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.

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Saanich—Gulf Islands

British Columbia electoral district
Saanich—Gulf Islands in relation to other electoral districts in the Vancouver Island area
Federal electoral district
Legislature	House of Commons
MP	Elizabeth May Green
District created	1987
First contested	1988
Last contested	2021
District webpage	profile, map
Demographics
Population (2011)[1]	104,285
Electors (2021)	93,538
Area (km²)[1]	518
Pop. density (per km²)	201.3
Census division(s)	Capital
Census subdivision(s)	Saanich, Central Saanich, Sidney, North Saanich, Capital F, Capital G, Capital H, Cole Bay 3, Union Bay 4, East Saanich 2, South Saanich 1

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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.^[5] The average family income is $70,814; unemployment is 5.9 percent.

According to the 2016 Canadian 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^[6]
Median income (2015): $37,376
Average income (2015): $49,898

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.

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.^[7] 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 October 19, 2015.^[8]

This section does not cite any sources. (January 2024)

Despite the usually close vote between the various right-leaning parties, the Canadian Alliance, Reform and Conservative parties consistently won the district from 1993 to 2011. From 1953 to 2024, the riding and its predecessor, Esquimalt—Saanich, were only won by a non-conservative candidate five times: 1968 to Liberal David Anderson, in 1988 to New Democrat Lynn Hunter, and in 2011, 2015 and 2019 to Green party leader Elizabeth May, who in 2015 won every poll-district within the constituency. The 1988 Conservative loss is attributed to vote splitting between the Progressive Conservatives and the new Reform party. Despite a Conservative majority in 2011, the Greens won their very first elected seat here and it went on to become their only stronghold in the country. The peninsular portion of the riding is more competitive, with significant support for all parties except the Liberals. However, the Gulf Islands have probably the strongest Green support in the country, with many voters being environmentally conscious, moderate retirees, as well as a notable artist population. Even with the Green collapse nationally in 2021, May held on with 37%, although it was her lowest voteshare in the riding.

Riding associations are the local branches of political parties:

This riding has elected the following members of Parliament:

• List of Canadian federal electoral districts
• Historical federal electoral districts of Canada