Upon the recommendation by George Simpson a new more northerly post should be built in case Fort Vancouver fell into American hands (see Oregon boundary dispute).

[20] In 1886, with the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway terminus on Burrard Inlet, Victoria's position as the commercial centre of British Columbia was irrevocably lost to the city of Vancouver.

The city subsequently began cultivating an image of genteel civility within its natural setting, aided by the impressions of visitors such as Rudyard Kipling, the opening of the popular Butchart Gardens in 1904 and the construction of the Empress Hotel by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1908.

Robert Dunsmuir, a leading industrialist whose interests included coal mines and a railway on Vancouver Island, constructed Craigdarroch Castle in the Rockland area, near the official residence of the province's Lieutenant Governor.

[citation needed] A real-estate and development boom ended just before World War I, leaving Victoria with a large stock of Edwardian public, commercial and residential buildings that have greatly contributed to the city's character.

[25] The proponents of amalgamation argue it would reduce duplication of services,[26] while allowing for more efficient use of resources and the ability to better handle broad, regional issues and long-term planning.

[citation needed] Depending on the classification used, Victoria either has a warm-summer Mediterranean or oceanic climate (Köppen: Csb, Trewartha: Do);[28][29] with fresh, dry, sunny summers, and cool, cloudy, rainy winters.

With 2,193 hours of bright sunshine annually during the last available measurement period, Victoria is effectively tied with Cranbrook as the sunniest city in British Columbia.

The city takes pride in the many flowers that bloom during the winter and early spring, including crocuses, daffodils, early-blooming rhododendrons, cherry and plum trees.

[37] Due to its mild climate, Victoria and its surrounding area (southeastern Vancouver Island, Gulf Islands, and parts of the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast) are also home to many rare, native plants found nowhere else in Canada, including Quercus garryana (Garry oak), Arctostaphylos columbiana (hairy manzanita), and Canada's only broad-leaf evergreen tree, Arbutus menziesii (Pacific madrone).

[71] Advanced technology is Victoria's largest revenue-producing private industry with $3.15 billion in annual revenues generated by more than 880 tech companies that have over 15,000 direct employees.

[72] With three post-secondary institutions in Saanich, eight federal research labs in the region, and Canada's Pacific Navy Base in Esquimalt, Victoria relies heavily upon the neighbouring communities for economic activity and as employment hubs.

Canada Day fireworks displays, Symphony Splash, and many other music festivals and cultural events draw tens of thousands of Greater Victorians and visitors to the downtown core.

Victoria co-hosted the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup at Royal Athletic Park, and is the venue for the Bastion Square Grand Prix Criterium road cycling race.

The event culminates with the Symphony's evening concert, with Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture as the grand finale, complete with cannon fire from Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Gunners from HMCS QUADRA, a pealing carillon and a fireworks display to honour BC Day.

Some of these films include X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, In the Land of Women, White Chicks, Scary Movie, Final Destination, Excess Baggage and Bird on a Wire.

Actors Cameron Bright (Ultraviolet, X-Men: The Last Stand, Thank You for Smoking, New Moon) and Ryan Robbins (Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, Sanctuary) were born in Victoria.

Other Victoria writers include Kit Pearson, Esi Edugyan, Robert Wiersema, W. D. Valgardson, Elizabeth Louisa Moresby, Madeline Sonik, Jack Hodgins, Dave Duncan, Bill Gaston, David Gurr, Ken Steacy, Sheryl McFarlane, Carol Shields and Patrick Lane.

In addition, the heart of downtown also has the Maritime Museum of British Columbia, Emily Carr House, Victoria Bug Zoo, and Market Square.

The oldest (and most intact) Chinatown in Canada is within downtown and includes the Chinese Public School built in 1909, and some cultural items and pictures displayed at the Pandora avenue entrances to Market Square.

[95] The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is close to downtown in the Rockland neighbourhood several city blocks from Craigdarroch Castle built by industrialist Robert Dunsmuir and Government House, the official residence of the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia.

Numerous other buildings of historic importance or interest are also in central Victoria, including: the 1845 St. Ann's Schoolhouse; the 1852 Helmcken House built for Victoria's first doctor; the 1863 Congregation Emanu-El, the oldest synagogue in continuous use in Canada; the 1865 Angela College built as Victoria's first Anglican Collegiate School for Girls, now housing retired nuns of the Sisters of St. Ann; the 1871 St. Ann's Academy built as a Catholic school; the 1874 Church of Our Lord, built to house a breakaway congregation from the Anglican Christ Church cathedral; the 1890 St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church;[96] the 1890 Metropolitan Methodist Church (now the Victoria Conservatory of Music), [97] which is publicly open for faculty, student, and guest performances, also acts as Camosun College Music Department; the 1892 St. Andrew's Cathedral; and the 1925 Crystal Gardens, originally a saltwater swimming pool, restored as a conservatory and most recently a tourist attraction called the B.C.

Its area of 75 ha (190 acres) adjacent to Victoria's southern shore includes numerous playing fields, manicured gardens, exotic species of plants and animals such as wild peacocks, a petting zoo, and views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Mountains in Washington across it.

[105] The extensive system of parks in Victoria also includes a few areas of natural Garry oak meadow habitat, an increasingly scarce ecosystem that once dominated the region.

[118] Greater Victoria also has a rich motorsports history, and was home to a 4/10ths mile oval race track called Western Speedway in the nearby City of Langford.

As of 15 December 2020 the CRD announced that core municipalities within Greater Victoria no longer discharge screened wastewater into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

[139] Connector routes in the Fernwood and Oaklands neighbourhoods to the Vancouver Street lanes were also constructed starting in 2021, avoiding hills and adding safer pedestrian and cyclist crossings.

BC Ferries provides service between Swartz Bay, located on the northern tip of the Saanich Peninsula, to Tsawwassen on the Lower Mainland for cars, bus, trucks, pedestrians and cyclists.

[162] Users can purchase bus passes and load money onto their accounts on the app, online, or toll-free through Umo’s customer service phone line.

[citation needed] Local roadways are not based on a grid system as they are in Vancouver or Edmonton, and many streets do not follow a straight line from beginning to end as they wind around hills, parks, coastlines, and historic neighbourhoods, often changing names two or three times.