Gibsons

Historically a centre for forestry and commercial fishing, the town has since developed a more diversified economy. In 2009, it received the International Award for Liveable Communities for "the world's most liveable community with a population under 20,000". It is best known as the setting of the long-running CBC Television series The Beachcombers and has served as a filming location for productions including Murder in a Small Town, Charlie St. Cloud, and Needful Things. Gibsons has increasingly become a bedroom community for workers in Greater Vancouver. Like the rest of the Sunshine Coast, Gibsons has no direct road connection to the British Columbia mainland and is primarily accessible by BC Ferries service between Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver and Langdale.

• Name — Gibsons • Official Name — Town of Gibsons • Settlement Type — Town • Image Skyline — LowTideAtSmittys.jpg • Image Caption — Gibsons Harbour • Image Flag — File:Flag of Gibsons, British Columbia.svg • Pushpin Map — Canada British Columbia • Pushpin Map Caption — Location of Gibsons in British Columbia • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — Canada • Subdivision Type1 — Province • Subdivision Name1 — British Columbia • Subdivision Type2 — Region • Subdivision Name2 — Sunshine Coast • Subdivision Type3 — Regional district • Subdivision Name3 — Sunshine Coast • Leader Title — Governing body • Leader Title1 — Mayor • Leader Name1 — Silas White • Established Title — Founded • Established Date — 1886 • Established Title2 — Incorporated • Established Date2 — 1929 • Area Total Km2 — 4.32 • Population As Of — 2021 • Population Total — 4758 • Population Density Km2 — auto • Timezone — PT • Utc Offset — −07:00 • Elevation M — 10 • Postal Code Type — Postal code • Postal Code — V0N 1V0 & V0N 3V0 • Area Codes — 604, 778 • Blank Name — Gibsons Way / Highway 101 • Blank Info — 101 • Blank1 Name — Waterways • Blank1 Info — Howe Sound Gibsons is a town on the Sunshine Coast in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, on the northwest shore of Howe Sound. Located within the Pacific coastal rainforest and serving as the gateway to the rest of the Sunshine Coast, Gibsons is a regional tourist destination. Established in 1886 by George Gibson, the settlement was incorporated in 1929 as Gibson's Landing and renamed Gibsons in 1947. Historically a centre for forestry and commercial fishing, the town has since developed a more diversified economy. In 2009, it received the International Award for Liveable Communities for "the world's most liveable community with a population under 20,000". It is best known as the setting of the long-running CBC Television series The Beachcombers and has served as a filming location for productions including Murder in a Small Town, Charlie St. Cloud, and Needful Things. Gibsons has increasingly become a bedroom community for workers in Greater Vancouver. Like the rest of the Sunshine Coast, Gibsons has no direct road connection to the British Columbia mainland and is primarily accessible by BC Ferries service between Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver and Langdale.

The land currently known as Gibsons is part of the traditional and ancestral lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw, which also includes parts of Greater Vancouver and the Squamish River watershed. Sḵwx̱wú7mesh oral history tells that the region around Gibsons was the birthplace of the Squamish people after what is called The Great Flood. The European settlement town of Gibsons was established in 1886 by George Gibson and his sons. It was incorporated in 1929 as Gibson's Landing, and in 1947 was renamed Gibsons at the residents' request. The town's two main sections are: • Lower Gibsons, the mostly residential seaside area that includes Gibsons Marina, Molly's Reach, and Winegarden Park, with an auditorium that hosts live performances in the summer. It also has shops and restaurants catering mostly to vacationers. • Upper Gibsons, along the Sunshine Coast Highway (BC Highway 101), with commercial areas including Sunnycrest Mall, the town's two major supermarkets, a variety of fast food restaurants, the largest elementary school, and the high school. Gibsons is the first town in British Columbia to accept styrofoam at its recycling facility, the Gibsons Recycling Depot. Its staff has travelled widely to promote styrofoam recycling; founder Buddy Boyd was invited to address an international Zero Waste conference in Florianopolis, Brazil.

The Sunshine Coast has seen a three-decade transition from a forestry- and fishing-based economy to a more diverse one with construction trades, business services, retail and tourism becoming prominent. Between 2016 and 2021, its population grew 3.3% compared with BC's overall growth rate of 7.6%. In 2021, the median resident age was 56.0 years, compared with the provincial median of 42.8 years.

Gibsons is in a temperate coastal climate, with mild, rainy winters and warm, dry summers. The region's landscape is in a temperate rainforest.

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Gibsons had a population of 4,758 living in 2,282 of its 2,482 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 4,605. With a land area of, it had a population density of sqmi in 2021. • Illustration — Gibsons Harbour, Sunshine Coast

• Panethnic groups in the Town of Gibsons (2001−2021) • Panethnic group — 2021 — 2016 — 2011 — 2006 — 2001 • Pop. Population — % percentage — Pop. Population — % percentage — Pop. Population — % percentage — Pop. Population — % percentage — Pop. Population — % percentage • European — 3,800 — 3,825 — 3,730 — 3,705 — 3,545 • Indigenous — 265 — 205 — 200 — 220 — 120 • East Asian — 175 — 115 — 80 — 40 — 125 • Southeast Asian — 130 — 125 — 120 — 10 — 20 • South Asian — 105 — 30 — 15 — 0 — 0 • African — 50 — 70 — 45 — 20 — 15 • Latin American — 20 — 10 — 0 — 10 — 10 • Middle Eastern — 0 — 0 — 0 — 10 — 0 • Other/multiracial — 25 — 15 — 0 — 30 — 0 • Total responses — 4,575 — 4,405 — 4,225 — 4,060 — 3,830 • Total population — 4,758 — 4,605 — 4,437 — 4,182 — 3,906 • Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Gibsons included: • Irreligion (2,810 persons or 61.4%) • Christianity (1,515 persons or 33.1%) • Buddhism (75 persons or 1.6%) • Judaism (30 persons or 0.7%) • Sikhism (30 persons or 0.7%) • Hinduism (25 persons or 0.5%) • Islam (25 persons or 0.5%) • Other (75 persons or 1.6%)

• Ryan Dempster – major league baseball pitcher • Bruno Gerussi – actor, The Beachcombers • Peter Trower – poet and novelist • Ken Bell – Canadian photographer during WWII • Lyn Vernon – mezzo-soprano (later dramatic soprano), conductor, teacher • Paul George – environmentalist • Adriane Carr – environmentalist and politician • Todd Bentley – evangelist • J.S. Woodsworth – politician, founder of the Canadian Commonwealth Foundation (predecessor to the New Democratic Party) • Grace MacInnis – politician and feminist • Paul Rudolph – cyclist and former guitarist & vocalist with the Pink Fairies • Don S. Davis – actor known for his roles as General George S. Hammond on Stargate SG-1 and Major Garland Briggs on Twin Peaks. • Devin Townsend – musician and frontman for Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsend Project, and Devin Townsend Band. • Celso Machado – Brazilian guitarist and multi-instrumentalist • Garth "GGGarth" Richardson – music producer and recording engineer • Aristazabal Hawkes – bassist for the English indie rock band, a Mercury Music Prize, BRIT Awards and NME Awards nominee Guillemots (band) • Silas White – publisher, musician and politician • Skye Wallace – singer-songwriter • Warne Livesey – music producer and recording engineer for Midnight Oil and Matthew Good • Joey Cramer – actor • Velcrow Ripper – filmmaker • Rhys Fulber – musician and producer • John Fluevog – shoe designer and businessperson