Duncan, British Columbia
Duncan (pop. 5,047 in 2021) is a city on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is the smallest city by area (2.07 square kilometres, 0.8 square miles) in Canada. Location. The city is about 45 kilometres from both Victoria to the south and Nanaimo to the north. Although the City of Duncan has a population of just over 5,000, it serves the Cowichan Valley which has a population of approximately 84,000, many of whom live in North Cowichan and Cowichan Tribes. This gives Duncan a much larger perceived "greater" population than that contained within the  city limits. People in areas of North Cowichan and bordering on Duncan usually use "Duncan" as their mailing address. Duncan has one seat on the Cowichan Valley Regional District Board. The name "Cowichan" is an Anglicization of Halkomelem , which means "the warm land". Transportation. The city is served by Trans-Canada Highway which connects the city to points north/south. Highway 1 through Duncan is a four-lane street with two signalized intersections (within the city limits) and a speed limit of 50 km/hr. British Columbia Highway 18 connects Duncan (via North Cowichan) to the town of Lake Cowichan  to the west. The Island Corridor Foundation railway continues to cross Duncan, though passenger and freight rail service on the south island corridor were both discontinued. Public transit is provided in conjunction between BC Transit and the Cowichan Valley Regional Transit System. The service provides connections from Duncan to the surrounding communities as well as regular commuter bus service to Victoria. The Nanaimo Regional Transit System provides daily (except Sunday) bus service between Duncan and Nanaimo including a stop at the Nanaimo Airport. History. The community is named after William Chalmers Duncan (born 1836 in Sarnia, Ontario). He arrived in  Victoria in May 1862, then in August of that year he was one of the party of a hundred settlers which Governor Douglas took to Cowichan Bay. After going off on several gold rushes, Duncan settled close to the present City of Duncan. He married in 1876, and his son Kenneth became the first Mayor of Duncan. There is a Kenneth Street, as well as a Duncan Street, in the City. Duncan's farm was named Alderlea, and this was the first name of the adjacent settlement. In August 1886, the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway was opened. No stop had  been scheduled at Alderlea for the inaugural train bearing Sir John A. Macdonald and Robert Dunsmuir. However, at Duncan's Crossing, the level crossing nearest Alderlea, a crowd of 2,000 had assembled around a decorated arch and the train came to an unplanned halt, quite literally putting it on the map. In the early 1900s, Duncan's Chinatown was the social centre for the Cowichan Valley's Chinese population. Chinatown was concentrated in a single block in the southwestern corner of Duncan. At its largest point, Duncan's Chinatown included six Chinese families and 30 merchants who supplied goods and  services to the loggers, millworkers, cannery and mine workers in the area. The city tore the buildings down in 1969 to build a new law courts complex. Some materials from the original buildings were used at Whippletree Junction. In the 1980s, the city was noted in coverage related to the 1985 bombings at Narita Airport in Japan and aboard Air India Flight 182, Canada's largest murder case. Resident Inderjit Singh Reyat purchased bomb parts and a radio at Duncan stores, and used the radio to conceal the bomb. Less than two weeks prior to the bombings, Reyat and suspected  Air India mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar were observed testing explosives in the woods outside of Duncan by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). Demographics. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Duncan had a population of 5,047 living in 2,454 of its 2,620 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 4,944. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Attractions. The City of Duncan was incorporated in 1912 and is known for one of the largest totem pole collections. The City was officially named "City of Totems" in  1985. The City had 44 totem poles in the collection, however one was destroyed in an auto accident, one was gifted to Kaikohe, New Zealand and one returned to earth. In 2007, the City of Duncan deemed copyright privileges of the totem poles. The use of the totems' images for commercial purposes requires the City of Duncan's approval. The Cowichan Historical Society (Museum) provides free totem tours in the summer months. Duncan has a large Indigenous community and is the traditional home of the Cowichan Tribes, who are the largest band among the Coast Salish people. The Coast Salish  men and women of the Cowichan Tribes are makers of the world-famous Cowichan Sweaters. Before the Canada–United States softwood lumber dispute, Duncan and the whole Cowichan Valley were a thriving lumber centre in British Columbia. Cowichan Community Centre is located in the jurisdiction of the Municipality of North Cowichan, and serves purpose for all citizens in the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD). The centre has the world's largest hockey stick which was made specifically for Expo 86 in Vancouver, and purchased by CVRD at the end of the event. In 1911, Norman Corfield drove the first car  over the Malahat Highway, opening up vehicle traffic to Duncan. Construction of the Duncan Garage Heritage Building started in 1912 and appeared in "Canadian Motorist Magazine" (May 1913 issue) as "The most complete and up-to-date fireproof garage on Vancouver Island." The Duncan Garage set a provincial record for the longest operating business in one location (65 years). It was designated a heritage building in 2002. Climate. According to the Köppen climate classification, Duncan has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen "Csb"). Education. Duncan is part of British Columbia's School District 79 Cowichan Valley. It has one independent  school. Queen Margaret's School, established in 1921, as a private secondary university preparatory school which includes a co-ed junior school. Vancouver Island University (formerly Malaspina University-College) has a regional campus in the Municipality of North Cowichan, bordering Duncan, that offers a Bachelor of Education degree as well as programs and courses in university transfer, access, trades and applied technology, health and human services, and career and academic preparation. The campus also has a Continuing Education department that offers certificate programs, personal and professional development courses, and online courses. The current campus opened for classes in June 2011 . Also bordering Duncan in the Municipality of North Cowichan, there are two public secondary schools, Cowichan Secondary School, and Quamichan Secondary School, as well as several elementary schools. The head offices of School District 79 Cowichan Valley are also located in North Cowichan. In the Cowichan region there are also has two denominational independent schools: Queen of Angels (Catholic school), serving preschool to Grade 9 students, and Duncan Christian School, whose campus is home to both an independent elementary and high school. Sunrise Waldorf School is a non-denominational K-8 independent school offering Waldorf education in the Cowichan Valley. Sports . The Cowichan Community Sportsplex is located on the border of Duncan, but in the Municipality of North Cowichan and is the home of the British Columbia Hockey League's Cowichan Valley Capitals, who play in the Cowichan Community Sportsplex. It is home to a number of other sports and athletics organizations including the Cowichan Valley Athletic Club's (CVAC) Jaguars one of the many clubs and teams that practice & compete out of the extensive Cowichan Sportsplex. G.T. Corfield the father of Norman Corfield (of Duncan Garage and Corfield Motors of Courtenay, Nanaimo and Pt. Alberni in the day) was one  of three families ( A. Pimbury and F. Maitland-Dougall) that founded the South Cowichan Lawn Tennis Club in 1887. Designated a Heritage site in 1991. It still exists today. South Cowichan Lawn Tennis Club Notable residents. "See also