CFB Esquimalt
Videos
Photos
Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt is Canada's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters. As of 2018, 4,411 military personnel and 2,762 civilians work at CFB Esquimalt.
Canadian naval ships docked at CFB Esquimalt
HMCS Aurora, HMCS Patriot, and HMCS Patrician at Esquimalt in 1921.
HMCS Whitehorse and HMCS Brandon in port
Orca of the Orca-class patrol vessels cruises among the Gulf Islands, 1 August 2007.
Vancouver Island
Videos
Photos
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is 456 km (283 mi) in length, 100 km (62 mi) in width at its widest point, and 32,100 km2 (12,400 sq mi) in total area, while 31,285 km2 (12,079 sq mi) are of land. The island is the largest by area and the most populous along the west coasts of the Americas.
Terra satellite image of Vancouver Island, 2003
A Kwakwakaʼwakw wedding ceremony in 1914
Dionisio Alcalá Galiano was the first European to circumnavigate Vancouver Island
The Great Seal of the Island of Vancouver and its Dependencies was designed by Benjamin Wyon, Chief Engraver of Her Majesty's Seals, c. 1849. The symbolic badge he designed was the basis for the flag of Vancouver Island, which is still unofficially flown today.