Hello there!

Today we cover the latest accolade for fast-growing Langford, the completion of the new HandyDART facility in View Royal, and the reports yesterday of a person and dog being pursued by wolves out by the coast.

— Cam

NEWS

Langford ranked #2 in BC on new economic resilience list

Langford rose one spot from last year and is nestled between peninsula municipalities Sidney and Central Saanich, with Kelowna and West Kelowna rounding out the top 5. Most of the top 15 were Island communities, including #6 Saanich, #8 Victoria, and #12 Sooke.

The annual ranking from BC Business began a decade ago as Best Places to Work. It measures 50 BC municipalities of 10,000+ residents by using factors such as growth; job creation; and housing sales, starts, and vacancies. 

Reasons Langford did well included its economic diversity and its staggering rate of population growth and high number of housing starts per capita, which were both by far the highest of any municipality on the list. 

The article also cites the addition of local business parks and the upcoming post-secondary campus, and includes a profile of the success of Sheringham Distillery and its expansion from Sooke to Langford.

The city touted its silver status on Monday, attributing the accolade to its “focus on innovation, entrepreneurship, and community engagement” and its range of different major sectors—enabling relatively fast and successful adaptation.

The city says it will be releasing its first formal Economic Development Strategy in June and wrapping it early next year.

NEWS

Dog walker reports being chased by wolves in East Sooke / Metchosin

Volunteer-run wildlife group Wild Wise Society posted on Facebook yesterday morning that it had gotten reports of the alleged encounter. It called the described situation unusual, but pointed out that wolves do try to get prey to flee in order to run them down at high speeds.

Wild Wise encouraged locals to make noise if they do encounter a wolf while out with a dog, but to avoid them by:

• Keeping dogs on-leash at all times outside

• Bringing free-roaming cats indoors

• Securing livestock well to avoid drawing wolves

Wild Wise also received a heightened number of wolf reports last fall, though some proved to be loose dogs.

Last fall, after a high-profile cougar run-in, The Westshore looked at how the expansion of the human population in our region is leading to more wild animal encounters.

The BC Conservation Service told CHEK that it was investigating the Monday wolf situation but that wolf encounters happen in wild or rural Island areas and that “during the incident (Monday) they exhibited natural territorial behaviour.” 

NEWS

New $83.5M HandyDART depot opens in View Royal

The depot, 5 years in the making, will roughly double the region's capacity to send these smaller community buses to provide door-to-door pickup for locals with disabilities. 

The $83.5M cost will be split between the provincial and federal governments and the Victoria Regional Transit Commission.

The facility will be BC Transit’s first Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Gold standard building. The full electrification process didn't come cheap, though. BC and Canada kicked in $51M in 2023, on top of the initial cost estimate in 2019 of $32M, to get it there—although that money was also for increased costs of inflation and construction. 

The site needed environmental improvements, and for its changes on that front the project was designated as the first “Salmon Safe” urban development project on the Island. It created over an acre-plus of protected habitat for salmon and trout in the Craigflower Creek watershed, and salmon have returned to the site in higher numbers since its remediation. Some 8,000 endemic plants and 350 trees were planted as part of the project.

The facility at Watkiss and Burnside will host 50+ buses, and can handle up to 100. BC Transit says the new site “positions BC Transit to expand HandyDART ridership in Greater Victoria to meet the expected growth in demand as the region’s population ages and grows.”

By moving HandyDART operations to the View Royal location, BC Transit will be able to repurpose its old location to use for the upcoming Saanich Transit Centre. 

The depot is expected to be fully operating by mid-April, sending out its community buses to provide door-to-door pickup for locals with disabilities. 

Around the 'Shore

🗳 Municipalities reiterate election sign rules: Keep election signs off public property, View Royal told the public last week. They shouldn't be on roadsides, parks, municipal buildings’ lots, or obstructing traffic sightlines. [Details] Colwood also posted that as of last fall, candidates can only have a total of 24 small signs and 5 large signs, and they must only be along 12 specific routes within Colwood—and not on medians, planting beds, or hydro poles.

🛣 Hwy 14 utility work this week and next: Hole digging has started, which should not impact traffic. Pole setting will begin next Monday, causing single-lane alternating traffic from 9am to 3pm from Lazzar to Woodlands. [District]

📖 Adventurous Langford senior ‘Crazy Nana’ becomes author of kids' books. Sharon Stevens-Smith, 82, pens stories inspired by her life of sailing, flying, and motorcycling around the world to do anthropology, primatology, and more. [CHEK]

🚌 Latest Westshore-Ukraine trip shows locals' impact—and country's weariness. Local organizers with Vancouver Island Supports Ukraine recently made their fourth aid trip, delivering a school bus, laptops, diesel generators, and hospital supplies to several municipalities. They said the effect of war and the rising death toll were evident, but that their in-person visit was able to convince local officials to fund a renovation to help set up donated medical equipment. [Black Press]

🗳 Esquimalt byelection fills seat vacated by new Westshore MLA Darlene Rotchford, with Meagan Brame returning to a council seat after making her own run at the Esquimalt-Colwood riding. [Capital Daily]

📰 Last week: Community helps local couple face terminal cancer. Langford's draft OCP. Giant peacock on campus & other April Fools pranks. [Newsletter]

📣 Your Voice, Your Victoria! Take the 2025 Vital Signs citizen survey today for your say on the health of Greater Victoria. You could win a $100 Country Grocer gift card!*

*Sponsored Listing

Community Events

⚽️ Pacific FC plays again on Sat. after last weekend's season-opening win earned them CPL Team of the Week honours. [Tickets]

👐 Beacon of Hope Town Hall on helping unhoused locals is this weekend (April 12) at Salvation Army’s Connection Point (737 Goldstream). [Info]

🥕 Free seminar on composting basics this Sat. in Langford. [Register]

🤝 Federal election local candidates meet & greets continue at Poncho's Cafe this Fri. & Sat. [Info]

📚 Big Bargain Book Sale, Saturday, April 12 from 10am-4pm. Books $1-3. Gordon United Church Hall, 935 Goldstream Ave., Langford. To learn more or to donate books, call 250-478-6632.

👟 High Ground hike for community preparedness next Thurs., April 17, at Sooke Flats. [District]

🌍 Sooke Earth Day event April 26 on the greenspace beside Fire Station One. [District]

Council Meetings

View Royal: Committee of the Whole meeting today. [Calendar]

What’s Offshore?

🚢 Off Colwood coast: ONE Majesty, a container ship built in 2010, sailing from Tacoma to Vancouver under a Marshall Islands flag 🇲🇭.

🚢🚢🚢 Further out: Atlantic Blue, a 2021-built crude oil tanker sailing from Brisbane (Australia) to Vancouver under a Liberia flag 🇱🇷. Seaspan Lions, 2024-built bunkering tanker sailing from Long Beach (California) to Tilbury Island under a Panama flag 🇵🇦. Mozu Arrow, a 1992-built general cargo ship sailing from Busan (South Korea) to Port Mellon under a Bahamas flag 🇧🇸, for the Japanese shipping company NYK (Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha).

🛳 At Ogden Point: The Koningsdam, the first cruise ship of April, pulled in last Friday.

Westshore Snaps

Looking out over Green #3 at the Highland Pacific Golf Course in Highlands. – Richard Steward, View Royal

That’s it!

If you found something useful, consider forwarding this newsletter to another Westshore local.

And before you go, let us know: