PlaceDossier / BC places / Capital
Highlands
A district municipality in the Capital Regional District. 2,482 people lived here in 2021, up 11.6% from 2016, on 38 km² of land.
BC place · district municipality
How Highlands compares with BC's other towns of 2,000 to 10,000 people
Nothing here stands out for a town its size.
Typical for its size 1 bus route, no licensed child care on the Province's list, 2 fire halls and a 24-hour emergency department.
Checked, nothing found No evacuation order or alert since April 2017.
How we compare
Each figure is set against BC's places of the same kind: cities of 50,000 or more, towns of 10,000 to 50,000, towns of 2,000 to 10,000, villages and towns under 2,000, or rural electoral areas. A figure stands out when it's among the top tenth of its kind at the end that matters to a buyer and clearly off the typical one, the middle place of that kind. Where fewer than 15 places of its kind have the figure, it's set against all BC places with it. A figure only counts when its source speaks for the place: a climate or air station within 15 km and 300 m of its ground, the place's own police service, at least 1,000 people for census figures and 25 homes for internet. A point that stands out has an ochre bar on its left, its section's stamp is filled ochre, and a dot in the bar at the top of the page marks that section; "Typical for its size" is a plain outline and "Nothing on record" a dotted one. In each strip a tick is one place, the tall tick the typical one, the dot this place, and the end that matters on the right. Facts that matter at any size (an evacuation order, emergency care far away, little mobile coverage) are said whatever the size, and mark a section as standing out only when they too are in the top tenth of its kind. A section is marked typical only where a figure in it is set against the typical one and none sits far from it (outside the middle half of its kind, or clearly off the typical one), and "nothing on record" only where it shows nothing.
Hazards Typical for its size
No evacuation order or alert since April 2017, and under 0.1% of its land burned by wildfire since 1996.
- Burned by wildfire since 1996
- under 0.1% typical town that size: 0%
- Years with a mapped wildfire since 1917
- 10, the latest 2022
- Evacuation events since April 2017
- none on the Province's record
- Poor-air days at the nearest air station
- 2 days a year (median), 6.5 km away typical town that size: 5
- Radon: homes tested at or above the guideline in its health region
- 1.8% in South Vancouver Island (BC: 7.9%)
More on hazards
Its land, ranked in BC
| Here | Rank in BC | |
|---|---|---|
| In the farmland reserve (ALR) | 0.0% | No land in the reserve, so not ranked |
| Burned by wildfire since 1996 | under 0.1% | 174th of 215 (tied) |
| Years with a mapped wildfire since 1917 | 10 | most recent 2022 |
| Under mineral, placer or coal titles | 0.0% | No land under title, so not ranked |
| Land area | 38 km² |
Shares of the land area, worked out from the Province's maps. Fire perimeters before the 1950s are less complete. A title or a past fire somewhere in the area says nothing about a given lot: a property report checks the parcel itself.
Large fires (1,000 ha or more) since 1990
No wildfire of 1,000 ha or more has burned in Highlands since 1990, in the BC Wildfire Service's perimeters.
Smaller mapped fires since 2016
Since 2016, the BC Wildfire Service mapped one smaller fire (under 1,000 ha) that reached Highlands, newest first.
- 2022Finlayson Arm wildfire0.8 ha in all0.8 ha here
Small fires that were never mapped as a perimeter aren't listed: the BC Wildfire Service maps an outline for only some of the fires it records. Past fire is history, not a forecast. The chance of fire on a lot today depends on what the record doesn't show: the forest and grass around it, the slope, what has been thinned or burned since, and how far it is from a fire hall. Every BC season and large fire since 1990.
Sources: BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Current, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Incident Locations – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Locations – Current, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 10, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Outlines simplified and places measured by PlaceDossier.
How the land burned
On the Province's ecosystem map, all of Highlands's land is NDT2: forest where large fires replaced the stand about every 200 years on average, leaving wide even-aged stands with a few older trees that survived. Its main biogeoclimatic zone is Coastal Douglas-fir (100%). This is how the land burned before fires were put out, not its fire risk today. A report names the type over a lot. Every place's natural fire regime.
Source: BEC Map (biogeoclimatic zones and natural disturbance types), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), read 2026-10-12; areas worked out on the census boundaries.
Evacuations since April 2017
None of the wildfire evacuation orders or alerts in the Province's record since April 2017 covered 5% or more of the land or homes in Highlands.
Listed when an order or alert area covered at least 5% of the land in Highlands, or lay mostly in Highlands and held at least 5% as many homes as the 2021 census counted there. An order means people were told to leave; an alert, to be ready to leave. Homes are the record's own counts, area by area, shown where the areas lie mostly in Highlands. The Province's record starts in April 2017: earlier evacuations aren't in it. A lot's report checks every order and alert over the lot itself, and any in effect now.
Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 2, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Each order and alert area placed in the municipalities and electoral areas it covers by us.
Evacuations for floods, landslides and other hazards since April 2017
None of the flood, landslide or other non-fire evacuation orders or alerts in the Province's record since April 2017 covered 5% or more of the land or homes in Highlands.
Sources: Historical Orders and Alerts, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on November 2, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries and dwelling counts, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Each order and alert area placed in the municipalities and electoral areas it covers by us.
No landslides are recorded inside Highlands in the Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database (version 14.0). No record doesn't mean stable ground. The database lists slides known to have happened, mapped from inventories, satellite images and lidar. It isn't a hazard map, and some parts of BC are mapped in far more detail than others. Landslides near a given lot.
The Province lists 8 dams in Highlands, none classed High or above for the harm a failure would do downstream. One of them is recorded as breached (failed). The class rates what a failure would do, not how likely one is; a report names the dams within 1 km of a lot. Dams in BC, by place.
Poor-air days: at the Colwood City Hall air monitoring station, 6.5 km from the town centre, fine particles passed the level of BC's 24-hour objective (25 µg/m³) on a median of 2 days a year over the 11 years with a full record, 2015 to 2025; the most was 8 days in 2020, most of them in September. Most of these days fell from June to September, the wildfire season (our reading: mostly wildfire smoke). How smoky it gets across BC.
Radon
In the South Vancouver Island health region, 1 of the 55 homes tested (1.8%) in Health Canada's 2009–2011 survey was at or above the 200 Bq/m³ guideline; across BC, 143 of 1,817 (7.9%).
The survey tested about a hundred volunteer homes per health region, with one long-term test each. That gives a rough regional picture: it isn't a map, and a region where few or none tested high can still have homes above the guideline. The only way to know is to test the home: radon and buying a home in BC.
Source: Cross-Canada Survey of Radon Concentrations in Homes (2009–2011), Health Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Health Service Delivery Area Boundaries, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
Check one lot: has it burned? · is it on a floodplain map? · is it behind a dike? · is there a dam nearby? · landslides nearby? · contaminated sites nearby? · radon? · how much is too steep?
Source: Agricultural Land Reserve polygons, Agricultural Land Commission (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Fire perimeters – historical, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Preliminary Canadian Landslide Database, version 14.0 (May 2026), Brideau et al. (CC BY 4.0); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence); Municipalities – Legally Defined Administrative Areas of BC (names and status), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
Cost to own
Property tax: $4.32 a year for each $1,000 of assessed value, compared with $6.26 in a typical town that size. Homes: the typical home costs 8.2 years of a typical household's income, compared with 6.0 years in a typical town that size.
- Residential property tax rate, 2026
- $4.32 a year for each $1,000 of assessed value typical town that size: $6.26
- Typical home value against typical household income
- 8.2 years of income typical town that size: 6.0 years
- Median home value (owners' estimate, 2021)
- $1,000,000
- Median monthly rent (2021)
- $1,000
- Speculation and vacancy tax
- applies here: see More
More on cost to own
Property tax
The 2026 residential property tax rate in Highlands is $4.32 per $1,000 of assessed value, below the middle of BC's 160 municipalities ($6.24): about $4,318 a year on a $1,000,000 home, before the home owner grant. Rank in BC: 134th of 160 (tied).
- Municipal $2.05
- Regional district $0.26
- Regional hospital district $0.12
- School (set by the Province) $1.28
- Other $0.60
- Middle of BC's municipalities $6.24
On $500,000: about $2,159 a year; on $1,000,000: about $4,318, at 2026 rates, before the home owner grant.
Your bill uses BC Assessment's value for the property, which can differ from its price, and may also include parcel taxes and utility fees (water, sewer, garbage) that aren't rates on value. The home owner grant takes up to $570 off the bill of a home its owner lives in ($770 in the Province's northern and rural area in 2026, and up to $845, or $1,045 there, for seniors, veterans and people with a disability), for homes assessed at $2,075,000 or less in 2026; above that it shrinks by $5 for each $1,000. From 2027 the northern and rural extra ends and the regular grant is $570 everywhere. The owner applies each year, and must pay at least $350 in tax ($100 for the higher grant) after it. Our summary of the Province's page, read 2026-10-04. Confirm with Highlands. How property tax works in BC.
Source: District of Highlands's 2026 tax rates bylaw, as compiled by the Province (Local Government Statistics Schedule 702, 2026) (the rates only: facts set in public bylaws, not open data); Home owner grant, Province of BC (summarised in our words, read 2026-10-04).
Highlands is in the Province's speculation and vacancy tax area. An owner of a home here declares each year by March 31 and owes the tax unless an exemption applies: the main ones are living in it as your principal residence, or renting it to a tenant who makes it their home for at least six months of the year. For 2026 it is 1% of the assessed value a year for Canadian citizens and permanent residents, 3% for foreign owners and untaxed worldwide earners (4% from 2027). Our summary of the Province's pages, read 2026-10-04. Where the tax applies, and who pays.
The typical home here is the median value owners gave the 2021 census, and the typical household's income is the median for 2020: a home that costs 8.2 years of income took that many years of a typical household's whole income. "Typical" for places its size is the middle of BC's towns of 2,000 to 10,000 people.
New homes permitted
In 2025, building permits in Highlands were issued for at least 2 new homes.
- Houses
- Row houses
- Apartments
- Not broken down (months withheld)
| New homes | Houses | Row houses | Apartments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | ≥ 11 | ≥ 9 | withheld | withheld |
| 2019 | withheld | withheld | withheld | withheld |
| 2020 | ≥ 1 | withheld | withheld | withheld |
| 2021 | ≥ 13 | ≥ 7 | withheld | withheld |
| 2022 | withheld | withheld | withheld | withheld |
| 2023 | withheld | withheld | withheld | withheld |
| 2024 | withheld | withheld | withheld | withheld |
| 2025 | ≥ 2 | withheld | withheld | withheld |
| 2026 (January to July) | ≥ 4 | withheld | withheld | withheld |
Homes in new residential building permits, counted when the permit is issued: some are never built, and some building needs no permit. Statistics Canada withholds a month's figure for confidentiality or quality, so a year with withheld months reads "at least" (≥ in the table); 2026 runs to July (*). Not every local government reports. For permits on one street, ask the local government.
Source: Building Permits (BPER), BC Stats, adapted from Statistics Canada's Building Permits survey (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), through July 2026.
Land for sale nearby
The 5 nearest listings on AcreScout within 25 km of Highlands's town centre, nearest first.
| Listing | Asking price | Size | Per acre | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1870 Millstream RdHighlands, listed 38 days ago | $1,999,000 | 29.2 acres | $68,459 an acre | 1 km |
| 2226 Archer GateLangford, listed 49 days ago | $374,900 | 0.07 acres | – | 1.2 km |
| 2230 Archer GateLangford, listed 49 days ago | $374,900 | 0.07 acres | – | 1.2 km |
| 2242 Archer GateLangford, listed 49 days ago | $499,900 | 0.18 acres | – | 1.3 km |
| 2246 Archer GateLangford, listed 49 days ago | $499,900 | 0.15 acres | – | 1.3 km |
Distances are straight lines to the listing's pin. Where AcreScout places a listing only roughly, no distance is given, only the place it's near. Per acre is left out under about an acre. Asking prices are what sellers ask, not what land sells for.
Listings: AcreScout, a Buretto site; active listings as of 2026-11-15. Asking prices set by the sellers; not a valuation.
Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).
What you can build
On a lot zoned for a house, the zoning must allow at least a secondary suite or a garden suite (the provincial minimum).
- Homes allowed on a house lot (provincial minimum)
- a house and a secondary suite or garden suite
- Short-term rentals
- The Province's principal residence requirement applies in Highlands (list in force from June 1, 2026): a short-term rental (under 90 days) is limited to the host's own home plus one secondary suite or garden suite on the same property.
- In the farmland reserve (ALR)
- none typical town that size: 5%
More on what you can build
Highlands had 2,482 people in the 2021 census; the Province's 3-to-6-home floor starts above 5,000. So a zone limited to houses must allow at least one secondary suite or detached accessory home (a garden suite or carriage house) next to a house. A floor of 3 or 4 homes applies only on lots inside an urban containment boundary drawn in a regional growth strategy. How many homes you can build on a lot.
The Province's principal residence requirement applies in Highlands (list in force from June 1, 2026): a short-term rental (under 90 days) is limited to the host's own home plus one secondary suite or garden suite on the same property. Land assessed as a farm (class 9) is exempt. Local bylaws, including the zone's own rules, can be stricter. Hosts anywhere in BC register each unit with the provincial registry. Short-term rental rules in BC.
Reports for lots in Highlands can't name the zone: we have no open zoning map for it (see the places covered).
Ask the District of Highlands for a lot's zone and what it allows.
Check one lot: is it in the ALR? · is the soil good for farming? · is it in a community watershed?
Source: Agricultural Land Reserve polygons, Agricultural Land Commission (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).
Living here Typical for its size
1 bus route, no licensed child care on the Province's list, 2 fire halls and a 24-hour emergency department.
- Homes with 50/10 Mbps internet or faster
- 99.9% typical town that size: 100%
- Homes with LTE mobile coverage
- 100%
- Nearest emergency department open around the clock
- Victoria, 6.1 km in a straight line
- Fire halls
- 2 on the Province's list; the nearest 3.1 km from Highlands's town centre
- Buses
- 1 route, every day
- Licensed child care
- none on the Province's list
- Crime, weighted for how serious it is
- no police service of its own in Statistics Canada's figures: those of the West Shore RCMP detachment (rural) are under More
More on living here
Internet
99.9% of homes in Highlands have 50/10 Mbps or faster recorded, wired or fixed wireless, against 97.6% across BC. 0.1% have nothing at 25/5 Mbps or faster.
| Share of homes here | BC | |
|---|---|---|
| 50/10 Mbps or faster, wired or fixed wireless | 99.9% | 97.6% |
| 50/10 Mbps or faster over a wired line | 99.9% | 96.2% |
| 50/10 Mbps or faster over fixed wireless | 34% | 87% |
| Nothing at 25/5 Mbps or faster | 0.1% | 1.4% |
| LTE mobile coverage | 100% | 99.1% |
| Homes counted (2021) | 927 | 2,170,255 |
| Rank in BC, homes without 50/10 Mbps | 208th of 248 (tied) | |
This is the service providers report to the federal government (ISED), counted over each area's homes in the 2021 census. It isn't a promise for any address: ask providers whether they serve it and what it costs to connect. Satellite service, which needs only a clear view of the sky, isn't counted. Data released May 2026. What internet can a given lot get?
Source: National Broadband Data (May 2026) and Pseudo-Household Demographic Distribution (2021), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).
Nearest hospital
The nearest hospital on the Province's list (updated 2026-10-01) is Victoria General Hospital, about 6.1 km in a straight line from Highlands's town centre. Its emergency department's hours on HealthLink BC's list: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Roads are longer than these straight lines, and a small town's emergency department can close for a shift when it's short of staff: the health authority posts these as service changes. In an emergency, call 9-1-1. How far is the nearest hospital from a property?
Source: Hospitals in BC, HealthLinkBC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Emergency Rooms in BC, HealthLinkBC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
Fire protection
Fire protection in Highlands is the municipality's to provide, through its own fire department or one it contracts: ask it which hall responds. The Province's list (updated 2026-09-11) has two fire halls in Highlands: Highlands Volunteer Fire Department Hall 1 West Hall and Highlands Volunteer Fire Department Hall 2 East Hall. The nearest to Highlands's town centre is Langford Fire Rescue Station 1, about 3.1 km away in a straight line. Home insurers ask the road distance to the hall that responds, which can be far longer than the straight line. How far is the nearest fire hall, and what insurers ask
Source: First Responders (fire halls and ambulance stations), GeoBC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
Transit
BC Transit runs route (52) in Highlands, every day, from 2 stops. Read from the published schedules for one week (the week of October 19, 2026); service changes with the seasons. A report on a lot names its nearest stop and how often buses leave it.
Source: BC Transit schedules (GTFS), read 2026-10-12 (BC Transit Open Data Terms of Use); placed by us in the 2021 census boundary 2026-10-12. Bus and train service in every BC place.
Crime
The West Shore RCMP detachment (rural) reported a crime severity index of 46 in 2025, below BC's 92; down 15% since 2015 (BC unchanged).
| Crime severity index, 2025 | 46 (BC 92) |
|---|---|
| Violent / non-violent index | 62 / 41 (BC 98 / 91) |
| Crime severity index, 2015 | 55 (BC 93) |
| Change since 2015 | Down 15% (BC unchanged) |
| Break and enter, per 100,000 people, 2025 | 134 (BC 281) |
| Theft of a vehicle, per 100,000 people, 2025 | 38 (BC 138) |
| Theft from a vehicle, per 100,000 people, 2025 | 0 (BC 441) |
| Violent crime, per 100,000 people, 2025 | 1,399 (BC 1,531) |
| All Criminal Code offences (not traffic), per 100,000 people, 2025 | 3,909 (BC 6,943) |
Inferred: these figures are for the West Shore RCMP rural detachment's area, about 7 km away, not for Highlands itself; Statistics Canada publishes none under Highlands's name. BC's police boundaries aren't open data; the local RCMP can say whose figures include Highlands.
The crime severity index weighs each offence by how serious it is (one assault counts for more than several thefts), with Canada in 2006 set at 100. Rates are per 100,000 people living in the police service's area, so places with many visitors, commuters or seasonal homes read high, and in small places a few incidents swing the figures a lot. These are crimes reported to police, not all crime.
Source: Statistics Canada, Table 35-10-0063-01, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services in British Columbia (Statistics Canada Open Licence); Statistics Canada, Table 35-10-0184-01, Incident-based crime statistics, by detailed violations, police services in British Columbia (Statistics Canada Open Licence).
Water
684 water-supply wells on record; half are deeper than 78 m, and the median tested yield is 23 L/min.
- Water-supply wells on record
- 684; half deeper than 78 m; median tested yield 23 L/min
- Rank in BC for well depth
- 25th of 245
More on water
The Province's monitoring records hold groundwater samples from 1 well in Highlands, 2007 to 2010, among them 1 of the Province's observation wells. The median passed Health Canada's limit for manganese (1 well). A report names the nearest sampled wells within 10 km of a lot. A neighbouring well isn't your water: test your own. What BC's well water tests for, by place.
Mapped aquifers
2 mapped aquifers lie in Highlands, most wells first.
- 1Aquifer 680: Wark-Colquitzfractured crystalline bedrock1,259 wells · moderate productivity
- 2Aquifer 681: Willis Point, southeast side of Saanich Inletfractured crystalline bedrock230 wells · low productivity
An aquifer is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it, so a sliver of one at the edge can be left out. Wells and productivity are for the whole aquifer, which can reach well beyond Highlands. The province maps aquifers mostly in settled valleys, so a lot outside every outline can still have groundwater. Every mapped aquifer in BC · sampled lakes.
Sampled lakes
7 sampled lakes lie in Highlands, largest first.
- 1Pease Lake4.1 hatoo few readings to judge
- 2Second Lake3.5 hatoo few readings to judge
- 3Third Lake3.2 hatoo few readings to judge
- 4Teanook Lake3.1 hatoo few readings to judge
- 5Mitchell Lake2.4 hatoo few readings to judge
- 6Fork Lake2.1 hatoo few readings to judge
- 7Eagles Lake0.8 hatoo few readings to judge
A lake is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it or 100 ha of it. Clarity is the median summer Secchi depth; the nutrient class is our reading of Carlson's index from phosphorus or chlorophyll, not a provincial rating. Either is given only for a lake with at least 10 summer readings from open water, spread over at least 3 different years, since 2012. Most lakes have never been sampled, so a lake missing here may simply have no record. Every sampled lake in BC.
Source: Groundwater wells (GWELLS), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Ground Water Aquifers, Water Protection and Sustainability Branch, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); BC Environmental Monitoring Data System (EnMoDS) results, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).
Climate and sun Typical for its size
January averages 3.1 °C and July 17.4 °C, with 51 cm of snow a year, at the Victoria Highland station, 3 km from the town centre (1981-2010 normals).
- January mean temperature
- 3.1 °C* typical town that size: −2.1 °C
- July mean temperature
- 17.4 °C*
- Yearly precipitation
- 1,164 mm*
- Yearly snowfall
- 51 cm* typical town that size: 99 cm
- Days a year over 30 °C
- 5.6 days* typical town that size: 10
Winter sun
About 6 h 40 min of possible direct sun on December 21 at Highlands's town centre, against 8 h 10 min on open ground; a lot on a slope or bench can differ by hours: open any lot's report for its own.
On March 21, 11 h 20 min against 12 h; on June 21, 15 h 10 min against 16 h. Our estimate from the terrain around the point, ground at about 102 m, seen from head height: trees, buildings and cloud aren't counted. On BC's least winter sun ranking (December sun as a share of open ground) it is 143rd of 310 (tied). How winter sun is read.
More on climate and sun
| 1981-2010 normals | Rank in BC | |
|---|---|---|
| January mean temperature | 3.1 °C* | Not ranked* |
| July mean temperature | 17.4 °C* | Not ranked* |
| Yearly precipitation | 1,164 mm* | |
| Yearly snowfall | 51 cm* | Not ranked* |
| Days with snow on the ground (1 cm or more) | 13 days a year; 5 days in January* | |
| Days a year over 30 °C | 5.6 days; under half a day over 35 °C* | Not ranked* |
| Wettest day in the station's record to 2010 | 142 mm of rain and melted snow, October 16, 2003 | |
| Most snow in a day in the station's record to 2010 | 48 cm, November 26, 2006 | |
| Deepest snow on the ground in the station's record to 2010 | 98 cm, December 29, 1996 |
Normals for 1981-2010 at the Victoria Highland station, about 3 km from the town centre; ECCC has no fuller 1991-2020 set for it. Its normals don't include the frost-free period or degree days, so those are left out. * Based on at least 20 or 15 of the 30 years, short of the World Meteorological Organization's standard: treat as a rougher guide. The records are single days measured at the station: the most rain, snow and wind it saw in its record up to 2010 (ECCC's 1981-2010 sets give records over the station's whole history, so some dates are older than 1981). Each is one event, not what to expect in a year, and the lot can get more or less than the station. Elevation matters a lot in BC: a hillside lot can be much colder and snowier than the station.
Plant hardiness zone: most homes here are in zone 9a (94%), on Natural Resources Canada's 2025 map. Higher numbers are milder winters. What the zones mean.
Solar panels: a south-facing panel tilted at the latitude would make about 1,030 kWh a year for each kW of panels at Highlands's town centre, about 32 of it in December (estimated from Natural Resources Canada's 1998-2022 sunshine map). An open sky is assumed: the hills, trees and buildings around a lot cut it, and a report sets the lot's own skyline beside it. What solar panels would make in BC.
By the 2050s (2041-2070) at the town centre, climate models project about 3 more days over 30 °C a year, a longest frost-free run about 55 days longer and about 6 percentage points less of winter's precipitation falling as snow, each against the same models' 1971-2000 (model projections under SSP2-4.5, a middle path for emissions). The models work on a grid of about 9 by 6 km, which averages valley floors with the slopes around them, so their own figures can sit well off a station's normals and aren't comparable with them. Their own figures there: about 4 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 3 to 11 across the models), against about 1 day in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 285 days (range 275 to 335), against about 230; and about 4% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 2% to 6%), against about 10%. The ranges run from the 10th to the 90th percentile of the models' 2041-2070 figures. The 2050s across BC.
Light at night within 1 km of Highlands's town centre: like a small town such as Gibsons, Sooke or Valemount (our reading), and darker than about 75% of BC's homes (2024 satellite record). A lot away from the centre can be much darker. How dark are BC's nights?
Lightning: around Highlands's town centre, a cloud-to-ground flash within 10 km on about 1 day a year and 0.01 flashes per km² a year, less than at 3 in 4 BC homes (the Canadian Lightning Detection Network, 1998-2025 average, on a grid of about 11 by 7 km).
Source: Canadian Climate Normals 1991-2020 and 1981-2010, Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Plant hardiness zones of Canada (2025 map), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Medium Resolution Digital Elevation Model (MRDEM-30), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Solar position: General Solar Position Calculations (NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory; Spencer, 1971) (Public domain); Daily average solar irradiance on tilted surfaces for all of Canada (1998-2022), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Photovoltaic Potential and Solar Resource Maps of Canada (performance ratio), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Statistically downscaled climate indices from CMIP6 global climate models (CanDCS-M6), Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, via the Canadian Centre for Climate Services (Open Government Licence – Canada); Air Quality and Climate Monitoring: Verified Hourly Air Quality and Meteorological Data (fine particulate matter, PM2.5), BC Ministry of Environment and Parks (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); VIIRS Nighttime Lights, 2024 annual composite, Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines (Elvidge et al. 2021, Remote Sensing 13(5):922), via Hengl, OpenGeoHub, Zenodo doi 10.5281/zenodo.7750174 (CC BY 4.0); Canadian Lightning Detection Network cloud-to-ground flashes (CanCPLDv1), Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).
Land use around
No major project in assessment or approved in or near Highlands on the Environmental Assessment Office's register.
- Major projects in assessment or approved, in or within 5 km
- none on the register
- Under mineral, placer or coal titles
- 0.0%
More on land use around
Major projects in Highlands
No major project in assessment or approved is placed in Highlands or within 5 km of it on the Environmental Assessment Office's register.
Closed: 2 withdrawn, terminated, refused, expired or not reviewable
- Bamberton Town Development (withdrawn 1995; about 2.9 km outside)
- Bamberton Projects (construction stone and industrial mineral quarry, found not to need an assessment 2023 (it may still go ahead under other permits); about 3.9 km outside)
Major projects are those large enough to need a provincial environmental assessment: mines, power plants, pipelines, transmission lines, highways, ports and resorts. The register places each at one point; a mine, pipeline or line can reach well past it, so check the project's own page for its maps. A property report lists those within 10 km of a lot; every project in BC by place.
Source: Environmental Assessment Office project points (EPIC), Province of BC, as of 2026-11-02 (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).
The Province lists 7 active waste discharge authorizations in Highlands; the commonest kinds: asphalt plant (2), hazardous waste storage or treatment (2) and concrete plant (1). Of these, 2 may discharge to air and 1 refuse to land. A report lists any within 2 km of a lot, and flags one whose point is on it. Permitted discharges in BC, by place.
The Province maps one open gravel pit or quarry in Highlands: Millstream Road Quarry. A report lists the permits within 2 km of a lot, names an open pit or quarry within 500 m and flags one whose permit area takes in the lot. Gravel pits and mine permits in BC, by place.
On ParcelMap BC, the land in Highlands is 47% private, 20% Crown land with a parcel drawn (under 1% with no title), 22% the local government's; no parcel is mapped over 9%, likely streets and lanes, water and untitled Crown land. A report says who owns the land along a lot's line. Crown land next to a property, and every place's land by owner.
Highlands lies in wildlife management unit 1-1: the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis sets seasons and closed areas by unit. Inside the municipality, its own bylaw can also ban firing a gun. Hunting and shooting on your own property.
BC Parks maps one park or protected area, Gowlland Tod Park, a provincial park, reaching into Highlands, over 23% of its land. A report names the nearest park and recreation site within 25 km of a lot. Parks and recreation sites in BC, by place.
Check one lot: is there a mineral claim? · power lines nearby? · pipelines nearby? · a gravel pit nearby? · a landfill or plant nearby? · logging planned nearby? · cattle on open range? · is there a trapline? · can I hunt on it? · a park nearby? · Crown land next door?
Source: Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence); Municipalities – Legally Defined Administrative Areas of BC (names and status), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia).
People
2,482 people in 2021, up 11.6% from 2016; the median age is 45.6.
| Here | BC | |
|---|---|---|
| Population, 2021 | 2,482 | 5,000,879 |
| Change since 2016 | +11.6% | +7.6% |
| Median age | 45.6 | 42.8 |
| Under 15 | 15.7% | 14.3% |
| 65 and over | 18.1% | 20.3% |
| Median household income (2020) | $122,000 | $85,000 |
| Homes owned by the people living in them | 88.5% | 66.8% |
| Single-detached houses | 94.5% | 42.4% |
| Movable dwellings (mobile homes and the like) | 0.0% | 2.5% |
| Built before 1961 | 4.0% | 12.5% |
| Needing major repairs | 5.0% | 5.8% |
| Median home value (owners' estimate) | $1,000,000 | $785,000 |
| Median monthly rent | $1,000 | $1,370 |
| Worked from home | 29.2% | 22.6% |
| Unemployment rate | 4.9% | 8.4% |
Bars: the dark bar is this place, the red mark is BC.
Who lives here
| Here | BC | |
|---|---|---|
| Indigenous identity | 4.5% | 5.9% |
| Immigrants | 11.6% | 29.0% |
| Visible minority | 6.4% | 34.4% |
| No religion or a secular outlook | 75.4% | 52.1% |
Census figures, shown for context like the others. We don't rank or score places on these.
More on people
Census figures are from 2021; the next census results start in 2027. Area boundaries are Statistics Canada's census subdivisions, which follow municipal and electoral area lines.
Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).