About Us – British Columbia Sun

We think living and working in British Columbia Sun—in many different ways.

It’s awesome because of its people, diverse culture, entrepreneurial spirit and scenic beauty.

At British Columbia Sun, we pledge to connect you to the people, places and happenings that make British Columbia unique, and inform you on the issues that shape its future—both good and bad.

As a continuously evolving newsroom, we’ll keep pushing to better inform locals and help you become more connected, involved and invested in the future of BC.

Join us on our journey to keep The British Columbia Sun shining by becoming a reader today.

A vintage print of H.T. Devine’s famous photo of pioneer Vancouver realtors setting up office in a giant tree stump in May, 1886. The print has resurfaced in The Townley Collection of Early Vancouver, British Columbia and Canadian Pacific Railway Photographs, which is being sold by Wayfarer’s Bookshop. The men in the photograph are, from left to right on ground: Edwin Sanders, A.W. Ross, Dr. Fort, J.W. Horne, Mr. Hendrickson, and U.S. Consul Mr. Hemming. Men on log are: H.A. Jones, Mr. Stiles, and an unidentified man. City of Vancouver Archives LGN 454.The Neeland Brothers mounted the print in an album for the print’s owner, James Dixon Townley. PHOTO BY H.T. DEVINE /PNG

British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province, is defined by its Pacific coastline and mountain ranges. Nature areas like Glacier National Park offer hiking and biking trails, as well as campgrounds. Whistler Blackcomb is a major ski resort that hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. The scenic Sea-to-Sky Highway links Whistler with Vancouver, a city known for its film industry, at the province’s southern U.S. border.

“Nanitch” translates from Chinnook as, “to look and watch.” *Courtesy University of British Columbia Library, Rare Books and Special Collection, Uno Langmann Family Collection of BC Photographs*

The province’s name was chosen by Queen Victoria, when the Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866), i.e., “the Mainland”, became a British colony in 1858. It refers to the Columbia District, the British name for the territory drained by the Columbia River, in southeastern British Columbia, which was the namesake of the pre-Oregon Treaty Columbia Department of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Queen Victoria chose British Columbia to distinguish what was the British sector of the Columbia District from the United States (“American Columbia” or “Southern Columbia”), which became the Oregon Territory on August 8, 1848, as a result of the treaty.

Ultimately, the Columbia in the name British Columbia is derived from the name of the Columbia Rediviva, an American ship which lent its name to the Columbia River and later the wider region; the Columbia in the name Columbia Rediviva came from the name Columbia for the New World or parts thereof, a reference to Christopher Columbus.

Given its varied mountainous terrain and its coasts, lakes, rivers, and forests, British Columbia has long been enjoyed for pursuits like hiking and camping, rock climbing and mountaineering, hunting and fishing.