# Qathet Regional District

The qathet Regional District (/ˈkæθɛt/, qRD) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Its only incorporated municipality is the City of Powell River, although it includes a number of unincorporated areas. The district encompasses a land area of 5,075.33 square kilometres (1,959.60 sq mi). The district was formerly known as the Powell River Regional District. Because of frequent confusion between the identical names of Powell River district and city, the district's name was changed in 2018 to qathet, from q̓at̓ᶿɛt, meaning "working together, bringing together" in the ʔayʔaǰuθəm language of the ɬəʔamɩn, k̓ómoks, χʷɛmaɬkʷu, & ƛohos Nations.

## Geography

The district is bounded by the mainland portion of the Strathcona Regional District to the north, and to the east by the Squamish-Lillooet and Sunshine Coast Regional Districts. On the mainland, this includes the area southeast of Powell River to the ferry terminal at Saltery Bay and from Wildwood, northwest of Powell River to Desolation Sound and the terminus of Highway 101 in Lund. Lasqueti Island and Texada Island, along with the southernmost Discovery Islands (including Hernando and Savary), are included, as are the largely uninhabited lands to the north and west of this area.

## Government

Its head offices are located in Powell River. The district is governed by a board of seven directors: five electoral area directors who are elected for a four-year term by voters in the electoral areas, and two municipal directors who are first elected to the City of Powell River’s council and then appointed by council to the regional board. The board chair is elected annually by all directors.

## Demographics

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the qathet Regional District had a population of 21,496 living in 10,057 of its 11,921 total private dwellings, a change of 7.1% from its 2016 population of 20,070. With a land area of 5,067.89 km$^2$ (1,956.72 sq mi), it had a population density of 4.2/km$^2$ (11.0/sq mi) in 2021. As of the 2006 census, 19,599 people lived in the district.
Panethnic groups in the qathet Regional District (1996−2021) :
| Panethnic group | 2021 | 2021 | 2016 | 2016 | 2011 | 2011 | 2006 | 2006 | 2001 | 2001 | 1996 | 1996 |
| Panethnic group | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % |
| European | 18,200 | 86.42% | 17,440 | 88.91% | 17,580 | 89.95% | 17,700 | 91.57% | 18,085 | 92.41% | 18,480 | 93.55% |
| Indigenous | 1,805 | 8.57% | 1,575 | 8.03% | 1,565 | 8.01% | 1,105 | 5.72% | 1,160 | 5.93% | 845 | 4.28% |
| East Asian | 425 | 2.02% | 210 | 1.07% | 125 | 0.64% | 250 | 1.29% | 85 | 0.43% | 215 | 1.09% |
| Southeast Asian | 205 | 0.97% | 150 | 0.76% | 80 | 0.41% | 125 | 0.65% | 75 | 0.38% | 30 | 0.15% |
| South Asian | 155 | 0.74% | 60 | 0.31% | 85 | 0.43% | 60 | 0.31% | 95 | 0.49% | 80 | 0.4% |
| Latin American | 105 | 0.5% | 30 | 0.15% | 0 | 0% | 15 | 0.08% | 35 | 0.18% | 10 | 0.05% |
| African | 80 | 0.38% | 85 | 0.43% | 60 | 0.31% | 65 | 0.34% | 25 | 0.13% | 40 | 0.2% |
| Middle Eastern | 25 | 0.12% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 10 | 0.05% | 0 | 0% |
| Other | 45 | 0.21% | 60 | 0.31% | 40 | 0.2% | 20 | 0.1% | 0 | 0% | 60 | 0.3% |
| Total responses | 21,060 | 97.97% | 19,615 | 97.73% | 19,545 | 98.19% | 19,330 | 98.63% | 19,570 | 99.01% | 19,755 | 99.09% |
| Total population | 21,496 | 100% | 20,070 | 100% | 19,906 | 100% | 19,599 | 100% | 19,765 | 100% | 19,936 | 100% |
| Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses |||||||||||||