Sooke

Sooke /suːk/ is a district municipality on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada, 38 kilometres by road from Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. Sooke, the westernmost of Greater Victoria's Western Communities, is to the north and west of the Sooke Basin.

Not to be confused with Sook or Sookie.
Sooke
District municipality
District of Sooke[1]
Sooke
Sooke (Capital Regional District)
Location of Sooke within the Capital Regional District
Sooke
Location of Sooke within British Columbia
Coordinates: 48°22′34″N 123°44′16″W
Country Canada
Province British Columbia
RegionVancouver Island
Regional districtCapital Regional District
IncorporatedDecember 7, 1999
Government
 • MayorMaja Tait
 • CouncillorsJeff Bateman, Al Beddows, Ebony Logins, Megan McMath; Tony St-Pierre; Dana Lajeunesse;
 • By Election September 28, 2019Dana Lajeunesse won the By-Election replacing Councillor Brenda Parkinson (deceased June 2019)
Area
 • Total56.62 km2 (21.86 sq mi)
Elevation
50 m (160 ft)
Population
 • Total13,001
 • Density229.6/km2 (595/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−8 (PST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−7 (PDT)
Forward sortation area
V9Z
Highways14
WaterwaysStrait of Juan de Fuca
Websitesooke.ca

Tourism and recreation
Sooke Harbour

Sooke's popularity as a scenic tourist destination has existed for generations. Well-known destinations in Sooke, such as Whiffin Spit Park, the Sooke Potholes Regional Park and adjacent Sooke Potholes Provincial Park attract visitors both locally and from around the world. Sooke is also home to the Sooke Region Museum and Visitor Centre; where visitors and locals are able to get information on regional attractions and history. The area's popularity has increased as a base for visiting the wilderness parks of Vancouver Island's southwest coast — the West Coast Trail and the Juan de Fuca Provincial Park which includes the now highly popular Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. Sooke, BC is also famous for its beaches just on the outskirts of its neighbouring communities such as Shirley and Jordan River. These beaches include Sandcut, French beach, Fishboat bay, China beach, Mystic beach and more.

Back country recreation, or off-road recreation brings a constant stream of 4X4s, quads, ATVs, dirt bikes and home built off-highway vehicles through Sooke as people search out back country access. Hundreds of kilometres of logging roads thread through the hills north of Sooke in the Rural Resource Lands of the Juan de Fuca electoral area, enabling access to several community lakes and small reservoirs. Two large reservoirs, Bear Creek and Diversion, are popular destinations north and west of Sooke.

Mountain biking is growing in popularity in British Columbia, and Sooke is establishing itself as a destination for the sport. Local advocacy groups such as the Sooke Bike Club are working to have areas such as Broom Hill set aside as parkland.

The Galloping Goose Regional Trail, part of the Trans-Canada Trail, runs through Sooke and is a popular cycling route to Victoria.

Arts community

The vibrant arts community of Sooke enjoys the annual Sooke Fine Arts Festival (in its 28th year in 2014) which brings hundreds of tourists to Sooke each summer by featuring the adjudicated art of local and regional artists. Sooke is known for its wealth of painters, writers, sculptors, potters, fabric artists, jewellery crafters and more. The Sooke Community Arts Council plays a large role in fostering art in the region. The Sooke Harbour House art gallery is a main display opportunity for many local artisans.

Real estate

In Sooke, prices rose then fell in 2011—from January to March prices climbed from $428,383 to the $447,000 range, but reached a low of $368,480 in May and settled at $395,120 by December (though in December 2010 the price was similar at $380,020). As per "The Sooke News" “Last year, 199 single-family homes sold in Sooke, including East Sooke, Shirley, Jordan River and Port Renfrew. The average sale price was $423,642. This is lower than 2010, which saw 230 single-family homes sell, with an average price of $454,695.

Demographics
Canada 2016 CensusPopulation% of Total Population
Visible minority group
Source:[3]		Chinese1400.9%
South Asian651.2%
Black350.8%
Filipino750.3%
Latin American200.2%
Southeast Asian250.2%
Arab100%
West Asian00.2%
Korean00.2%
Japanese500.2%
Other visible minority300.2%
Mixed visible minority150.3%
Total visible minority population4654.6%
Aboriginal group
Source:[4]		First Nations8054%
Métis4100%
Inuit00%
Total Aboriginal population1,1204%
White12,43091.3%
Total population13,001100%

Climate

Sooke has a Mediterranean climate, with warm summers and mild winters, defined by the Köppen climate classification as Csb. Although its precipitation is more like dry summer climates, its temperatures resemble oceanic climates as found in Ireland, for example.[5]

Climate data for Sooke (Park-Isle Marine), elevation: 32 m or 105 ft, 1967-1990 normals and extremes
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 15.1
(59.2)		 15.6
(60.1)		 16.0
(60.8)		 23.6
(74.5)		 28.2
(82.8)		 28.3
(82.9)		 29.4
(84.9)		 29.6
(85.3)		 27.2
(81.0)		 21.5
(70.7)		 21.8
(71.2)		 15.9
(60.6)		 29.6
(85.3)
Average high °C (°F) 6.7
(44.1)		 8.4
(47.1)		 10.1
(50.2)		 11.9
(53.4)		 14.2
(57.6)		 16.4
(61.5)		 18.2
(64.8)		 18.6
(65.5)		 17.1
(62.8)		 13.1
(55.6)		 9.3
(48.7)		 6.9
(44.4)		 12.6
(54.6)
Daily mean °C (°F) 4.2
(39.6)		 5.4
(41.7)		 6.6
(43.9)		 8.1
(46.6)		 10.5
(50.9)		 12.6
(54.7)		 14.0
(57.2)		 14.3
(57.7)		 13.0
(55.4)		 9.7
(49.5)		 6.6
(43.9)		 4.5
(40.1)		 9.1
(48.4)
Average low °C (°F) 1.6
(34.9)		 2.4
(36.3)		 3.0
(37.4)		 4.3
(39.7)		 6.7
(44.1)		 8.8
(47.8)		 9.9
(49.8)		 10.1
(50.2)		 8.8
(47.8)		 6.2
(43.2)		 3.8
(38.8)		 2.0
(35.6)		 5.6
(42.1)
Record low °C (°F) −10.6
(12.9)		 −12.5
(9.5)		 −6.2
(20.8)		 −2.2
(28.0)		 0.0
(32.0)		 3.3
(37.9)		 5.0
(41.0)		 4.4
(39.9)		 1.7
(35.1)		 −2.8
(27.0)		 −10.8
(12.6)		 −13.9
(7.0)		 −13.9
(7.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 193.1
(7.60)		 142.2
(5.60)		 108.8
(4.28)		 75.6
(2.98)		 44.7
(1.76)		 28.6
(1.13)		 21.0
(0.83)		 26.5
(1.04)		 54.8
(2.16)		 121.3
(4.78)		 213.0
(8.39)		 197.2
(7.76)		 1,226.8
(48.31)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 181.5
(7.15)		 138.4
(5.45)		 107.2
(4.22)		 75.2
(2.96)		 44.7
(1.76)		 28.6
(1.13)		 21.0
(0.83)		 26.5
(1.04)		 54.8
(2.16)		 121.3
(4.78)		 209.4
(8.24)		 189.0
(7.44)		 1,197.6
(47.16)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 11.7
(4.6)		 3.9
(1.5)		 1.6
(0.6)		 0.4
(0.2)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 3.4
(1.3)		 8.2
(3.2)		 29.2
(11.4)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) 20 17 17 15 12 9 5 6 10 15 21 21 168
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) 18 16 17 15 12 9 5 6 10 15 20 20 163
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) 3 1 trace trace trace 0 0 0 0 0 trace 2 6
Average relative humidity (%) 84 83 81 — — 82 83 — — 87 86 85 83
Source: NOAA[6]

Education

Sooke is a part of the School District 62 Sooke. There is one high school, Edward Milne Community School, and one junior high school, Journey Middle School. The four elementary schools in the area are John Muir (in the town's west end), Sooke Elementary (town centre), the French immersion Ecole Poirier (town centre), and Saseenos Elementary (east end). In 2018, SD62 announced it would be building Sooke River Elementary in the Sunriver neighbourhood. Continuing adult education programs are offered by the Edward Milne Community School (EMCS) Society, which also operates with day, evening and weekend programs. The closest post-secondary institutions are Royal Roads University and Camosun College's Interurban campus.

Neighbourhoods

(in order from east to west)

  • North Sooke
  • Saseenos
  • Milne's Landing
  • Sunriver Estates
  • Sooke Town Centre or "Upsooke"
  • Broom Hill
  • Whiffin Spit
  • Otter Point
  • Kemp Lake

Neighbouring communities

Publications
  • The long-established weekly newspaper is the Sooke News Mirror, edited by Kevin Laird and one of more than 70 Black Press Media community papers in B.C.
  • The weekly Sooke Voice News began publication in January 2011 under the direction of publisher/editor Mary P. Brooke, published by Brookeline Publishing House Inc. In 2014, the header name was changed to West Shore Voice News; coverage is now regional for the full west shore including Langford, Colwood, Sooke, Metchosin, Highlands, View Royal and Juan de Fuca Electoral Area. This puts Sooke news into a regional context.

Notable residents

References
  1. "British Columbia Regional Districts, Municipalities, Corporate Name, Date of Incorporation and Postal Address" (XLS). British Columbia Ministry of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  2. "Sooke, District municipality [Census subdivision], British Columbia and Capital, Regional district [Census division], British Columbia". Statistics Canada. January 23, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  3. "Census Profile, 2016 Census, Sooke, District municipality [Census subdivision], British Columbia and British Columbia [Province]". Statistic Canada. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  4. "Census Profile, 2016 Census Sooke, District municipality [Census subdivision], British Columbia and British Columbia [Province]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  5. "Sooke, British Columbia Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)". Weatherbase. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  6. "Sooke (01018642) - National Weather Station". NOAA. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
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