How it began
1932 and after: Tofino’s milestones
The name of Tofino honours Vicente Tofiño de San Miguel. For the municipality of Tofino itself, Wikidata records 1932, a date that can be a founding as much as a merger.
Photo: Buiobuione · CC BY-SA 4.00historic places on the registers
History of Tofino · Canada’s heritage registers
Behind the name Tofino: Vicente Tofiño de San Miguel
Lighttower, 53 km from Tofino, heads a list of 4 historic places within 100 km. Only 4.2% of its homes were built before 1961, against 18% in the typical Canadian town.
Historic places within 100 km
4
2 of the highest designation
Nearest historic place
53 km
Lighttower
Homes built before 1961
4.2%
typical town: 18%
Around the town
The registers find 4 places within 100 km of Tofino
They are a Classified Federal Heritage Building, a National Historic Site and a heritage railway station. Between them, 4 towns share them, mainly Electoral Area C, Alberni-Clayoquot, Electoral Area E, Alberni-Clayoquot and Courtenay. Closest of all is Lighttower, in Electoral Area C, Alberni-Clayoquot, 53 km off.
The 4 nearest, within 100 km
| LighttowerClassified Federal Heritage Building · 1909–1910 · 53 km away, in Electoral Area C, Alberni-Clayoquot |
| McLean MillNational Historic Site · 1925–1966 · 80 km away, in Electoral Area E, Alberni-Clayoquot |
| Former Canadian Pacific Railway Station (VIA Rail), Courtenay, British ColumbiaHeritage Railway Station · 1914–1915 · 88 km away, in Courtenay |
| Courtenay RiverListed in a community heritage register · 90 km away, in Electoral Area B (Lazo North), Comox Valley |
Homes by age
10% of Tofino’s homes are from 2016 to 2021 (4.1% is typical)
More than half of Tofino’s housing predates 2001. Homes built from 2001 to 2015 make up 30% of Tofino’s, against 15% in the typical town. The largest single period is from 1981 to 2000, with 35% of Tofino’s homes.
4.2%
Before 1961
22%
1961–80
35%
1981–2000
30%
2001–15
10%
2016–21
TofinoTypical town
2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.
In brief
Tofino in brief
Its oldest homes, those from before 1961, are 4.2% of the total, against 18% in the typical town. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: as with most towns its size, no historic place is listed.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Protection. A National Historic Site designation recognises significance; it doesn’t by itself protect a building the federal government doesn’t own. Legal protection comes from provincial and municipal designations, whose own registers aren’t open data outside Québec.
- Provincial and municipal lists. The local and provincial lists outside Québec aren’t published openly, so this page counts what Wikidata records and pages only the places an encyclopedia describes.
- People and events. National historic persons carry no place in the open file. They appear on a town’s page when born there (same name, same birth and death years) or when a historic place inside it carries their name and its record names them with their dates; national historic events don’t appear.
- The grade. History is described, not graded, for every Canadian town.
- The federal register. The federal list is complete and open: Parks Canada’s directory for the designations, the Canadian Register of Historic Places for what each one is and why it matters.
- The tiers. Three tiers: the top for National Historic Sites, classified federal buildings and Québec’s classements, a second for the other federal designations, a third for provincial and municipal listings.
Questions about Tofino’s history
How many historic places does Tofino have on the registers?
None in Tofino itself. The closest is Lighttower in Electoral Area C, Alberni-Clayoquot, 53 km away, a place of the highest rank.
How old are the homes in Tofino?
4.2% of its homes were built before 1961, against 18% in the typical Canadian town.
Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (Parks Canada).
Sources: Parks Canada, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations · Canadian Register of Historic Places (federal extract) · Wikidata (CC0) for map points, other names and articles · Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (homes by period of construction). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).