Saanich—Gulf Islands is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1988. It is named for its geographical location across the Gulf Islands and Saanich Peninsula in the Vancouver Island region. Demographics Notes: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.Demographics based on 2012 Canadian federal electoral redistribution riding boundaries. More than 21 percent of Saanich—Gulf Islands' residents are immigrants, and more than 19 percent are older than 65, making this the riding with the third largest senior population in Canada. The riding has a median age of 48.3, making it the riding with the highest median age in Canada. The average family income is $70,814; unemployment is 5.9 percent. According to the Canada 2016 Census; 2013 representation Languages: 83.8% English, 2.3% Mandarin, 2.1% Cantonese, 1.5% German, 1.5% French, 1.2% Punjabi Religions (2011): 46.9% Christian (12.2% Catholic, 10.6% Anglican, 7.8% United Church, 2.2% Baptist, 1.7% Lutheran, 1.5% Presbyterian, 1.1%% Pentecostal, 10.0% Other), 1.3% Buddhist, 1.2% Sikh, 47.3% No religion Median income (2015): $37,376 Average income (2015): $49,898 Geography The riding of Saanich—Gulf Islands consists of the north part of the Municipality of Saanich, as well as the municipalities of Central Saanich, North Saanich, and Sidney on Vancouver Island. The district also includes a number of the southern Gulf Islands, including Salt Spring Island, the Pender Islands, Galiano Island, Mayne Island and Saturna Island. The district's southeastern border runs along the University of Victoria. History The electoral district was created in 1987 from Esquimalt—Saanich and Cowichan—Malahat—The Islands ridings. The 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution concluded that the electoral boundaries of Saanich—Gulf Islands should be adjusted, and a modified electoral district of the same name will be contested in future elections. The redefined Saanich—Gulf Islands loses a small portion of its current territory in the urbanized portion of Saanich to the new district of Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke. These new boundaries were legally defined in the 2013 representation order, which came into effect upon the call of the 42nd Canadian federal election, which was held 19 October 2015. Political geography Despite the usually close vote between the various right-leaning parties, the Canadian Alliance, Reform and Conservative parties have consistently won here from 1993 to 2011. Since 1953, the riding and its predecessor, Esquimalt—Saanich, have only gone to a non-conservative candidate five times: 1968 to Liberal David Anderson, in 1988 to New Democrat