Saanich North and the Islands

Saanich—Gulf Islands is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1988. It is named for its geographical location across the Gulf Islands and Saanich Peninsula in the Vancouver Island region.

Swartz Bay, located on the north end of the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island, is primarily known for being the location of one of BC Ferries' main terminals, the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal. Swartz Bay was named after John Aaron Swart, purchaser in 1876 - i.e. it was meant to be Swart's Bay, but was incorrectly spelled when it was adopted by the Government. In the SENĆOŦEN language spoken by Indigenous W̱SÁNEĆ people of the area, its name is ŚJEL¸KES.

Piers Island is a small island in Satellite Channel, British Columbia, Canada. The channel joins Saanich Inlet on the west with Colburne Passage to Haro Strait on the east, which is the section of the Canada–US border separating the Gulf Islands in British Columbia, of which Piers is a part, from the San Juan Islands of Washington state. Haro Strait is part of the Inside Passage from Washington to Alaska through which ships can find waters relatively sheltered from Pacific Ocean waves and storms for most of its length. Piers Island is separated from the somewhat larger Portland Island by Shute Passage to the northeast.

The Shoal Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary is a migratory bird sanctuary on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. More than 40 species of birds are found there.There are marinas and boat moorings within the sanctuary and development on its shoreline.A ship partially sank in the bird sanctuary in 2022, raising concerns about environmental impacts to the wildlife there.Among 92 MBS in Canada, Shoal Harbour MBC is 146 hectares big and one of the early establishments made under the Migratory Birds Convention Act. Migratory Birds Sanctuaries’ main goal is to protect migratory birds from numerous threats and to provide a safe, warm shelter during winter when their habitats are mostly frozen. This is one of the implementations to accomplish the environmental missions that Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has called along with the Species at Risk Act to sustain biodiversity.About 35-40 species of birds inhabit the Shoal harbour area. Three areas are composed of Shoal Harbour: Protected waters, Sidney Channel Bird Important Area, and Outer Coast.Each area has extinct characteristics, as particular species of birds are found in each sector.With IUCN(International Union for Conservation of Nature) evaluation, the birds are distinguished into not evaluated, data deficient, least concerned, near threatened, vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, extinct in the wild, and extinct.

Parkland Secondary School is a public secondary school in North Saanich, a suburb of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is operated by School District 63 Saanich. It is one of three secondary schools in the school district and is located at the northern end of the Saanich Peninsula. The school serves the municipalities of North Saanich and Sidney as well as the nearby Pauquachin, Tsawout and Tseycum First Nations communities. International students from around the world comprise a significant percentage of the student enrollment. In 2018, Parkland Secondary introduced the International Baccalaureate program, making it the only public school on Vancouver Island to offer such a program. Parkland Secondary is fed primarily from North Saanich Middle School.

SMONEĆTEN Campground is located in the town of Sidney on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. SMONEĆTEN Campground is 20 hectares of forested parkland and can be accessed from the Pat Bay Highway (Highway 17). Previously, SMONEĆTEN Campground was managed by the province of British Columbia and known as McDonald Campground. Today SMONEĆTEN Campground is a part of Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. The campground was renamed to SMONECTEN in 2021.

Little Shell Island is a small island 2 km east of Sidney, British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Gulf Islands. The island is approximately 1 acre (0.4 hectares) in size. It is part of the Little Group of islands near Sidney and has a rich variety of wildlife. It is named after its beach, which is composed of broken seashells. In 2021, it was put up for sale for $1.1 million.

Sidney is a town located at the northern end of the Saanich Peninsula, on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia. It's 1 of the 13 Greater Victoria municipalities. It has a population of approximately 11,583. Sidney is located just east of Victoria International Airport, and about 6 km (4 mi) south of BC Ferries' Swartz Bay Terminal. The town is also the only Canadian port-of-call in the Washington State Ferries system, with ferries running from Sidney to the San Juan Islands and Anacortes. Sidney is located along Highway 17, which bisects the town from north to south. It is generally considered part of the Victoria metropolitan area. The town west of Highway 17 (also called Patricia Bay Highway, locally abbreviated as the Pat Bay Highway) has a mixture of single-family residences and light industry. The majority of the town is located east of Highway 17. Single-family units are also present east of the highway, but the eastern sector also has many condominium-type buildings, plus most of the service and retail outlets. The island-studded Haro Strait, part of the Salish Sea, forms Sidney's eastern boundary. There is a large boating and marine industry in the area, ranging from marinas to boatbuilders and marine suppliers. Sidney takes its name from nearby Sidney Island. In 1859, Captain Richards named that island for Frederick W. Sidney, who, like Richards served in the survey branch of the Royal Navy.: 243 

The Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea (formerly known as the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre) is a not-for-profit community aquarium and cultural learning centre dedicated to the ecosystem of the Salish Sea. It is located in the Sidney Pier Building on the waterfront in the Vancouver Island town of Sidney, Canada, in the Greater Victoria region. Since its grand opening on June 20, 2009, the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea has become a highly regarded environmental education centre, as well as a popular attraction frequented by tourists and locals alike. The centre has won numerous awards, including being named "One of Canada's Top Ten New Attractions" for summer 2009 by Where magazine.

Portland Island is an island of the Southern Gulf Islands of the South Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the Salish Sea west of Moresby Island and off the south tip of Saltspring Island, adjacent to the main BC Ferries route just offshore from the terminal at Swartz Bay at the tip of the Saanich Peninsula. It was named after HMS Portland, the flagship of Rear-Admiral Fairfax Moresby, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Station 1850–1853.: 214 Portland Island is separated from North Pender Island to the northeast by Swanson Passage, Moresby Island by Moresby Passage to the east, Piers Island and Coal Island to the southeast by Shute Passage, and Saltspring Island to the west and north by Satellite Channel. Portland Island was given to Princess Margaret in 1958 to commemorate her visit to the province. Princess Margaret returned the island to British Columbia in 1967, following which it became a provincial park. Today, Portland Island is a part of Gulf Islands National Park Reserve (GINPR).

Victoria International Airport (IATA: YYJ, ICAO: CYYJ) serves Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) north northwest of Victoria on the Saanich Peninsula, with the bulk of the airport (including the passenger terminal) in North Saanich, and a small portion of the airfield extending into Sidney. The airport is run by the Victoria Airport Authority. YYJ has many nonstop daily flights to Vancouver International Airport (YVR, about 15 minutes), which is a major airport serving many global routes. Additionally, Victoria International has nonstop service to Seattle (SEA), Toronto (YYZ), Montreal (YUL, summer only), Calgary (YYC), Edmonton (YEG), and several smaller cities in British Columbia and Yukon. The airport also has seasonal (late fall to early spring) nonstop service to several Mexican resort destinations. Non-stop service between Victoria and the United States decreased by 50% at the beginning of September 2019 when Delta Airlines permanently ended its three daily flights to Seattle, after which only Alaska Airlines continued to fly the route.Victoria International Airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). CBSA officers at this airport can handle aircraft with no more than 450 passengers, when unloaded from the aircraft in stages, or 120 normally. YYJ does not have United States customs and border preclearance, but many passengers fly first to Vancouver International Airport (YVR), which does have U.S. preclearance. In 2018, YYJ served 2,048,627 passengers and had 120,936 aircraft movements, making it Canada's 11th busiest airport in terms of passengers. It was British Columbia's third busiest airport in terms of passengers and aircraft movements. Like most airports that are run by local authorities in Canada, YYJ charges an airport improvement fee for each outgoing passenger. As of December 2018, it was $15.00 per departing passenger. AIF fees are usually added to fares and collected automatically by most airlines.

Victoria Airport Water Aerodrome (TC LID: CAP5) is a seaplane base located 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) north northwest of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, adjacent to Victoria International Airport. The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). CBSA officers at this airport can handle general aviation aircraft only, with no more than 15 passengers.Today, Pat Bay serves as an alternate airport for Harbour Air flights to Victoria Inner Harbour. Charters in and out of Pat Bay are rare, but not out of the question.