About Parksville
About the City of Parksville!
Parksville is an active community with families with young children, urban professionals, retirees, long-time residents, and new arrivals who have chosen to live in Parksville for the quality of life and the region's natural environment and amenities. Parksville features unique shops, world class spas, arts and cultural events, fine dining, and accommodations, and the region hosts many annual events and festivals.With our temperate climate, we enjoy a variety of outdoor activities year-round such as golf, hiking, mountain biking, and windsurfing. The 39-acre Parksville Community Park features a spectacular beachfront, waterfront walkway, sports fields and courts, Ventureland playground, and more. The region boasts golf courses for every level of player and budget. Parksville has also been called Canada's Riviera and with good reason! Few beaches outside Mexico and the Caribbean compare with our kilometres of near perfect sandy beaches at Parksville Bay and Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park.
Did you know?
- Parksville is home to 13,642 (2021 census) residents; the Oceanside region of Vancouver Island has a population of 31,054.
- Parksville encompasses 81.76 square kilometres of land.
- Summertime temperatures average 21°C to 24°C and even in January, temperatures are most likely to be above 0°C, averaging 3°C to 6°C. We get over 2,000 hours of brilliant sunshine every year and our share of rain too, averaging about 800 millimetres per year.
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Parksville Community Profile
Parksville Qualicum Beach Tourism Association
Regional District of Nanaimo
Parksville and District Chamber of Commerce
Parksville Downtown Business Association
Parksville Museum
New Residents
We extend a warm welcome to new residents. Should you have questions, contact 250 248-6144 and our staff would be pleased to help you.
Community organizations which provide helpful information for new residents:
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Parksville and District Chamber of Commerce - Relocation information
Community Wagon
Neighbourhood Welcome
The City of Parksville is located along the Salish Sea (Strait of Georgia) on the east coast of Vancouver Island. The Coast Salish people were first to call the Parksville area home and have lived in the region from time immemorial.
Captain Vancouver came to explore Vancouver Island in 1792 and it was not until 1850 that the Parksville area was named Englishman’s River (now known as Englishman River), due to the drowning of an Englishman trying to cross. In 1855, the area was surveyed up to the Alberni Valley by Adam Grant Horne on behalf of the Hudson’s Bay Company. In the 1860’s, preceding the arrival of the first settler, John Hirst (1870), a trail was built joining Victoria to Comox. It was not until 1883 that the first non-First-Nations permanent resident settled in the area alongside the Englishman’s River. Three years later in 1886, a 24-mile wagon road was completed from Nanaimo to Englishman’s River with construction extending to Comox.
In 1887, the Englishman River Post Office was renamed the Parksville Post Office after postmaster Nelson Parks. Parks lived in a small shack on the land, is now the Parksville Community Park, and it is said during a gathering in his humble shack is where the City gained the namesake, Parksville. During this period, logging dominated the local economy, and the 1901 extension of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo (E&N) Railway helped accelerate Parksville’s growth. The new rail access sparked a tourism boom, with Vancouver Islanders flocking to the area to enjoy its remarkable beaches. As visitor numbers rose, motels, shops, resorts, and campgrounds quickly followed.
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