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**
MLA · BC PROVINCIAL 2026
# Esquimalt-Colwood.
4 candidates, one seat.
This district elects one MLA. Voters mark one name on Saturday, October 24, 2026, and the candidate with the most votes wins the seat.
Esquimalt-Colwood is a provincial electoral district in Greater Victoria on southern Vancouver Island. It takes in the Township of Esquimalt, the City of Colwood, the Town of View Royal and the Victoria West neighbourhood. The 2021 census counted 58,410 people in it, and the Electoral Boundaries Commission gives its area as 53 square kilometres. Its name first appears on the 2024 ballot.
## The candidates
In alphabetical order
[MLA · Esquimalt-Colwood**BC NDP**Darlene Rotchford
Researched by voche.meExplore the profile ](https://voche.me/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/darlene-rotchford) [MLA · Esquimalt-Colwood**Conservative Party of BC**Dave Johnston
Researched by voche.meExplore the profile ](https://voche.me/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/dave-johnston) [MLA · Esquimalt-Colwood**Centre BC**Sid Tobias
Researched by voche.meExplore the profile ](https://voche.me/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/sid-tobias) [MLA · Esquimalt-Colwood**BC Green Party**Sidney Coles
Researched by voche.meExplore the profile ](https://voche.me/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/sidney-coles)
- People, 2021 census
- 58,410
- Area
- 53 km²
- Registered voters, 2024
- 46,799
- Turnout, 2024
- 63.34%
- Median age
- 43.6
- Median household income, 2020
- $86,000
THE DISTRICT
## Where Esquimalt-Colwood is
53 km² · 58,410 people
Esquimalt-Colwood lies in Greater Victoria, which the Electoral Boundaries Commission's 2023 final report places on southern Vancouver Island. The report says the district includes the municipalities of Colwood, View Royal and Esquimalt, and the neighbourhood of Victoria West. Its boundaries follow those municipal borders, the Gorge Waterway and Victoria Harbour. The commission gives the district an area of 53 square kilometres and a population of 58,356, and the commission's table lists a deviation of 8.5% from the average.
Salt water shapes the western part of the district. The Esquimalt Lagoon Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Colwood covers 134 hectares and lies 10 kilometres west of Victoria. Environment and Climate Change Canada describes a lagoon sheltered from the Strait of Juan de Fuca by Coburg Peninsula, with mudflats, eelgrass and estuary marsh that hold thousands of migratory waterfowl from October through May. Parks Canada places Fisgard Lighthouse at the entrance to Esquimalt Harbour, also in Colwood.
The E&N Rail Trail is a 13.5 kilometre paved path for cycling and walking. The Capital Regional District says it starts at Esquimalt Road in Victoria and runs through Victoria, Esquimalt, View Royal and Langford. Its access points include Admirals Road at Colville Road in Esquimalt, and Admirals Road at Hallowell Road, Helmcken Road and the Island Highway at Burnside Road West in View Royal. The commission lists transit corridors such as the E&N trail among the shared interests of Victoria West and the neighbourhoods west of the Gorge Waterway.
- Esquimalt
- Colwood
- View Royal
- Victoria West
- Hatley Park
- Craigflower
Sources: [British Columbia Electoral Boundaries Commission (opens in a new tab)](https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/BCEBC-Final-Report-April-3-2023.pdf), [Environment and Climate Change Canada (opens in a new tab)](https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/migratory-bird-sanctuaries/locations/esquimalt-lagoon.html), [Parks Canada (opens in a new tab)](https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=98), [Capital Regional District (opens in a new tab)](https://www.crd.ca/parks-recreation/find-park-or-trail/en-rail-trail)
HISTORY
## The history of the area
Checked Thursday, October 8, 2026
### Lekwungen territory and the Douglas treaties
The Esquimalt Nation gives its traditional name as Xʷsepsəm and says its people are part of the Lekwungen peoples, whose territories centred in and around what is now the City of Victoria. Its website names other Lekwungen places and groups, among them Xʷaymiɬ (Colwood/Langford), Sxʷeŋxʷəŋ (James Bay) and Qəqay̓ə́qən (William Head). It says its ancestors signed the Douglas treaties in 1850.
The Songhees Nation introduces itself as the Songhees Nation of the lək̓ʷəŋən People. Its website says the lək̓ʷəŋən people are known today as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations and have hunted and gathered in this area for thousands of years. The City of Colwood says it sits on the ancestral lands of Teechamista and the Lekwungen-speaking people now known as the Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations. The Town of View Royal describes its documented history as beginning in traditional Songhees territory, the home of the Kosampson and Whyomilth families.
The Township of Esquimalt's history says Coast Salish people lived in the area for an estimated 4,000 years before European settlers arrived. It says the name Esquimalt is an anglicized version of the First Nation's word es-whoy-malth, meaning the place of gradually shoaling water. The Township places a village site near Ashe Head on the eastern shore of Esquimalt Harbour and says the Esquimalt Band makes its home there today.
Sources: [Esquimalt Nation (Xʷsepsəm) (opens in a new tab)](https://esquimaltnation.ca/?p=147), [Songhees Nation (opens in a new tab)](https://www.songheesnation.ca/community/l-k-ng-n-traditional-territory), [City of Colwood (opens in a new tab)](https://www.colwood.ca/community-services/arts-culture/first-nations-communities), [Town of View Royal (opens in a new tab)](https://www.viewroyal.ca/EN/main/discover/archives-heritage.html), [Township of Esquimalt (opens in a new tab)](https://www.esquimalt.ca/sites/default/files/docs/business-development/final_history_of_esquimalt_formatted.pdf)
### Company farms at Esquimalt, Colwood and Craigflower, 1850 to 1856
The Township of Esquimalt's history says James Douglas, Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company, visited Esquimalt Harbour in 1843 and recognized the agricultural potential of the land. The company's subsidiary, the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, started Viewfield Farm in 1850. It started Constance Cove Farm and Craigflower Farm in 1853.
Craigflower lies in what is now View Royal. The Town says work began at its Maple Point farm in 1853 under Kenneth McKenzie, a Scottish farm manager who served as the first farm bailiff from 1856 to 1866. The Craigflower Schoolhouse was completed in 1855, and the Town calls it the oldest surviving school building in Western Canada. The site completed in 1856 ran a sawmill, a flour mill, a blacksmith's shop, a brick kiln, a slaughterhouse and a general store.
In 1851 Captain Edward E. Langford arrived from England to manage a farm at Esquimalt for the same company. The BC Geographical Names Office records that the Langford family named the farm Colwood, to recall the family's 200-acre holding in Sussex, England. That farm is the origin of the name of the City of Colwood.
Sources: [Township of Esquimalt (opens in a new tab)](https://www.esquimalt.ca/sites/default/files/docs/business-development/final_history_of_esquimalt_formatted.pdf), [Town of View Royal (opens in a new tab)](https://www.viewroyal.ca/EN/main/discover/archives-heritage.html), [BC Geographical Names Office (opens in a new tab)](https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/35878.html)
### Lighthouse, naval base and railway, 1860 to 1887
Fisgard Lighthouse in Colwood was built in 1859 and 1860 and first showed its light on 16 November 1860. Parks Canada designated it a national historic site in 1958 as the first permanent lighthouse on the Pacific coast of Canada. Its position at the entrance to Esquimalt Harbour is part of the reason for the designation.
The Township of Esquimalt's history says Esquimalt replaced Valparaiso, Chile, as the Royal Navy's Pacific headquarters in 1865. The Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway was built through the centre of Esquimalt in 1886. In 1887 a military base was established at Work Point Barracks and the naval dockyard was completed.
Parks Canada's management plan for Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse describes the Victoria-Esquimalt fortifications of 1878 to 1956 and places the sites in the traditional territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations. The plan says it draws on input from those two Nations. The Township adds that gun positions at Macaulay Point, Finlayson Point and Brothers Island protected Victoria and Esquimalt harbours, and that the Crown took over larger parts of Esquimalt's land for military use.
Sources: [Parks Canada (opens in a new tab)](https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=98), [Township of Esquimalt (opens in a new tab)](https://www.esquimalt.ca/sites/default/files/docs/business-development/final_history_of_esquimalt_formatted.pdf), [Parks Canada (opens in a new tab)](https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2022/12/fort-rodd-hill-and-fisgard-lighthouse-national-historic-sites-management-plan-tabled-in-parliament.html)
### The Songhees reserve moves to Esquimalt Harbour, 1911
The Royal BC Museum says the Old Songhees Reserve existed from 1844 until 1911, across Victoria Harbour from the museum's Thunderbird Park. It included an extensive Lukwungen village and was a gathering place for First Nations visitors from up and down the coast, who came for ceremonies, trade and paid work in Victoria. The museum records that Chief Michael Cooper, who lived from 1864 to 1936, played a prominent role in relocating the reserve between 1892 and 1911. The Songhees Nation's website says the Nation moved from the reserve at Songhees Point to its current reserve in 1911.
In 1912 and 1913 the Canadian Pacific Railway built a repair yard for steam locomotives on Esquimalt Road in Victoria West. Parks Canada's register describes a roundhouse of ten stalls with a turntable 85 feet across, and records that the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Roundhouse was formally recognized as a national historic site on 4 June 1992. The register calls it the most intact facility for servicing steam locomotives in western Canada.
Sources: [Royal BC Museum (opens in a new tab)](https://rbcm.ca//exhibits/tbird-park/html/pre/oldsong.htm), [Songhees Nation (opens in a new tab)](https://www.songheesnation.ca/community/l-k-ng-n-traditional-territory), [Township of Esquimalt (opens in a new tab)](https://www.esquimalt.ca/sites/default/files/docs/business-development/final_history_of_esquimalt_formatted.pdf), [Canadian Register of Historic Places (opens in a new tab)](https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7416), [Canadian Register of Historic Places (opens in a new tab)](https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=1621)
### Esquimalt becomes a township, 1912, and the war years
The Township of Esquimalt's history says the Royal Navy left the Esquimalt base in 1905 and the last British Army garrison left in 1906. The base was revived in 1910 as the West Coast base of the new Naval Service of Canada, which became the Royal Canadian Navy in 1911. The letters patent for the District of Esquimalt were signed on 15 August 1912, and the Corporation of the Township of Esquimalt was incorporated on 1 September 1912. Charles H. Lugrin was acclaimed as the first Reeve, and one of the council's first tasks was a sewerage system.
The Township says shipbuilding and repair had been the main industry since 1893. During the Second World War, Yarrow's Shipyard built ships for the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Merchant Marine Service, and Pacific Command Headquarters was set up at Work Point Barracks. At one point the staging grounds held 10,000 troops and officers in training. A second history page on the Township's website gives the Yarrows workforce as more than 4,300 workers. In 1941 the Old Esquimalt Village was expropriated, along with property in the Naden area, to make room for larger military barracks.
Sources: [Township of Esquimalt (opens in a new tab)](https://www.esquimalt.ca/sites/default/files/docs/business-development/final_history_of_esquimalt_formatted.pdf), [Township of Esquimalt (opens in a new tab)](https://www.esquimalt.ca/node/347)
### Hatley Park, 1908 to 1995
Hatley Park is an estate of 228.84 hectares at 2005 Sooke Road in Colwood, beside Esquimalt Lagoon, according to Parks Canada's Canadian Register of Historic Places. The industrialist James Dunsmuir had Hatley Castle built in 1908 and 1909 to a design by the architect Samuel Maclure, and the landscape architects Brett and Hall laid out the grounds. The Dunsmuir family lived there until 1937.
In 1940 the Department of National Defence bought the property for Royal Roads Military College, which used it for more than 50 years. Parks Canada recognized Hatley Park as a national historic site on 6 July 1995. It describes the estate as a Canadian example of an Edwardian park that remains practically intact in its plan, the extent of its grounds and the quality and variety of its features. The military college added buildings, two sports fields and a parade square between the 1940s and the mid-1970s.
Sources: [Parks Canada (opens in a new tab)](https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=868), [Canadian Register of Historic Places (opens in a new tab)](https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7944)
### Municipalities, a bird sanctuary and treaty talks, 1910 to 2024
The Town of View Royal says its name was coined circa 1910 by a real estate developer promoting the Royal Views of Esquimalt Harbour. The Esquimalt Lagoon Migratory Bird Sanctuary was established on 12 December 1931. The BC Geographical Names Office records that Colwood was incorporated as a city on 24 June 1985, and the Town of View Royal says it was incorporated in 1988.
The Te'mexw Treaty Association is made up of five Coast Salish Nations: Beecher Bay (SC'IȺNEW̱), Malahat, Snaw-naw-as, Songhees and T'Sou-ke. It says treaty negotiations are in Stage 5 of the BC treaty process. The Songhees Nation's website says the process has reached the final stage, that the treaty will be subject to ratification by Songhees members, and that it will not replace the treaties signed with Douglas in 1850.
On 2 October 2024 the Songhees Nation Council and the City of Colwood Council signed a Relationship Agreement. The City says that if Songhees members approve their treaty, Songhees is expected to hold treaty lands at Hatley Park, which Colwood surrounds. Chief Ron Sam described the agreement as part of getting ready for a potential future where Songhees and Colwood have neighbouring lands.
Sources: [Town of View Royal (opens in a new tab)](https://www.viewroyal.ca/EN/main/discover/archives-heritage.html), [Environment and Climate Change Canada (opens in a new tab)](https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/migratory-bird-sanctuaries/locations/esquimalt-lagoon.html), [BC Geographical Names Office (opens in a new tab)](https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/35878.html), [Te'mexw Treaty Association (opens in a new tab)](https://temexw.org), [Songhees Nation (opens in a new tab)](https://songheesnation.ca/governance/modern_treaty), [City of Colwood (opens in a new tab)](https://www.colwood.ca/node/8791)
THE SEAT
## Who has held the seat
Legislative Assembly records, 35th Parliament onward
Esquimalt-Colwood first appears on the 2024 ballot. The Electoral Boundaries Commission's 2023 final report recommended the name, along with several others, to reflect the communities each district represents. The report moved Victoria West from Victoria-Beacon Hill into the district. Elections BC's conversion table matches its 71 voting areas to 60 in Esquimalt-Metchosin, 11 in Victoria-Beacon Hill and 1 in Victoria-Swan Lake, as those districts stood from 2017 to 2024. In 2024 Darlene Rotchford of the BC NDP won with 15,238 votes (51.47%), ahead of John Wilson of the Conservative Party with 8,652 (29.22%) and Camille Currie of the BC Green Party with 5,716 (19.31%). Turnout was 63.34% of 46,799 registered voters. The BC government's page on Rotchford says she was a councillor for the Township of Esquimalt from 2022 to 2024 and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Armed Forces Development and Veterans Affairs in November 2025.
Most of the district's voting areas came from Esquimalt-Metchosin. Elections BC's volumes print Moe Sihota of the NDP as its winner in 1991 with 13,458 votes (59.16%) and in 1996 with 13,833 votes (59.54%). Arnie Hamilton of the Liberal Party won in 2001 with 9,544 votes (45.79%). Maurine Karagianis of the NDP won in 2005 with 12,545 votes (49.63%) and then in 2009 and 2013 in a district named Esquimalt-Royal Roads. Mitzi Dean of the NDP won Esquimalt-Metchosin in 2017 with 11,816 votes (46.25%) and in 2020 with 15,070 votes (59.32%).
The name Esquimalt appears in Elections BC's first volume from the 1871 election. At that election the two-member district of Esquimalt elected Henry Cogan and Alexander Rocke Robertson. Herbert Joseph Bruch of Social Credit won Esquimalt in 1953, 1956, 1960, 1963, 1966 and 1969. The Constitution (Amendment) Act of 1978, assented to on 29 June 1978, created Esquimalt-Port Renfrew. Franklin Mitchell of the NDP won it in 1979 with 12,419 votes (51.37%) and in 1983 with 16,304 votes (57.77%), and Moe Sihota won it in 1986 with 15,198 votes (53.40%). The volume's chronology records 1986 as the year Sihota became the first Indo-Canadian to win a seat in a Canadian legislature.
Sources: [British Columbia Electoral Boundaries Commission (opens in a new tab)](https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/BCEBC-Final-Report-April-3-2023.pdf), [Elections BC (opens in a new tab)](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/44914a35-de9a-4830-ac48-870001ef8935), [Province of British Columbia (opens in a new tab)](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/organizational-structure/cabinet/cabinet-ministers/parliamentary-secretary-armed-forces-development-and-veterans-affairs), [Elections BC (opens in a new tab)](https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/1987-2001-ElectionHistory.pdf), [Elections BC (opens in a new tab)](https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/1871-1986_ElectoralHistoryofBC.pdf), [Elections BC (opens in a new tab)](https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/2002-2013-ElectionHistory.pdf)
Members for Esquimalt-Colwood
| Parliament | It sat | Member | Elected as | Party on the legislature’s record |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 43rd | 2025 to 2026 | Darlene Rotchford | BC NDP | BC NDP |
Members for Esquimalt-Metchosin, which covered 60 of this district’s 71 voting areas before 2024
| Parliament | It sat | Member | Elected as | Party on the legislature’s record |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 42nd | 2020 to 2024 | Mitzi Dean | BC NDP | BC NDP |
| 41st | 2017 to 2020 | Mitzi Dean | | BC NDP |
| 38th | 2005 to 2009 | Maurine Karagianis | BC NDP | BC NDP |
| 37th | 2001 to 2005 | Arnie Hamilton | | BC Liberal Party |
| 36th | 1996 to 2001 | Moe Sihota | | BC NDP |
| 35th | 1992 to 1996 | Moe Sihota | | BC NDP |
“Elected as” is the affiliation Elections BC printed with the winning result. The last column is the party the legislature’s records give for that parliament, which differs when a member changed party while in office. A row with that column empty is a winner Elections BC prints whom the legislature’s records leave out. Source: [Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (opens in a new tab)](https://www.leg.bc.ca/members)
### Boundaries since 2024
Esquimalt-Colwood has 71 voting areas. They overlap these districts from 2017 to 2024: Esquimalt-Metchosin (60), Victoria-Beacon Hill (11), Victoria-Swan Lake (1).
The commission that drew the boundaries counted 58,356 people in the district, 8.5% above the average for a district, over 53 km².
Sources: [British Columbia Electoral Boundaries Commission, Final report, April 3, 2023 (opens in a new tab)](https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/BCEBC-Final-Report-April-3-2023.pdf), [Elections BC, Voting area conversion table, 2017 to 2024 (opens in a new tab)](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/fb26db04-780c-4229-a147-da4fd5311d36)
PAST RESULTS
## Every result since 2005
From Elections BC
**2024 Provincial General Election**Darlene Rotchford, BC NDP, 51.47%
| Candidate | Affiliation | Votes | Share |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Darlene RotchfordElected | BC NDP | 15,238 | 51.47% |
| John Wilson | Conservative Party | 8,652 | 29.22% |
| Camille Currie | BC Green Party | 5,716 | 19.31% |
29,606 valid votes · 37 rejected ballots · 46,799 registered voters · 63.34% voted
### Esquimalt-Metchosin, 2005 to 2020
**2020 General Election**Mitzi Dean, BC NDP, 59.32%
| Candidate | Affiliation | Votes | Share |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Mitzi DeanElected | BC NDP | 15,070 | 59.32% |
| Andy MacKinnon | BC Green Party | 6,140 | 24.17% |
| RJ Senko | BC Liberal Party | 3,940 | 15.51% |
| Desta McPherson | Independent | 254 | 1.00% |
25,404 valid votes · 120 rejected ballots
**2017 General Election**Mitzi Jayne Dean, BC NDP, 46.25%
| Candidate | Affiliation | Votes | Share |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Mitzi Jayne DeanElected | BC NDP | 11,816 | 46.25% |
| Barb Desjardins | BC Liberal Party | 7,055 | 27.61% |
| Andy MacKinnon | BC Green Party | 6,339 | 24.81% |
| Josh Steffler | Libertarian | 171 | 0.67% |
| Delmar Martay | Independent | 102 | 0.40% |
| Tyson Riel Strandlund | Communist Party of BC | 65 | 0.25% |
25,548 valid votes · 84 rejected ballots
**2005 General Election**Maurine Karagianis, BC NDP, 49.63%
| Candidate | Affiliation | Votes | Share |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Maurine KaragianisElected | BC NDP | 12,545 | 49.63% |
| Tom Woods | BC Liberal Party | 9,650 | 38.18% |
| Jane Sterk | BC Green Party | 2,672 | 10.57% |
| Graeme Rodger | DR BC | 409 | 1.62% |
25,276 valid votes · 140 rejected ballots
The boundaries changed before the 2009, 2017 and 2024 elections, so a result under the same name can cover a different area. Sources: [Elections BC, Provincial Voting Results (opens in a new tab)](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/44914a35-de9a-4830-ac48-870001ef8935), [Statement of Votes, 2024 Provincial General Election (opens in a new tab)](https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/statement-of-votes-2024-provincial-election.pdf)
PEOPLE · 2021 CENSUS
## Who lives in Esquimalt-Colwood
58,410 residents · British Columbia beside each figure
### Age
- Median age
- 43.6BC 42.8
- Under 1513.7%BC 14.3%
- 15 to 6465.3%BC 65.3%
- 65 and over21.0%BC 20.3%
- 85 and over2.0%BC 2.4%
### Households
- Households
- 26,450
- People per household
- 2.2BC 2.4
#### Who lives together
- Couples with children18.9%BC 22.7%
- Couples without children28.7%BC 26.4%
- One-parent families7.4%BC 7.6%
- Multigenerational households1.8%BC 3.7%
- People living alone33.0%BC 29.4%
#### Household size
- 1 person33.0%BC 29.4%
- 2 persons38.4%BC 35.3%
- 3 persons13.5%BC 14.5%
- 4 persons10.3%BC 12.6%
- 5 or more persons4.8%BC 8.2%
### Homes
- Median home value
- $800,000BC $785,000
- Median monthly rent and utilities
- $1,310BC $1,370
- Median monthly cost for owners
- $1,540BC $1,320
#### Own or rent
- Own their home59.6%BC 66.8%
- Rent their home40.3%BC 32.8%
- Home provided by a local government or First Nation0.1%BC 0.5%
#### Type of home
- Single-detached house31.1%BC 42.4%
- Semi-detached house7.0%BC 3.1%
- Row house9.9%BC 8.3%
- Apartment or flat in a duplex13.4%BC 12.2%
- Apartment in a building that has fewer than five storeys26.3%BC 20.4%
- Apartment in a building that has five or more storeys11.0%BC 10.9%
- Other single-attached house0.1%BC 0.2%
- Movable dwelling1.2%BC 2.5%
#### When the home was built
- 1960 or earlier17.8%BC 12.5%
- 1961 to 198030.5%BC 27.0%
- 1981 to 199013.3%BC 14.2%
- 1991 to 200010.7%BC 16.5%
- 2001 to 20055.7%BC 6.0%
- 2006 to 20107.9%BC 8.0%
- 2011 to 20155.0%BC 6.6%
- 2016 to 20219.1%BC 9.1%
### Housing costs
- Renters paying 30% or more of income on housing34.8%BC 37.8%
- Owners paying 30% or more of income on housing17.0%BC 19.3%
- Renters in core housing need23.8%BC 24.7%
- Owners in core housing need5.6%BC 8.0%
- Renters in subsidized housing14.0%BC 11.0%
- Owners with a mortgage62.1%BC 57.5%
### Income
Income is for the year 2020.
- Median household income
- $86,000BC $85,000
- After tax
- $76,000BC $76,000
- Median income per person
- $46,800BC $40,800
#### Living on a low income (after-tax measure)
- All ages7.7%BC 10.8%
- Under 188.2%BC 11.3%
- 18 to 646.8%BC 9.7%
- 65 and over10.0%BC 13.8%
### Languages
#### First language learned
- English84.4%BC 67.1%
- French2.4%BC 1.2%
- Spanish1.0%BC 1.2%
- Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino)0.9%BC 1.7%
- German0.8%BC 1.0%
- Mandarin0.7%BC 4.1%
- Punjabi (Panjabi)0.7%BC 4.9%
- Yue (Cantonese)0.6%BC 3.9%
- Korean0.4%BC 1.2%
- Portuguese0.4%BC 0.5%
#### Spoken most often at home
- English93.0%BC 78.5%
- French0.9%BC 0.3%
- Spanish0.4%BC 0.6%
- Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino)0.4%BC 0.9%
- Mandarin0.4%BC 3.3%
- Arabic0.3%BC 0.3%
- Yue (Cantonese)0.3%BC 2.8%
- Punjabi (Panjabi)0.3%BC 3.8%
#### English and French
- English only88.9%BC 90.1%
- French only0.1%BC 0.0%
- English and French10.5%BC 6.6%
- Neither English nor French0.5%BC 3.3%
### Immigration
- Born outside Canada (immigrants)
- 15.3%BC 29.0%
- Non-permanent residents
- 1.5%BC 3.5%
#### Where immigrants were born
- United Kingdom20.2%BC 8.2%
- Philippines8.1%BC 9.2%
- United States of America7.8%BC 4.2%
- India6.2%BC 13.8%
- China4.4%BC 15.3%
- Germany3.8%BC 2.2%
- Korea, South2.3%BC 3.3%
- Oceania and other places of birth2.1%BC 2.3%
- Syria1.8%BC 0.5%
- Netherlands1.7%BC 1.1%
#### When immigrants arrived
- Arrived before 198032.8%BC 19.7%
- 1980 to 199011.1%BC 11.5%
- 1991 to 200011.6%BC 21.0%
- 2001 to 201018.4%BC 22.2%
- 2011 to 202126.0%BC 25.6%
#### Generations in Canada
- First generation18.2%BC 33.7%
- Second generation19.8%BC 21.7%
- Third generation or more61.9%BC 44.5%
### Identity and origins
- Indigenous identity
- 6.3%BC 5.9%
- Visible minority
- 13.1%BC 34.4%
#### Visible minority groups
- South Asian2.4%BC 9.6%
- Chinese2.3%BC 11.2%
- Filipino1.8%BC 3.5%
- Black1.7%BC 1.3%
- Latin American1.0%BC 1.3%
- Southeast Asian1.0%BC 1.5%
- Japanese0.8%BC 0.9%
- Arab0.7%BC 0.6%
- Korean0.6%BC 1.5%
- Multiple visible minorities0.4%BC 1.2%
- Visible minority (other)0.3%BC 0.4%
- West Asian0.3%BC 1.4%
#### Ethnic or cultural origins reported most often
- English33.0%BC 20.7%
- Scottish24.8%BC 15.8%
- Irish18.9%BC 12.8%
- German13.0%BC 11.0%
- Canadian11.6%BC 9.3%
- French9.3%BC 6.4%
- British Isles5.9%BC 3.9%
- Ukrainian5.2%BC 4.3%
- Dutch4.1%BC 3.9%
- Polish3.5%BC 2.7%
### Religion
- No religion60.9%BC 52.1%
- Christian33.1%BC 34.3%
- Other religions1.7%BC 1.0%
- Muslim1.2%BC 2.6%
- Buddhist1.0%BC 1.7%
- Hindu0.7%BC 1.7%
- Jewish0.7%BC 0.5%
- Sikh0.5%BC 5.9%
- Traditional Indigenous spirituality0.3%BC 0.2%
### Education
Highest level completed, ages 25 to 64.
- No certificate, diploma or degree7.7%BC 8.0%
- High school diploma26.1%BC 25.8%
- College, trades or other certificate below a bachelor’s degree33.4%BC 31.2%
- Bachelor’s degree or higher32.8%BC 35.0%
### Work
- In the labour force
- 64.7%BC 63.3%
- Employed
- 60.3%BC 57.9%
- Unemployment rate at the census
- 6.8%BC 8.4%
#### Industries with the most workers
- Public administration18.9%BC 5.5%
- Health care and social assistance13.6%BC 12.3%
- Retail trade11.4%BC 11.6%
- Professional, scientific and technical services8.7%BC 9.2%
- Construction7.4%BC 9.0%
- Educational services6.7%BC 7.4%
- Accommodation and food services6.5%BC 7.0%
- Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services4.7%BC 4.2%
#### Kinds of work
- Sales and service occupations25.1%BC 25.6%
- Business, finance and administration occupations17.6%BC 17.1%
- Occupations in education, law and social, community and government services17.1%BC 11.9%
- Trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations15.0%BC 18.0%
- Natural and applied sciences and related occupations8.9%BC 8.0%
- Health occupations8.0%BC 7.7%
- Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport3.6%BC 4.2%
- Occupations in manufacturing and utilities1.9%BC 3.4%
- Natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations1.6%BC 2.8%
- Legislative and senior management occupations1.2%BC 1.2%
### Getting to work
#### Where people worked
- Worked at home23.5%BC 22.6%
- Worked outside Canada0.2%BC 0.4%
- No fixed workplace address14.1%BC 15.3%
- Worked at a usual workplace62.2%BC 61.6%
#### How commuters travelled
- Car, truck or van74.3%BC 79.9%
- Public transit8.5%BC 9.3%
- On foot8.4%BC 6.5%
- Bicycle5.4%BC 2.0%
- Other method3.4%BC 2.3%
#### Length of the trip
- Less than 15 minutes32.6%BC 31.8%
- 15 to 29 minutes43.6%BC 34.0%
- 30 to 44 minutes16.8%BC 19.7%
- 45 to 59 minutes4.4%BC 7.3%
- 60 minutes and over2.7%BC 7.2%
### Moving
Where residents lived five years before the census.
- Lived at the same address53.7%BC 56.2%
- Moved within the same municipality9.4%BC 16.1%
- Moved from elsewhere in BC25.1%BC 17.0%
- Moved from another province8.6%BC 4.6%
- Moved from another country3.1%BC 6.1%
Counts in the census are rounded to the nearest 5, and shares are worked out from those counts. Source: [BC Stats, from Statistics Canada tabulations, 2021 Census Profile for BC Provincial Electoral Districts (2023 Redistribution) (opens in a new tab)](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/census-profiles-for-bc-provincial-electoral-districts)
QUESTIONS
## Questions about Esquimalt-Colwood
10 answers
### Where is Esquimalt-Colwood?
Esquimalt-Colwood is a provincial electoral district in Greater Victoria on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The Electoral Boundaries Commission's 2023 final report gives its area as 53 square kilometres and its population as 58,356. The district takes in the municipalities of Colwood, View Royal and Esquimalt, and the neighbourhood of Victoria West. Its boundaries follow those municipal borders, the Gorge Waterway and Victoria Harbour.
### Which communities are in Esquimalt-Colwood?
Esquimalt-Colwood includes the Township of Esquimalt, the City of Colwood, the Town of View Royal and the neighbourhood of Victoria West, according to the commission's 2023 final report. Hatley Park, the former home of Royal Roads Military College, lies in Colwood. Craigflower Manor and Schoolhouse, built by the Puget Sound Agricultural Company in the 1850s, lie in View Royal.
### Who is the MLA for Esquimalt-Colwood?
Darlene Rotchford of the BC NDP is the member of the Legislative Assembly for Esquimalt-Colwood. She won the district at the 2024 general election with 15,238 votes. The BC government's page says she was a councillor for the Township of Esquimalt from 2022 to 2024 and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Armed Forces Development and Veterans Affairs in November 2025.
### Who held the seat before Darlene Rotchford?
Esquimalt-Colwood first appeared on the 2024 ballot, so no member sat for it before Darlene Rotchford. The district replaced most of Esquimalt-Metchosin, which supplied 60 of its 71 voting areas. Mitzi Dean of the BC NDP held Esquimalt-Metchosin from 2017 until 2024, and won it in 2020 with 15,070 votes.
### How did Esquimalt-Colwood vote in 2024?
At the 2024 provincial general election Darlene Rotchford of the BC NDP received 15,238 votes, or 51.47%. John Wilson of the Conservative Party received 8,652 votes, or 29.22%, and Camille Currie of the BC Green Party received 5,716 votes, or 19.31%. Elections BC records a turnout of 63.34% of the 46,799 registered voters in Esquimalt-Colwood.
### How did the 2023 boundary change affect Esquimalt-Colwood?
The Electoral Boundaries Commission's 2023 final report moved Victoria West from Victoria-Beacon Hill into Esquimalt-Colwood, saying the neighbourhood is more closely connected with neighbourhoods west of the Gorge Waterway. Elections BC's conversion table matches the district's 71 voting areas to 60 in Esquimalt-Metchosin, 11 in Victoria-Beacon Hill and 1 in Victoria-Swan Lake.
### Whose territory is Esquimalt-Colwood on?
Esquimalt-Colwood lies in Lekwungen territory. Parks Canada places Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse in the traditional territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations. The City of Colwood says it sits on the ancestral lands of Teechamista and the Lekwungen-speaking people now known as the Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations. Both Nations refer to the Douglas treaties of 1850.
### Who lives in Esquimalt-Colwood?
The 2021 census counted 58,410 people in Esquimalt-Colwood, with a median age of 43.6 against 42.8 for British Columbia. Owners live in 59.6% of homes and renters in 40.3%. Immigrants are 15.3% of residents, compared with 29% in the province, and 6.3% of residents identify as Indigenous. The United Kingdom is the most common country of birth among immigrants, with 1,780 people.
### What is the naval history of Esquimalt?
Esquimalt replaced Valparaiso, Chile, as the Royal Navy's Pacific headquarters in 1865, according to the Township of Esquimalt, and the naval dockyard was completed in 1887. The Royal Navy left in 1905, and the base was revived in 1910 as the West Coast base of the Naval Service of Canada. Pacific Command Headquarters was set up at Work Point Barracks during the Second World War.
### When were Esquimalt, Colwood and View Royal incorporated?
The Township of Esquimalt was incorporated on 1 September 1912. The BC Geographical Names Office records that the City of Colwood was incorporated as a city on 24 June 1985. The Town of View Royal says it was incorporated in 1988. All three municipalities lie inside Esquimalt-Colwood, together with the Victoria West neighbourhood.
SOURCES
## Where this page comes from
Figures read Thursday, October 8, 2026
1. [2021 Census Profile for BC Provincial Electoral Districts (2023 Redistribution) (opens in a new tab)](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/census-profiles-for-bc-provincial-electoral-districts)BC Stats, from Statistics Canada tabulations · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
2. [Provincial Voting Results (opens in a new tab)](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/44914a35-de9a-4830-ac48-870001ef8935)Elections BC · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
3. [Statement of Votes, 2024 Provincial General Election (opens in a new tab)](https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/statement-of-votes-2024-provincial-election.pdf)Elections BC · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
4. [Voting area conversion table, 2017 to 2024 (opens in a new tab)](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/fb26db04-780c-4229-a147-da4fd5311d36)Elections BC · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
5. [Final report, April 3, 2023 (opens in a new tab)](https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/BCEBC-Final-Report-April-3-2023.pdf)British Columbia Electoral Boundaries Commission · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
6. [Members of the Legislative Assembly, 35th to 43rd Parliament (opens in a new tab)](https://www.leg.bc.ca/members)Legislative Assembly of British Columbia · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
7. [Final report, April 3, 2023 (opens in a new tab)](https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/BCEBC-Final-Report-April-3-2023.pdf)British Columbia Electoral Boundaries Commission · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
8. [Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871 to 1986 (opens in a new tab)](https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/1871-1986_ElectoralHistoryofBC.pdf)Elections BC · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
9. [Electoral History of British Columbia, Supplement, 1987 to 2001 (opens in a new tab)](https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/1987-2001-ElectionHistory.pdf)Elections BC · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
10. [Electoral History of British Columbia, Supplement, 2002 to 2013 (opens in a new tab)](https://elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/2002-2013-ElectionHistory.pdf)Elections BC · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
11. [Provincial Voting Results (opens in a new tab)](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/44914a35-de9a-4830-ac48-870001ef8935)Elections BC · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
12. [Darlene Rotchford, Parliamentary Secretary for Armed Forces Development and Veterans Affairs (opens in a new tab)](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/organizational-structure/cabinet/cabinet-ministers/parliamentary-secretary-armed-forces-development-and-veterans-affairs)Province of British Columbia · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
13. [Čəléŋən ɬtə (opens in a new tab)](https://esquimaltnation.ca/?p=147)Esquimalt Nation (Xʷsepsəm) · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
14. [lək̓ʷəŋən Traditional Territory (opens in a new tab)](https://www.songheesnation.ca/community/l-k-ng-n-traditional-territory)Songhees Nation · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
15. [Modern Treaty (opens in a new tab)](https://songheesnation.ca/governance/modern_treaty)Songhees Nation · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
16. [Te'mexw Treaty Association (opens in a new tab)](https://temexw.org)Te'mexw Treaty Association · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
17. [The History of Esquimalt (opens in a new tab)](https://www.esquimalt.ca/sites/default/files/docs/business-development/final_history_of_esquimalt_formatted.pdf)Township of Esquimalt · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
18. [Our History (opens in a new tab)](https://www.esquimalt.ca/node/347)Township of Esquimalt · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
19. [First Nations Communities (opens in a new tab)](https://www.colwood.ca/community-services/arts-culture/first-nations-communities)City of Colwood · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
20. [Colwood and Songhees Nation strengthen relations with new agreement (opens in a new tab)](https://www.colwood.ca/node/8791)City of Colwood · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
21. [Archives and Heritage (opens in a new tab)](https://www.viewroyal.ca/EN/main/discover/archives-heritage.html)Town of View Royal · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
22. [Colwood, BC Geographical Names record (opens in a new tab)](https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/35878.html)BC Geographical Names Office · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
23. [Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site of Canada (opens in a new tab)](https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=98)Parks Canada · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
24. [Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites Management Plan tabled in Parliament (opens in a new tab)](https://www.canada.ca/en/parks-canada/news/2022/12/fort-rodd-hill-and-fisgard-lighthouse-national-historic-sites-management-plan-tabled-in-parliament.html)Parks Canada · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
25. [Hatley Park / Former Royal Roads Military College National Historic Site of Canada (opens in a new tab)](https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=868)Parks Canada · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
26. [Hatley Park / Former Royal Roads Military College National Historic Site, Canadian Register of Historic Places (opens in a new tab)](https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7944)Canadian Register of Historic Places · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
27. [Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Roundhouse National Historic Site of Canada (opens in a new tab)](https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7416)Canadian Register of Historic Places · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
28. [E & N Roundhouse (opens in a new tab)](https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=1621)Canadian Register of Historic Places · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
29. [Old Songhees Reserve (opens in a new tab)](https://rbcm.ca//exhibits/tbird-park/html/pre/oldsong.htm)Royal BC Museum · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
30. [Esquimalt Lagoon Migratory Bird Sanctuary (opens in a new tab)](https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/migratory-bird-sanctuaries/locations/esquimalt-lagoon.html)Environment and Climate Change Canada · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
31. [E&N Rail Trail, Humpback Connector (opens in a new tab)](https://www.crd.ca/parks-recreation/find-park-or-trail/en-rail-trail)Capital Regional District · read Thursday, October 8, 2026
## Official information
From Elections BC
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Candidates
### [The official candidate list](https://www.elections.bc.ca/docs/fin/GE-2026-10-24-Candidate-Website-Report.PDF)
The list this page is built from, published by Elections BC.
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Voting places and hours for general voting day and advance voting.
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