The city was incorporated in 1893 with about 500 residents. The Canadian Pacific Railroad was completed through downtown in 1886, and the Canadian National arrived in 1912, making Kamloops an important transportation hub.
Kamloops is promoted as the Tournament Capital of Canada. It hosts more than 100 sporting tournaments each year (hockey, baseball, curling, etc) at world-class sports facilities such as the Tournament Capital Centre, Kamloops Bike Ranch, and Tournament Capital Ranch. Logging, beef cattle, vegetable farming, transportation, viticulture, health care, tourism, and education are major contributing industries to the regional economy and have grown in recent years. Thompson Rivers University (~25,000 students) was established as Cariboo College in 1970.
History
Kamloops and the Thompson River, 1886Paddle steamer at Kamloops in 1887
The first European explorers arrived in 1811. David Stuart, a trader sent from Fort Astoria, then still a Pacific Fur Company post, spent a winter with the Secwépemc people. In May of the following year, trader Alexander Ross established a post, which was known as "Fort Cumcloups".
The rival North West Company established Fort Shuswap nearby in the same year. The two businesses merged in 1813 when the North West Company bought the operations of the Pacific Fur Company. In 1821, the Hudson's Bay Company merged with the North West Company, and the post became known commonly as Thompson's River Post, or Fort Thompson. Later it was known as Fort Kamloops.[8] The post's Chief Traders kept journals, which document a series of inter-Indian wars and personalities for the period, in addition to the daily business of the fur companies and their personnel along the entire Pacific Slope.
Soon after the forts were founded, Kwa'lila, chief of the main local village of the Secwépemc, moved his people closer to the trading post, so they could control access and gain in prestige and security. After Kwa'lila died, his nephew and foster son Nicola became chief. He later led an alliance of Syilx (Okanagan) and Nlaka'pamux peoples in the plateau country to the south around Stump, Nicola and Douglas lakes.
The 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic swept through the Kamloops area during the summer of that year, decimating the Secwepemc, Nlaka'pamux, and other indigenous peoples. They had no acquired immunity. The epidemic had started in Victoria and quickly spread throughout British Columbia, especially among First Nations. In June 1862, indigenous people went to Fort Kamloops seeking smallpox vaccine, William Manson, chief clerk at the fort, vaccinated numerous persons, but fatalities were extremely high. In late September he reported "smallpox still raging amongst the Indians".
In October a newspaper in Victoria reported an eyewitness account from Fort Kamloops, saying
The Indians have been nearly exterminated at [Kamloops]: only sixteen have escaped out of a large settlement. Their bodies are strewing the ground in all directions.
About two-thirds of the Secwepemc died during the epidemic. In the aftermath, colonists took over traditional lands of the Secwepemc and many other indigenous groups throughout British Columbia.[11][12][13][14]
The gold rush of the 1860s and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which reached Kamloops from the West in 1885,[15] brought further growth. The City of Kamloops was incorporated in 1893 with a population of about 500.
In 1908 due to the Tuberculosis Pandemic a sanatorium was opened west of the city named King Edward Memorial Sanatorium, the sanatorium was later acquired by the provincial government in 1921, being renamed to Tranquille Sanatorium, it later closed in 1958. The Tranquille Institution reopened in 1959 to treat people with mental problems it later closed in 1983.
In 1967, Kamloops amalgamated with the Town of North Kamloops.
In 1973, Kamloops amalgamated with the Districts of Brocklehurst, Dufferin, the Town of Valleyview, and the Kamloops Indian Band, and the communities of Dallas, Campbell Creek, Barnhart Vale, Heffley Creek, Rayleigh, Westsyde and Knutsford. In 1976, the Kamloops Indian Band split from the City of Kamloops.
"Kamloops" is the anglicized version of the Shuswap word "Tk'əmlúps", meaning "meeting of the waters". Shuswap is still spoken in the area by members of the Tk'emlúps Indian Band.[21]
An alternate origin sometimes given for the name may have come from the native name's accidental similarity to the French "Camp des loups", meaning "Camp of Wolves"; many early fur traders were ethnic French.[8] There are folk stories about an attack on a traders' camp by a pack of wolves. Other legendary versions recount a huge white wolf, or a pack of wolves and other animals, that were moving overland from the Nicola Country and were repelled by a single shot by John Tod, then Chief Trader. This prevented the wolves from attacking the fort and earned Tod a great degree of respect locally.[22]
Geography
Kamloops is in the Thompson Valley and the Montane Cordillera Ecozone. The city's centre is in the valley near the confluence of the Thompson River's north and south branches. Suburbs stretch for more than a dozen kilometres along the north and south branches, as well as to the steep hillsides along the south portion of the city and lower northeast hillsides.
Robert W. Service in 1904 described Kamloops as his delightful life and wrote "Life was pleasant, and the work was light. At four o'clock we were on our horses, riding over the rolling ridges, or into spectral gulches that rose to ghostlier mountains. It was like the scenery of Mexico, weirdly desolate and aridly morose. A discouraging land, forbidding in its weariness and resigned to ruin."
Kamloops Indian Band areas begin just to the northeast of the downtown core but are not within the city limits. As a result of this placement, it is necessary to leave Kamloops' city limits and pass through the band lands before re-entering the city limits to access the northernmost communities of Rayleigh and Heffley Creek. Kamloops is surrounded by the smaller communities of Cherry Creek, Pritchard, Savona, Scotch Creek, Adams Lake, Chase, Paul Lake, Pinantan and various others.
Neighbourhoods
Officially recognized neighbourhoods within the city of Kamloops.[23]
Informally recognized sub-areas are listed beneath the neighbourhoods to which they belong:
Kamloops has the third mildest winter of any non-coastal city in Canada, after Penticton and Kelowna.[24] The coldest months are December and January, when the mean temperatures are −2.0 °C (28 °F) and −2.7 °C (27 °F).[25] That average sharply increases with an average maximum temperature of 3.9 °C (39 °F) in February. Between November and January the area experiences abundant cloud cover due to a continual series of Pacific coastal Low Pressure systems crossing British Columbia, reducing the annual sunshine output, despite very sunny summers.
The average number of days where the minimum temperatures drops below −10 °C (14 °F) per year is 19 as recorded by Environment Canada.The average number of days where the Maximum temperature goes above 30 °C (86 °F) is 36, above 35 °C (95 °F) is 8 days.
[25]
Although Kamloops is above 50° north latitude, summers are very warm with hot periods, with prevailing dry and sunny weather. Daytime humidity often drops below 20% during dry periods, which allows for substantial nighttime cooling. Occasional summer thunderstorms can create dry-lightning conditions, sometimes igniting forest fires which the area is prone to.
Kamloops lies in the rain shadow leeward of the Coast Mountains and is biogeographically connected to similar semi-desert areas in the Okanagan region, and a much larger area covering the central/eastern portions of Washington, Oregon and intermontane areas of Nevada, Utah and Idaho in the US.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Kamloops was 47.3 °C (117 °F) on 29 June 2021, which was the fourth-highest reading recorded in Canada, and the highest recorded in any city, during the infamous 2021 Western North America heat wave.[26][27][28] The lowest temperature ever recorded was −38.3 °C (−37 °F) on 16 and 18 January 1950.[29]
Climate data for Kamloops Airport, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1890–present[a]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Kamloops had a population of 97,902 living in 39,914 of its 41,619 total private dwellings, a change of 8.4% from its 2016 population of 90,280. With a land area of 297.93 km2 (115.03 sq mi), it had a population density of 328.6/km2 (851.1/sq mi) in 2021.[36]
At the census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Kamloops CMA had a population of 114,142 living in 47,102 of its 50,235 total private dwellings, a change of 10% from its 2016 population of 103,811. With a land area of 5,654.08 km2 (2,183.05 sq mi), it had a population density of 20.2/km2 (52.3/sq mi) in 2021.[37]
Religious groups
According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Kamloops included:[38]
Kamloops historically had a Chinatown on Victoria Street where most ethnic Chinese lived. John Stewart of the Kamloops Museum and Archives stated it was not a "true Chinatown".[43] It was established by Chinese immigrants by 1887, and by 1890 the community had up to 400 Chinese. Stewart said this was an "amazingly large" population for the rural area.[44] By the 1890s, about 33% of Kamloops were ethnic Chinese; they worked primarily on construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway.[45]
Economic changes in Kamloops resulted in many Chinese seeking work elsewhere. In addition, there were two fires in 1892 and 1893, and a 1911–1914 demolition that dismantled the Chinatown.[46]Peter Wing, the first ethnic Chinese mayor in North America, was elected in 1966 and served three terms as the Mayor of Kamloops.[45]
In the 1880s the Kamloops' Chinese Cemetery was founded in Kamloops, the only one in the province dedicated to Chinese pioneers,[45] It is one of the largest cemeteries in the province,[45] but the last interment was made there in the 1960s.[47]
In 2013 the provincial government announced it would begin a consultation process to discuss wording of a formal apology to Chinese in B.C. for past wrongs. Joe Leong, president of the Kamloops Chinese Cultural Association, said he believed that the province should build a museum to honour Chinese history in the province, as a way to recognize the contributions of the people. As Kamloops had the only cemetery dedicated to the Chinese pioneers, he felt this city would be an appropriate site for the museum.[45]
Economy
Royal Inland HospitalThompson Rivers University
Kamloops' economy includes healthcare, tourism, education, transportation, and natural resource extraction industries.
The Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) is the city's largest employer. RIH is the region's acute care and health facility and is one of two tertiary referral hospitals in the Southern Interior with 239 acute beds and an additional 20 more beds upon completion of the expansion in 2016.[48]
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) serves a student body of 25,754 including a diverse international contingent mainly from Asian countries.[49]Thompson Rivers University, Open Learning (TRU-OL) is the biggest distance education provider in British Columbia and one of the biggest in Canada.
Heavy industries in the Kamloops area include primary resource processing such as Domtar Kamloops Pulp Mill, Tolko-Heffley Creek Plywood and Veneer, New Gold Inc - New Afton Mine, and Highland Valley Copper Mine (in Logan Lake).
Four major highways join in Kamloops, the BC Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway), the Coquihalla Highway (BC highway 5 south of the city), the Yellowhead Highway (BC Highway 5 north of the city) and BC Highway 97, making it a transportation hub and a place which attracts business. There are over 50 trucking and transport companies located in Kamloops that ship across Canada and into the United States.[50] Both the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Canadian National Railway service Kamloops with both lines running through the city.[50]
Tourism
Kamloops welcomed 1.8 million visitors in 2017, a 9% increase from 2015 (1.64 million).
Tourism's economic ROI is immense. A$1.8 million destination marketing budget returned $449 million in economic benefit in 2017.The annual Direct Visitor Expenditure is estimated at $270 million, a 19% increase from 2015 ($227 million). Further, the total estimated tourism economic impact was $449 million in 2017, a 32.4% increase from 2015 ($339 million).[51]
Tourism generates many types of income for the region, including business income, wage earnings, share earnings, rates and levies. Conservation springs from industry-wide support for management, research and education initiatives that benefit everyone through responsible tourism management.
Kamloops has over 50 accommodation choices[52] from major hotels to bed and breakfasts. Accommodation occupancy rates were 61.5% in 2017, up 2.6% from 2016.
Arts and culture
Alley art in downtown KamloopsMusic in the Park at Riverside Park
Kamloops culture has grown in recent years to celebrate local talent that includes: culinary arts, sports, live entertainment, and fine art.
Kamloops hosts a range of cultural events year-round including:
Kamloops Wine Festival:[53] This annual festival is a fundraiser for the Kamloops Art Gallery.
Kamloops Film Festival:[54] Since 1997, this festival has grown to celebrate international films at Paramount Theatre for ten days in March.
River Beaver Classic:[55] This annual, mountain biking festival hosts four events over one weekend in April with all money raised going to local trail maintenance.
Brewloops[56] Brewloops is a non-profit, beer, food, and bike festival that celebrates Kamloops culture with block parties on The Shore and Downtown throughout the year.
Kamloops International Buskers Festival:[57] This four-day festival takes place throughout Riverside Park and showcases professional buskers from around the globe.
Hot Nite in the City Show 'n' Shine:[58] This weekend-long event takes place every August downtown and showcases Street Rods, Customs, American Muscle, Sport-compact, Electric Vehicles and more.
Kamloops Rotary Ribfest:[59] Western Canada's largest rib festival, Ribfest takes place every August at Riverside Park. By 2018, Kamloops Rotary had raised over $500,000 for local charities.
Interior Wellness Festival:[61] Since 2008, this event has promoted healthy living in BC including workshops with yogis, authors, and business experts.
Kamloops Comedy Fest: Canadian comedians take over the microphone for a weekend each October during Kamloops Comedy Fest.
Words Alive Kamloops:[62] Formerly the Kamloops Writers Festival, this annual event features Canadian authors showcasing their work through public readings and events, as well as conducting workshops on a variety of topics.
There are 29 outdoor murals – the Back Alley Art Gallery- throughout downtown Kamloops that the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association has spearheaded since the 2000s. Artists that have contributed to this project include: Zack Abney; Kylene Cachelin; Evan Christina; Kelly Wright; Ken Wells; Alex Moir-Porteus; Robin Hodgson; Jack Morris; Janice Gurney, and Marianna Abutalipova.
Project X Theatre, an outdoor theatre festival located in Kamloops. The company creates a summer outdoor theatre festival in Prince Charles Park, just east of Downtown Kamloops. Established in 2006, Project X Theatre originally produced productions of Shakespeare, however, recently the company has shifted over to more family friendly shows. Randi Edmundson is the current Artistic Director. Previous artistic directors include Samantha Mcdonanld, Derek Rein, Heather Cant, Melissa
purcha, and Dušan Magdolen.
The Western Canada Theatre is a professional theatre company located in Kamloops. The company manages and performs in two spaces: the 706 seat Sagebrush Theatre and the 150-seat Pavilion Theatre. James MacDonald is the current artistic director of the theatre company. Previous artistic directors include Tom Kerr (founder), Frank Glassen, David Ross, Michael Dobbin, John Cooper, Jeremy Tow, and Daryl Cloran.[65]
Since 2012, four wineries have been established in the Thompson Valley wine region[67] including: Sagewood Winery; Harper's Trail Winery; Monte Creek Ranch Winery, and Privato Vineyard and Winery. Since 2010, five micro-breweries have opened up in Kamloops including: Noble Pig Brewhouse; Red Collar Brewing, Alchemy Brewing, Bright Eye Brewing and Iron Road Brewing. Since 2020, some craft distilleries have opened up in Kamloops including: Route 1 Distillery
Food and drink
Since 2007, Chefs in the City has been established as a "celebration of culinary arts, fine wine and beer from Kamloops and the surrounding region.[68]" In 2018, 21 local restaurants will have participated, as well as 10 local wineries and breweries. This annual event is presented by the Rotary Club of Kamloops and has raised over $325,000 since 2007.
Since 1998, the Kamloops Wine Festival has taken place in the spring as a fundraiser to support the Kamloops Art Gallery. The Kamloops Wine Festival had raised over $200,000 by 2018.[71]
In 2014, Brewloops Beer Festival was established as a non-profit organization that promotes Kamloops culture across the city throughout the year. Brewloops celebrates BC craft beer, music, and entertainment with the wider Kamloops community and had donated $27,000 to community groups by 2018.[72] Bands that have performed at Brewloops include: Delhi 2 Dublin, Yukon Blonde, and at Mission Dolores.
Kamloops is an outdoor mecca for activities like hiking and mountain biking with an extensive trail network for year-round adventure. Multiple nearby lakes offer paddling, kayaking and fishing.
Known as the Tournament Capital of Canada, Kamloops has hosted many tournaments and is home to a range of professional athletes from many sports. Kamloops has the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame, which includes 2008 Summer Olympics bronze medallist Dylan Armstrong and the National Finalist Roma's soccer team.[73]
Fishing
With 100 lakes within an hour's drive, Kamloops has some of the best freshwater fishing in North America. Every year, the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC stocks lakes in the Thompson-Nicola region with roughly 1,000,000 fish including rainbow trout, brook trout, and kokanee salmon.
Kamloops is known for its professional anglers including Brian Chan,[74] Jordan Oelrich,[75] and Brennan Lund.[76] Fishing guides in the Kamloops area include: DNA Fly Fishing;[77] Interior Fly Fishing; Maricle Fly Fishing; Riseform Flyfishing;[78] and Fast Action Fishing Adventures.[79]
Ongoing trail maintenance has been spearheaded by local organizations such as the Kamloops Bike Riders Association, Kamloops Performance Cycling Centre, and Dirt Chix Kamloops.
Golf
Kamloops has highest number of golf courses (13) per capita in Canada and boasts one of Canada's most diverse golf landscapes. Golfers enjoy three seasons of golf due to the dry and hot climate of the area.[85] Several of the local golf courses have been designed by famous golf architects such as Robert Trent Jones, Graham Cooke, and Tom McBroom.[85]
The 13 courses include: Tobiano Golf Course; The Dunes, Talking Rock Golf Course; Pineridge Golf Course; Rivershore Estates; Big Horn Golf & Country Club; Kamloops Golf & Country Club; Sun Peaks Golf; Eagle Point Golf Course; Mount Paul Golf Course, and Chinook Cove Golf.[86]
Skiing
Sun Peaks Resort is a nearby ski and snowboard hill. Olympic medallist skier Nancy Greene Raine is director of skiing at Sun Peaks and the former chancellor of Thompson Rivers University. The Overlander Ski Club runs the Stake Lake cross country ski area with 50 km (31 mi) of trails.
The Kamloops Rotary Skatepark at McArthur Island Park is one of Canada's largest skateboard parks.[87] Also located at McArthur Island Park is NorBrock Stadium, the McArthur Island Sports and Events Centre and the McArthur Island Curling Club. The city boasts 82 parks which are great for hiking, including Kenna Cartwright Park, the largest municipal park in British Columbia.[88]
Elections into the municipality in Kamloops are held with the rest of the province every four years.
Provincially, Kamloops is considered to be bellwether, having voted for the governing party in every provincial election since the introduction of parties to British Columbian elections, until 2017. By contrast, Kamloops has regularly voted against the party in power federally until the 2006 Federal election. Kamloops is represented in two provincial ridings – Kamloops-South Thompson and Kamloops-North Thompson – and one federal riding – Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.
The Canadian Pacific (CPR) and Canadian National (CNR) mainline routes connect Vancouver in the west with Kamloops. The two railways diverge; CNR to the north and CPR and east, continuing to the rest of Canada. Kamloops North station is served two times per week (in each direction) by Via Rail's Canadian.
Greyhound Canada previously connected Kamloops with Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary, with service ending at the end of October 2018. After Greyhound's departure, several companies stepped in and commenced intercity service. Ebus and Rider Express both provide service to Vancouver and in between cities and towns, with Ebus connecting to other Interior cities like Kelowna and Vernon, and Rider Express continuing east to Calgary.[95]
Local bus service is provided by Kamloops Transit System and funded through BC Transit with 14 routes across the Kamloops area that are operated by contractor First Student Canada. In 2018, the City of Kamloops partnered with the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc to expand its services on Tk'emlups te Secwepemc land for Route 18: Mount Paul.[96]
Education
Residential School
The Kamloops Indian Residential School, part of the Canadian Indian residential school system opened in 1893 and ran until 1977.[97] In May 2021, the possible remains of 200 children were detected in the graveyard soil by ground penetrating radar at the site of the school.[98][99] The remains were located with the assistance of ground-penetrating radar, and work was underway to determine if related records about the identities of the dead are held at the Royal British Columbia Museum.[98] In a statement released by the First Nations Health Authority, CEO Richard Jock said: "That this situation exists is sadly not a surprise and illustrates the damaging and lasting impacts that the residential school system continues to have on First Nations people, their families and communities."[99]
Dylan Armstrong, Olympic shot putter who finished 4th in the 2008 Olympics but subsequently was awarded the bronze medal in 2015 after the 3rd place putter Andrei Mikhnevich from Belarus tested positive for drugs post 2008 Olympics.
Boris Karloff, actor, joined the Jeanne Russell theatre company in Kamloops in September 1911.
Chris Masuak, punk rock singer-songwriter, inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, born in Kamloops – lived in Brocklehurst (North Kamloops) in the 1960s. Now resides in Spain.
The city's name has been given to a crater on the surface of Mars. Crater Kamloops was officially adopted by the International Astronomical Union's Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (IAU/WGPSN) in 1991. The crater lies at 53.8° south latitude and 32.6° west longitude, with a diameter of 65 km (40 mi).[133][134]
In "Cementhead," a 1989 episode of the television series Booker, the titular detective (played by Richard Grieco) tracks a capricious professional hockey player (Stephen Shellen) back to his hometown of Kamloops.
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