Local: City Information
Here are some basic facts about Victoria:
Location
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Victoria is nestled on the southernmost tip of Vancouver Island, at the western end of Canada. The city is at 48 degrees 37 minutes north latitude, 123 degrees 24 minutes west longitude. We are in Pacific standard time, three hours earlier than Toronto and New York, and 9 hours earlier than western Europe (by coincidence, these are almost the flying times).
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Name
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Victoria was named for Queen Victoria, who was Queen of the British Empire at its heyday, and at the time of the founding of the colony. Her birthday is celebrated on the Monday nearest May 21 each year as "Victoria Day," a national holiday across Canada (the holiday is the unofficial start of summer outdoor season).
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Population
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The City of Victoria has a population of more than 75,000, though Greater Victoria (Victoria, Oak Bay, Saanich and Esquimalt) has a total population of about 315,000.
British Columbia is the most westerly of Canada's provinces, and joined Canada as a province in 1871. BC has 4 million residents in its 947,800 square kilometres. The province is about the same area as Texas or twice the size of Japan.
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Industries
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The major industries in Victoria reflect that of the Vancouver Island. Forestry and tourism are the top job-creating industries.
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Weather
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It
boasts an average of 2,196 hours of sunshine annually and an eight-month frost-free season. Average
temperature in January is 39°F and spring is early and mild. Summer is comfortably warm and dry with
temperatures from 65-90°F. Average monthly rainfall in summer is less than 2.5 cm (1 inch), and in
winter is 5 cm (2 inches).
Victoria is located in a "sub-Mediterranean" climatic zone and has moderate weather year-round. Daytime temperatures and night-time temperatures are fairly consistent because of the moderating influence of the sea. Victoria is sheltered from the worst of Pacific Ocean weather systems by Vancouver Island.
In the summer time, you can generally expect hot and sunny weather, with only occasional precipitation. In the fall, winter, and spring time, expect rain more often than not...after all, there's a reason the grass and tree-leaves are green year-round. Always carry an umbrella with you in case of rain.
Average daily temperatures are:
Scale | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
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Celsius | 6 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 9 | 7 |
Fahrenheit | 43 | 46 | 50 | 56 | 61 | 65 | 68 | 68 | 65 | 57 | 44 | 45 |
An approximate guide to Celsius Temperatures is as follows:
Victoria gets 54 cm ( 21 inches) of snow each winter and a total of 1167
millimetres (46 inches) of precipitation per year. The city has 164 wet days
(where it rains at least part of the day), mostly in the non-summer months (any
months whose name contains the letter "r"). When visiting Victoria, ALWAYS
bring an umbrella, just on case.
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Some hotels include tips or gratuities with group programs to simplify bookkeeping. This will usually include gratuities for housekeeping, bell service and food service. In a hotel, bell service should be tipped about $1 per bag, and housekeeping $1 to $5 dollars a day (in proportion to your room rate). Visitors should know that the standard tip in restaurants is
10%-15% (on restaurant bills, an average tip will be 50% higher the GST & tax), with 20% (about double the GST & tax) for very outstanding service. This is especially important for visitors from countries where tipping on meals is not done: here the waitering staff depend on tips for a significant portion of their incomes. Tip taxis about 10%, and a dollar a bag they carry for you (not just unload), or at the very least round fares up to the nearest dollar.
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