Lake CowichanBritish Columbia

Commuters in Lake Cowichan travel further than in British Columbia’s towns or Canadian towns, 30 min on average

83% of commuters drove, below both British Columbia’s towns (87%) and Canadian towns (89%).

Most households in Lake Cowichan own their home: 85%, more than in both British Columbia’s towns and Canadian towns

Owners put the median home at $472,000, below British Columbia’s towns ($720,000) but above Canadian towns ($406,000). 17% of households spent 30% or more of their income on shelter, lower than both British Columbia’s towns (21%) and Canadian towns (18%).

Lake Cowichan has milder winters than British Columbia’s towns or Canadian towns: January lows of 1.6°C

Snow peaks in December: 12 cm in a normal year. Frost comes on 45 days a year, below British Columbia’s towns (60) and Canadian towns (159) alike. Gardeners get 213 frost-free days, from 4 April to 4 November. July afternoons in Lake Cowichan average 22.7°C.

No high school in or near Lake Cowichan: the closest is 24 km off

The force covering Lake Cowichan records more serious violence than British Columbia’s towns or Canadian towns, at 159

Measured across the Lake Cowichan detachment area: Crime Severity Index, Violent Crime Severity Index, violent crime and property crime per 1,000

Violent incidents in its police area came to 19.6 per 1,000 residents a year, above both British Columbia’s towns (12.5) and Canadian towns (12). The index for the force that serves it came to 95, above British Columbia’s towns (83) and Canadian towns (67) alike.

Life expectancy around Lake Cowichan is 79.8 years, 1.7 less than for the typical Canadian town

Area-wide: health survey and life expectancy, counted over the Central Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area

Smoking is commoner than in the province: 12% of adults, against 8.9% for British Columbia. In the health survey, 47% of adults in the region rated their health very good or excellent, below both British Columbia’s towns (50%) and Canadian towns (52%). For Lake Cowichan itself the measure is access, and it lags: 24 km to the nearest hospital, where 3.7 km is typical.

More of Lake Cowichan’s residents have an Indigenous identity than in British Columbia’s towns or Canadian towns: 13%

Visible minorities make up 3.8% of the population, below both British Columbia’s towns (8.6%) and Canadian towns (15%). Immigrants make up 7.7% of residents, between British Columbia’s towns (12%) and Canadian towns (6.4%).

A normal November in Lake Cowichan runs from 3°C to 10°C

Expect about 146 mm of rain and snow over November. Looking ahead to December, expect highs near 7°C and lows near 2°C. Normal highs peak at 23°C in July; nights bottom out at 1°C in February. Hour-by-hour figures come from ECCC’s Duncan forecast, on the Weather page.

Jeff Kibble (Conservative Party of Canada) represents Lake Cowichan in Ottawa as MP for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford

For the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Lake Cowichan votes in Cowichan Valley; open data doesn’t yet say who its MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly, the provincial or territorial legislature) is.

Lake Cowichan’s public library is VIRL: Cowichan Lake Branch

It sits 0.9 km from the centre of Lake Cowichan.

A national route near Lake Cowichan: the Trans-Canada Trail - Cowichan Valley Trail

Protected areas cover 2.8% of the land within 10 km, between British Columbia’s towns (6.7%) and Canadian towns (2.3%). Within 5 km lie 6 beaches, unnamed on the map. A drive of 33 km reaches Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, the nearest national park.

Earthquake risk in Lake Cowichan runs 28 times the typical Canadian town’s: $0.85 per $1,000 a year

In Health Canada’s survey, just 0.9% of homes tested in the area exceeded 200 Bq/m³ (6.6% typical). Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy has mapped the flood hazard here: one study on the national inventory. Fire seldom reaches Lake Cowichan: since 1986, 0.3% of the land within 25 km has burned (0.008% a year).