Gibsons, British Columbia, is a charming coastal community nestled on the Sunshine Coast along the Strait of Georgia. Despite being part of the mainland, this southwestern Canadian town of 4,605 residents is uniquely inaccessible by road. Visitors can reach Gibsons via a 40-minute BC Ferries crossing from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver or a ferry from Powell River to Earls Cove, north of Sechelt. Alternatively, the town is accessible by water, float plane to the harbour, or small aircraft to Sechelt Airport, approximately 20 km to the northwest.
The land that is now Gibsons is part of the traditional and ancestral lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw, which also includes parts of Greater Vancouver and the Squamish River watershed. According to Sḵwx̱wú7mesh oral history, the region around Gibsons was the birthplace of the Squamish people after The Great Flood.
The European settlement town of Gibsons was established in 1886 by George Gibson and his sons. It was incorporated in 1929 as Gibson's Landing, and in 1947 was renamed Gibsons at the residents' request. The town is divided into two main sections: Lower Gibsons, a mostly residential seaside area, and Upper Gibsons, located along the Sunshine Coast Highway.
Gibsons is best known in Canada as the setting of the popular and long-running CBC Television series The Beachcombers, which aired from 1972 to 1990. The storefront "Molly's Reach" (now a cafe), the restored tug Persephone, and a display about the series at the Sunshine Coast Museum and Archives are popular attractions. Other films that have used Gibsons as a location include Charlie St. Cloud (2010), starring Kim Basinger and Zac Efron, and Needful Things (1993), starring Max von Sydow and Ed Harris.
Gibsons enjoys a temperate coastal climate, with mild, rainy winters and warm, dry summers. The region's landscape is nestled in a temperate rainforest. According to the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Gibsons had a population of 4,758 living in 2,282 of its 2,482 total private dwellings, a change of 3.3% from its 2016 population of 4,605.
Gibsons has won a number of awards, including the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting contest in 2005, and the title of "Most Liveable Community in the World" (under 20,000 population) at the international Livcom Awards in 2009. The town also won an Energy & Climate Action Award for Community Planning and Development from the Community Energy Association in 2009, largely due to a new housing development heated by Canada's first publicly owned geoexchange system.
Gibsons is the first town in British Columbia to accept styrofoam at its recycling facility, the Gibsons Recycling Depot. Its staff has traveled widely to promote styrofoam recycling; founder Buddy Boyd was invited to address an international Zero Waste conference in Florianopolis, Brazil.
Discover the charm, history, and natural beauty of Gibsons, British Columbia, a coastal gem that offers a unique blend of small-town charm and environmental sustainability.
