Courtenay, British Columbia, is a city of approximately 26,000 residents nestled on the east coast of Vancouver Island. As the largest community and only city in the Comox Valley, Courtenay serves as the seat of the Comox Valley Regional District. The city is conveniently located near several other towns and cities, including Comox, Cumberland, Royston, and Nanaimo. Courtenay is also home to The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary's), a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces. The city is well-connected with the Island Highway, the Island Rail Corridor, and a local airport in Comox.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the Courtenay River Estuary was home to an active Coast Salish fishing settlement for at least 4,000 years. The area, known as kw'umuxws (Li'kwala for plentiful), was rich in fertile soil, gentle climate, and abundant sea life. The Pentlatch Nation, who spoke the Island Comox dialect of the Comox Coast Salish language, occupied the shores of present-day Comox Bay. Another Island Comox speaking Nation, the K'ómoks, settled further north along the east coast of Vancouver Island.
The Pentlatch used elaborate fishing weirs—nets tied to wooden stakes that would be covered at high tide but uncovered at low tide, allowing trapped fish to be removed. These wooden stakes can still be seen at low tide. Several of these wooden stakes were carbon dated, revealing the oldest to be made from a hemlock tree c.750 CE, while the youngest dated from around 1830. Some scientists estimate that the weirs could have supported a population of several thousand people. The Pentlatch also harvested the abundant shellfish in Comox Bay.
By the 19th century, the K'ómoks had been driven out of their lands near Campbell River by the Lekwiltok, a particularly fierce group of Kwakwaka'wakw. The K'ómoks migrated south to the shores of the Courtenay River estuary, where they allied with the resident Pentlatch against their common enemy. In 1862, a major smallpox epidemic swept across Vancouver Island, killing an estimated 30% of First Nations people. A census of First Nations in the Comox Valley taken in 1876 revealed that the local First Nations population had dwindled to only 88 K'ómoks and 21 Pentlatch.
In 1579, Francis Drake, on his circumnavigation of the globe in the Golden Hind, found a good port somewhere along the northwest coast of North America and stayed for several months while restocking supplies and trading with the inhabitants of the area. He named the region Nova Albion, Latin for "New Britain". Drake's detailed logs — and the exact location of Nova Albion — were later lost in a 17th-century fire, but some historians believe Drake made a landing in the Courtenay River estuary.
In 1791, a Spanish expedition led by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores produced a crude chart of the Strait of Georgia and possibly visited Comox Bay. Captain George Vancouver arrived the following year, tasked by the British government with charting the northwest coast of North America. Vancouver, in concert with the Spanish expedition, entered the Courtenay River estuary between the present-day locations of Courtenay and Comox and charted the shoreline of the estuary.
By the middle of the 19th century, European and American settlements had sprung up in the Vancouver area and on southern Vancouver Island. In 1837, the Hudson Bay Company steamship Beaver began to search the south and east coasts of Vancouver Island for suitable locations for new trading posts, and subsequently set up a post overlooking the Courtenay River estuary, calling it "Komoux".
HMS Constance, commanded by Captain Courtenay, was a frequent visitor to the area. In 1848, the river flowing through the Koumax valley was informally named the Courtenay River by the sailors of HMS Constance after their captain. In 1857, Captain George Richards of HMS Plumper was tasked with undertaking a complete survey of the coastline of Vancouver Island, and was given authority to name local landmarks. When he arrived in the area, he confirmed the name of the river as the Courtenay.
In 1853 Sir James Douglas, governor of Vancouver Island, took a journey up the coast of Vancouver Island aboard SS Beaver, and recognized the area's agricultural potential. In 1861, Lieutenant Richard Mayne of the Royal Navy visited the area and wrote of the rich agricultural prospects of the area, saying it had taken him a day and a half to walk over the land "through which a plough might be driven from end to end". That same year Governor Douglas issued a land and settlement proclamation for the Koumox Valley, intending to divert new settlers away from the Victoria area as well as from the newly discovered Cariboo gold fields. He offered land in the valley for $1 per acre and free transportation to the area.
Although some unofficial settlers had arrived in previous years, the first government-approved settlers arrived in 1862 aboard HMS Grappler. The majority of the settlers staked out farm lots on the flat and fertile "prairies" on the east side of the river, and a small village sprung up on the east bank of the river to supply their needs. The Courtenay Hotel, also known as Courtenay House, became the focal point of a village that included a general store, a small bank, a barber, and livery barns. However, it was not an ideal location, since the river regularly burst its banks due to king tides or spring run-off, flooding the entire village.
In 1864, Robert Brown, leading the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition, discovered coal deposits in the Comox Valley, but these went unexploited for two decades. In 1874, a new settler to the area, Joseph McPhee, won the contract to build a bridge that connected the regularly flooded flats on the east side of the river to higher ground on the west side of the river. When the bridge was finished, McPhee and business partner Reginald Pidcock bought up 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land on the western side of the river immediately adjacent to the new bridge. McPhee built a store beside the bridge, while Pidcock built the Courtenay River's first commercial enterprise, a saw mill.
In 1888 Robert Dunsmuir established a mine in nearby Union, later renamed Cumberland, which brought an influx of settlers, and Chinese and Japanese immigrants. McPhee and Pidcock recognized the economic potential of a townsite on the western bank of the river, which would be closer to the mines. They hired a surveyor, George Drabble, to survey and subdivide their land into town lots, which they quickly sold to businessmen and homeowners. The townsite on the much drier west side of the river, called for a time "New Courtenay", quickly developed. Many of the stores and businesses centred on what was originally called Union Street (now 5th Street), which ascended from McPhee's bridge.
The Comox Co-operative Creamery opened in 1901, encouraging the development of dairy farms in the fertile valley. Courtenay had no connecting roads to the rest of the Island; news and mail were provided by packet steamers. But in 1905, Joseph McPhee brought telephone service to his store, providing the isolated community with immediate contact to the outside world. A connecting road to Nanaimo and Victoria was finally built in 1910, and the E&N Railway arrived in 1914, bringing an end to the packet steamer era.
Electricity arrived in the area in 1914, provided by Courtenay Electric Light Heat and Power. However, some citizens, led by Joseph McPhee, believed that electricity should be provided by a publicly owned company, and Courtenay was incorporated as a town on 1 January 1915 to facilitate this. In order to make a publicly owned company a reality, McPhee ran for the office of mayor, but lost by a mere five votes to rival Dan McPatrick, who favoured a private electrical company. However, a majority of the alderman elected to council were allies of McPhee, and in December 1916, the new town purchased Courtenay Electric Light Heat and Power, making it a public utility.
On 12 July 1915, a large fire ripped through 5th Street destroying much of the south side of the downtown. After much of the street was rebuilt, another fire hit the south side of 5th Street, again destroying many of the stores. In both cases, due to the lack of a water system, the citizens were only able to fight the fires with a bucket brigade. Joseph McPhee led the call for a water system, which was installed by October 1921.
In 1921, a new chapter of the Native Sons of Canada was formed in Courtenay, with Joseph McPhee as president. They decided to build a hall, and a large log structure was completed in 1928, the largest freespan log building in Canada. In 1923, a steel bridge at the 5th Street river crossing replaced McPhee's fifty-year-old wooden structure. The town's population experienced steady growth in the years between the First and Second World Wars, increasing from 600 people in 1914 to 1700 in 1941. By 1951, the population had grown to 2500, and Courtenay was designated a city in 1953. In 1960, the 5th Street bridge built in 1923 was replaced with the current steel structure. Concrete sidewalks and a sewer system were installed in 1962.
In 1975, the construction of Driftwood Mall and the opening of a second river crossing, the 17th Street lift bridge, refocused the business district from 5th Street to Cliffe Avenue.
On 14 June 1946, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck just west of Courtenay, with the epicentre located at Forbidden Plateau. The earthquake was felt as far north as Prince Rupert and as far south as Portland, Oregon. Many of the town's chimneys were destroyed, and there was significant damage to the post office and what is now Courtenay Elementary School. This was the largest earthquake to hit Vancouver Island, and the largest onshore earthquake in Canada on record. There were only two reported deaths: one Seattle man died of a heart attack and another drowned when his boat capsized due to a resulting wave.
According to Statistics Canada, Courtenay has a total land area of 26.68 km2 (10.30 sq mi). The city is located on the British Columbia Coast and sits on the Strait of Georgia. The climate in Courtenay is very similar to that of the rest of eastern Vancouver Island, classified as an Oceanic climate (Csb). In the spring and fall seasons, Courtenay tends to be quite cool and wet. It has one of the mildest winters in Canada along with several other locations on the island such as Victoria. The high precipitation levels can be attributed to both the oceanic climate and also its proximity to the Insular Mountain range which results in the rain shadow effect. Courtenay has quite mild winters, maintaining the cool and damp characteristics, but temperatures can drop below freezing levels and snow may happen throughout the season due to Arctic air movements.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Courtenay had a population of 28,420 living in 12,992 of its 13,414 total private dwellings, a change of 10.8% from its 2016 population of 25,639. With a land area of 32.42 km2 (12.52 sq mi), it had a population density of 876.6/km2 (2,270.4/sq mi) in 2021.
As per the 2006 census, there were 9,750 households, out of which 19.08% were couples with children, 31.74% were couples without children, 31.54% were single person and 17.64% were other. The average household size was 2.2. The same census indicated that in the city, the population was spread out, with 23.15% under the age of 20, 5.81% from 20 to 24, 24.27% from 25 to 44, 28.37% from 45 to 64, and 18.37% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years compared to 40.8 for BC as a whole. For every 100 females there were 89.7 males and for every 100 females age 20 and over, there were 86.6 males. For every 100 males there were 111.5 females and for every 100 males age 20 and over, there were 115.5 females.
According to the 2006 census, there were 17,135 people in the city with an income, with a median total income of $22,662. Of this income, earnings were 64.7%, government transfers were 16.5%, and other income was 18.8%. There were 11,585 people with earnings and the average overall earnings were $20,529, with an average among full-year full-time earnings of $36,960.
Also as of 2006, it was the 61st largest metropolitan area (which includes Comox and Comox Valley B) and the 69th largest urban area.
Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.
Every summer, usually in July, the largest music festival, the Island Music Fest on Vancouver Island takes place in the Comox Valley. Performers and audience members gather for three days of camping and an eclectic mix of music. There are several other festivals in the area and they include the North Island Festival of Performing Arts, Fiddlefest, Comox Valley Highland
