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Gibsons
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| Town of Gibsons[1] | |
Gibsons Harbour
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Flag | |
  Gibsons Location of Gibsons in British Columbia | |
| Coordinates: 49°24′4″N 123°30′27″W / 49.40111°N 123.50750°W / 49.40111; -123.50750 | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | British Columbia |
| Region | Sunshine Coast |
| Regional district | Sunshine Coast |
| Founded | 1886 |
| Incorporated | 1929 |
| Government | |
| • Governing body | Gibsons Town Council |
| • Mayor | Silas White |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4.32 km2 (1.67 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 10 m (30 ft) |
| Population
(2021)
| |
| • Total | 4,758 |
| • Density | 1,100/km2 (2,900/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (PST) |
| Postal code |
V0N 1V0 & V0N 3V0
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| Area code(s) | 604, 778 |
| Gibsons Way / Highway 101 | 101 |
| Waterways | Howe Sound |
| Website | www |
Gibsons is a coastal community of 4,758 in southwestern British Columbia, Canada on the Sunshine Coast, along the Strait of Georgia.
During its early history as a European-descended settlement, the town was a local centre for forestry and commercial fishing. However, changing economics and resource availability have led Gibsons to increasingly become a bedroom community to workers in Greater Vancouver (especially remote or hybrid workers).[2] Due to its location in the Pacific Coastal Rainforest, adjacent the Salish Sea and the Coast Mountains, and its position as gateway to the rest of the Sunshine Coast, Gibsons is a regional tourist destination.[3]
In 2009, the International Awards for Liveable Communities (LivCom) named Gibsons the most liveable community in the world with a population under 20,000.[4]
Gibsons is perhaps 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" (a former cafe now up for lease as of 2023), 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 (as a stand-in for Marblehead, Massachusetts); and Needful Things (1993), starring Max von Sydow and Ed Harris.[5]
Gibsons, like the remainder of the Sunshine Coast, is inaccessible by road directly from the rest of the lower mainland, and is primarily accessed by a BC Ferries ferry from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver.[6]
The land currently known as 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. Sḵwx̱wú7mesh oral history tells that the region around Gibsons was the birthplace of the Squamish people after what is called 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's two main sections are:
Gibsons is the first town in British Columbia to accept styrofoam at its recycling facility, the Gibsons Recycling Depot. Its staff has travelled widely to promote styrofoam recycling; founder Buddy Boyd was invited to address an international Zero Waste conference in Florianopolis, Brazil.[7]
The Sunshine Coast has seen a three-decade transition from a forestry- and fishing-based economy to a more diverse one with construction trades, business services, retail and tourism becoming prominent.[8]
Between 2016 and 2021, its population grew 3.3% compared with BC's overall growth rate of 7.6%. In 2021, the median resident age was 56.0 years, compared with the provincial median of 42.8 years.[9]
Gibsons is in a temperate coastal climate, with mild, rainy winters and warm, dry summers. The region's landscape is in a temperate rainforest.
| Climate data for Gibsons | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 13.5 (56.3) |
16.7 (62.1) |
18.9 (66.0) |
25 (77) |
30.6 (87.1) |
32 (90) |
36 (97) |
32.8 (91.0) |
32 (90) |
24 (75) |
17.8 (64.0) |
14.5 (58.1) |
36 (97) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6.5 (43.7) |
7.9 (46.2) |
10.3 (50.5) |
13.4 (56.1) |
16.9 (62.4) |
19.7 (67.5) |
22.2 (72.0) |
22.6 (72.7) |
19.1 (66.4) |
13.5 (56.3) |
8.6 (47.5) |
6.1 (43.0) |
13.9 (57.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.4 (39.9) |
5.2 (41.4) |
7.2 (45.0) |
9.8 (49.6) |
13 (55) |
15.7 (60.3) |
18 (64) |
18.2 (64.8) |
15.1 (59.2) |
10.6 (51.1) |
6.4 (43.5) |
4 (39) |
10.6 (51.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.2 (36.0) |
2.5 (36.5) |
4.1 (39.4) |
6.1 (43.0) |
9 (48) |
11.7 (53.1) |
13.6 (56.5) |
13.7 (56.7) |
11.1 (52.0) |
7.7 (45.9) |
4.1 (39.4) |
1.9 (35.4) |
7.3 (45.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −15.6 (3.9) |
−12 (10) |
−8.3 (17.1) |
−3.3 (26.1) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
3.9 (39.0) |
5.5 (41.9) |
5.6 (42.1) |
0 (32) |
−3 (27) |
−12.2 (10.0) |
−17.8 (0.0) |
−17.8 (0.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 183.4 (7.22) |
109.8 (4.32) |
125.4 (4.94) |
104.3 (4.11) |
91.3 (3.59) |
66.8 (2.63) |
41.1 (1.62) |
48.8 (1.92) |
60.5 (2.38) |
152.3 (6.00) |
212.9 (8.38) |
174.3 (6.86) |
1,370.8 (53.97) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 174.4 (6.87) |
103.6 (4.08) |
122.2 (4.81) |
104.2 (4.10) |
91.3 (3.59) |
66.8 (2.63) |
41.1 (1.62) |
48.8 (1.92) |
60.5 (2.38) |
152 (6.0) |
211 (8.3) |
166.6 (6.56) |
1,342.4 (52.85) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 9.1 (3.6) |
6.2 (2.4) |
3.2 (1.3) |
0.1 (0.0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0.3 (0.1) |
1.9 (0.7) |
7.7 (3.0) |
28.4 (11.2) |
| Source: [10] | |||||||||||||
In 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. With a land area of 4.31 km2 (1.66 sq mi), it had a population density of 1,103.9/km2 (2,859.2/sq mi) in 2021.[11]
| Panethnic group |
2021[12] | 2016[13] | 2011[14] | 2006[15] | 2001[16] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | |||||
| European[a] | 3,800 | 83.06% | 3,825 | 86.83% | 3,730 | 88.28% | 3,705 | 91.26% | 3,545 | 92.56% | ||||
| Indigenous | 265 | 5.79% | 205 | 4.65% | 200 | 4.73% | 220 | 5.42% | 120 | 3.13% | ||||
| East Asian[b] | 175 | 3.83% | 115 | 2.61% | 80 | 1.89% | 40 | 0.99% | 125 | 3.26% | ||||
| Southeast Asian[c] | 130 | 2.84% | 125 | 2.84% | 120 | 2.84% | 10 | 0.25% | 20 | 0.52% | ||||
| South Asian | 105 | 2.3% | 30 | 0.68% | 15 | 0.36% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | ||||
| African | 50 | 1.09% | 70 | 1.59% | 45 | 1.07% | 20 | 0.49% | 15 | 0.39% | ||||
| Latin American | 20 | 0.44% | 10 | 0.23% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 0.25% | 10 | 0.26% | ||||
| Middle Eastern[d] | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 0.25% | 0 | 0% | ||||
| Other/Multiracial[e] | 25 | 0.55% | 15 | 0.34% | 0 | 0% | 30 | 0.74% | 0 | 0% | ||||
| Total responses | 4,575 | 96.15% | 4,405 | 95.66% | 4,225 | 95.22% | 4,060 | 97.08% | 3,830 | 98.05% | ||||
| Total population | 4,758 | 100% | 4,605 | 100% | 4,437 | 100% | 4,182 | 100% | 3,906 | 100% | ||||
| Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses | ||||||||||||||
According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Gibsons included:[12]
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Gibsons has won a number of awards: In February 2005, Gibsons won the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting contest, coming first in the world.[18]
In October 2009, the town was declared the "Most Liveable Community in the World" (under 20,000 population) at the international Livcom Awards.[19] Endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme, the LivCom competition focuses on best practices for local environmental management.[20]
In 2009 Gibsons won an Energy & Climate Action Award for Community Planning and Development from the Community Energy Association. [2] A major factor in the award was a new housing development, which will be heated by Canada's first publicly owned geoexchange system.[21][22] In 2013, the Town of Gibsons was recognized by the Community Energy Association for its Natural Asset Management as a Climate Adaptation Approach
Gibsons travel guide from Wikivoyage|
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49°24′10″N 123°30′13″W / 49.40278°N 123.50361°W / 49.40278; -123.50361
