The municipality encompasses the communities of Chemainus; Westholme; Crofton; Maple Bay; and "the South End".

Spanning 193.98 square kilometres, North Cowichan is the largest incorporated municipality by land area on Vancouver Island, and includes the communities of Chemainus, Crofton, Westholme, Maple Bay and the so-called "South End" which is functionally a suburb of Duncan, a separate municipality.

[2] Sheltered by the mountains of the central Island and the Olympic Peninsula, North Cowichan has a temperate, Mediterranean-like climate, with mild, damp winters with little snowfall and warm, dry summers.

[5] According to the 2021 census, religious groups in North Cowichan included:[6] North Cowichan is serviced by the Maple Bay Airport (YAQ), which offers services to Downtown Vancouver, Vancouver Airport, Ganges on Salt Spring Island and Bedwell Harbour on Pender Island.

The original economic drivers steamed from the abundance of natural resources, including the fur trade, fishing, mining, and the forest industry.

Today, the forest industry, retail, construction, manufacturing, and health care are large contributors to the local economy.

North Cowichan is served by one public post secondary educational institution, Vancouver Island University.