British Columbia. and previously had introduced the game of rugby to the youth of South Canterbury, New Zealand. The current headquarters is on the west side of Vancouver.
The Fraser Health Authority (FHA) is one of five regional public health authorities in British Columbia. It is governed by the provincial Health Authorities Act.
Sikhism is the fourth-largest religious group in Canada, with nearly 800,000 adherents, or 2.1% of Canada's population, as of 2021. 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).
Envision Financial, a division of First West Credit Union, is based in British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1946, Envision Financial was established in 2001 through a merger between Lower Mainland-based Delta Credit Union, whose roots were in the fishing industry, and Fraser Valley-based First Heritage Savings Credit Union, which had historic ties to the farming and agriculture industries. First Heritage Savings Credit Union was the product of a merger between East Chilliwack Credit Union and Clearbrook District Mennonite Savings Credit Union in 1983. It is insured by the Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.
CKOR is a Canadian radio station in Penticton, British Columbia. Bell Media owns the station, which operates with 10,000 watts of transmission power in the daytime and 500 watts at night, and airs an adult hits format under the Bounce brand. CKOR uses a non-directional antenna at all times.
An electoral redistribution was undertaken in 2008 in British Columbia in a process that began in late 2005 and was completed with the passage of the Electoral Districts Act, 2008 on April 10, 2008. The redistribution modified most electoral boundaries in the province and increased the number of MLAs from 79 to 85. The electoral boundaries created by the redistribution were first used in the 2009 provincial election.
Island Savings, a division of First West Credit Union, is based in British Columbia, Canada. Since 1951, Island Savings has served communities on Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands.
First West Credit Union is British Columbia’s third largest credit union with nearly $18.6 billion in total assets and assets under administration and more than 253,000 members. Its core business is traditional banking, the provision of personal and business daily banking services. First West has the largest geographic reach of any credit union in the province with 45 branches throughout B.C. The credit union is headquartered in the Vancouver suburb of Langley and has regional administration centres in Duncan on Vancouver Island and in Penticton in B.C.’s Southern Interior.
The Old Yale Road is a historic early wagon road between New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada and Yale, British Columbia, and servicing the Fraser Valley of the British Columbia Lower Mainland in the late 19th century and into the early 20th. It eventually became an early highway route for automobiles through the valley and into the British Columbia interior beyond Yale. It would eventually be part of, then surpassed by, the Fraser Highway, the Trans-Canada Highway and the Highway 1.
Valley First, a division of First West Credit Union, is based in British Columbia, Canada. Founded in Penticton in 1947 as the Penticton and District Credit Union, Valley First was established in 1983 following a period of expansion through the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. Valley First continued its growth into the Kelowna market throughout the 1990s, before amalgamating with the Armstrong Spallumcheen Savings and Credit Union and buying the KCP Credit Union in Kamloops in 2001.
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.
Tracy Gray is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Kelowna—Lake Country in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian federal elections. She served in both the 43rd and 44th Canadian Parliaments as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. As a Member of Parliament she introduced one bill, Bill C-283 An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act , which sought to utilize penitentiaries as addiction treatment facilities but it was defeated at second reading. Prior to her election in the House of Commons, she was a city councillor for Kelowna City Council.
Interior Savings Credit Union operated as a member-owned financial co-operative headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1939, the branch network expanded by multiple mergers and became one of the larger BC credit unions. The 2024 merger with Gulf & Fraser created the Beem Credit Union.
