Victoria Harbour (British Columbia)

Victoria Harbour
Aerial view of Victoria Harbour up to Selkirk Water, 11 December 2008
Location
Country	Canada
Location	Victoria, British Columbia
Coordinates	48°25′16″N 123°23′34″W / 48.42111°N 123.39278°W / 48.42111; -123.39278Coordinates: 48°25′16″N 123°23′34″W / 48.42111°N 123.39278°W / 48.42111; -123.39278
Details
Operated by	Greater Victoria Harbour Authority & Transport Canada
Size of harbor	250 ha (620 acres)
Harbour master	D. Featherby
Chair of GVHA	Bill Wellburn
Statistics
Vessel arrivals	202 cruise ships in 2008 228 cruise ships in 2009 at Ogden Point (excludes ferries)
Passenger traffic	380,000 cruise ship passengers in 2008 400,000 cruise ship passengers in 2009 at Ogden Point (excludes ferry passengers)
Website www.victoriaharbour.org

Victoria Harbour (Shoal Point) Heliport
IATA: none ICAO: none TC LID: CBZ7
Summary
Airport type	Private
Owner	Canadian Coast Guard
Serves	Victoria Harbour
Location	Shoal Point
Time zone	PST (UTC−08:00)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC−07:00)
Elevation AMSL	10 ft / 3 m
Coordinates	48°25′23″N 123°23′15″W / 48.42306°N 123.38750°W / 48.42306; -123.38750
Map
CBZ7 Location in British Columbia
Helipads
Number Length Surface ft m 1 113 x 113 34 × 34 Concrete
Sources: Canada Flight Supplement

Victoria Harbour is a harbour, seaport, and seaplane airport located in the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia. It serves as a cruise ship and ferry destination for tourists and visitors to the city and Vancouver Island. It is both a port of entry and an airport of entry for general aviation. Historically it was a shipbuilding and commercial fishing centre. While the Inner Harbour is fully within the City of Victoria, separating the city's downtown on its east side from the Victoria West neighbourhood, the Upper Harbour serves as the boundary between the City of Victoria and the district municipality of Esquimalt. The inner reaches are also bordered by the district of Saanich and the town of View Royal. Victoria is a federal "public harbour" as defined by Transport Canada. Several port facilities in the harbour are overseen and developed by the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, however the harbour master's position is with Transport Canada.

Before European development the Coast Salish Songhees people lived in settlements to the east of the harbour and the Esquimalt people lived to the west of it. They cultivated camas root and other crops in meadows lined with cultivated Garry Oak trees along the harbour. Shell middens along the Gorge Waterway are evidence of human habitation dating back 4000 years.