The District of North Saanich is located on the Saanich Peninsula of British Columbia, approximately north of Victoria on southern Vancouver Island. It is one of the 13 Greater Victoria municipalities. The District is surrounded on three sides by of ocean shoreline, and consists of rural/residential areas, a large agricultural base and is home to the Victoria International Airport and the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal. History In July 1905, North Saanich, then including the townsite of Sidney, was incorporated with the original Municipal Hall located in Sidney. Lacking population and a firm tax base, the municipality was dissolved in 1911. In 1940, the site of the present Victoria International Airport was selected as a military forces base and the area boomed with the influx of 10,000 military personnel, leading to incorporation for the Village of Sidney in 1952. Four years later, the residents of the North Saanich unorganized area, numbering 2,865, requested that letters patent be issued to form the "North Saanich Fire Prevention District" with power to own property, to tax and to borrow. In 1965, after a favourable public vote, the letters patent were withdrawn and the North Saanich Municipal District was established with offices at the present location on Mills Road. Demographics In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, North Saanich had a population of 12,235 living in 5,010 of its 5,235 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 11,249. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Ethnicity Religion According to the 2021 census, religious groups in North Saanich included: Irreligion (6,910 persons or 56.7%) Christianity (4,905 persons or 40.2%) Sikhism (150 persons or 1.2%) Buddhism (100 persons or 0.8%) Judaism (20 persons or 0.2%) Other (110 persons or 0.9%) Fauna The largest animal to be found in North Saanich is the cougar. Other native mammals include the black-tailed deer, mink, otter, raccoon, and deer mouse. Of introduced mammal species, the cottontail rabbit and gray squirrel are often seen. Common native birds include the northwestern crow, common raven, bald eagle, turkey vulture, American robin, varied thrush, Steller's jay, and several species of gull. Introduced birds are represented by the abundant common starling and the now declining Eurasian skylark. Flora The most common native tree in North Saanich is Douglas fir. The other common large conifers are Abies grandis (grand fir) and Thuja plicata (western