James Island is one of the Southern Gulf Islands located in Haro Strait, between Cordova Channel to the west and Sidney Channel to the east, about 12 miles (19 km) north of Victoria and 4 miles (6.5 km) southeast of Sidney, British Columbia. The island covers an area of approximately 768 acres (311 ha). It was named after Sir James Douglas, a Canadian fur trader and politician who became the first governor of the Colony of British Columbia in 1858.

James Island is part of the traditional territory of the Tsawout First Nation. In 1904, the colonial government forcibly removed the native residents. The island was first settled by farming families in the 1870s and later served as a private hunting ground for Victoria sportsmen. In 1913, Canadian Explosives Limited, later known as Canadian Industries Limited, established a dynamite plant on James Island. At its peak, the plant employed 800 people, most of whom lived in a village on the island. During World War I, the facility produced 900 tonnes (900,000 kg) of dynamite per month for the war effort. The plant closed in 1977, and by 1979, the buildings had been dismantled and removed.

The island is privately owned and considered one of Canada’s most valuable private islands. However, it is also at the center of a First Nation’s land claim. Located within the Capital Regional District, land use on the island is governed by the North Pender Island Local Trust Area, which includes some of the world’s rarest ecosystems. Read more here and here. Explore more of James Island and the Southern Gulf Islands here: