District of Saanich Capital Regional District, British Columbia

District Municipality (1) - A populated place with legally defined boundaries, incorporated as a district municipality under the provincial Municipal Act. Just N of City of Victoria, Victoria Land District

Mapped Location

District of Saanich: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

 

Information

General information on District of Saanich

  • Feature Type: Incorporated

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for District of Saanich

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name Description
District of Saanich Official

 

Origin Notes and History of District of Saanich

References to District of Saanich that document the origin of its place name

Incorporated 1 March 1906 as The Corporation of the District of Saanich. "Saanich (Municipal District)" adopted in the 18th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1924, as labelled on BC map 2A, 1914. Re-approved 6 November 1934 on National Defence sheet 1449, Saanich.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

"Our word Wsanec in Saanich means 'raised up'. If you go offshore to the east and look [back] you will see why. You'll see what it looks like in the distance compared to the surrounding land. It is 'raised up'." (Saltwater People, as told by David Elliott Sr., ed. Janet Poth; a resource book for the Saanich Native Studies program, School District 63, 1990). Elsewhere in the publication, Wsanec is identified as the name for Saanich Peninsula, meaning 'emerging people', where the name Wsanec comes from the name of the Saanich people (ibid, p.26).

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

From the Saanich (Straits Salish) word meaning 'elevated' or 'upraised'. The word describes what Mount Newton looked like to [people] approaching by sea from the east - someone lying down with his rump up. Another explanation is that Saanich refers to the appearance of the peninsula when seen through a mirage on a warm summer day. Under such conditions, it indeed looks 'elevated' or 'upraised.'

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, G.P.V; British Columbia Place Names; Sono Nis Press, Victoria 1986 /or University of British Columbia Press 1997  |  Province of British Columbia

"I have had repeated requests during the past few years and although we have made every endeavor to trace the meaning, we have not been successful. All we know is that the word designates a local tribe." (John Hosie, Provincial Librarian, 19 March 1934, file 1008386/34275s). "[Indigenous people] I have talked with say that "Fair-land" as used by Victoria Publicity Bureau is not right, yet they do not know the meaning themselves." (H.J. McIntyre, Saanich Peninsula & Gulf Islands Review (file 1007898/34275a).

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Provincial Archives of BC "Place Names File" compiled 1945-1950 by A.G. Harvey from various sources, with subsequent additions  |  Province of British Columbia

 

Related Catalog Titles

A Bibliography for District of Saanich, Capital Regional District, British Columbia

The fair land, Saanich by Betty Bell

Title Cover Image

132 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map, portraits ; 23 cm

CIRC [ 1 ]
Biography · 1st Edition · Sono Nis Press, Victoria, B.C., 1982
Related Catalog Items: District of Saanich · Capital Regional District

 


 

Capital Regional District

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Last updated: 2025-09-23