Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is an insular province of Canada located off the west coast of the country's mainland in the Pacific Ocean, separated from the province of British Columbia by the Strait of Georgia. The province includes the namesake main island, home to the majority of the provincial population, as well as several smaller islands in the strait as well as the Haida Gwaii archipelago to the north (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands). Victoria, located at the southern end of the main island, is the capital city of the province as well as its most populous municipality. Vancouver Island is the only island province on Canada's west coast. The nine counties of Vancouver Island form the main apparatus of local government, although many larger communities on the island are incorporated municipalities within a particular county.

The province is home to 2.33 million people, 97% of whom reside on the main island and nearly half of whom live in Victoria or its metropolitan area. The backbone of the province's economy is primarily dairy, fishing and farming, with the province accounting for almost half of Pacific Canada's dairy and seafood output. Tourism is also an important mainstay of the province's economy, especially during the summer months; the main island and many of the other islands are known for their spectacular beaches and campgrounds, sport and guided fishing are incredibly popular as are chartered floatplane and less commonly helicopter tours of the province's spectacular landscape, and the province's west coast, albeit relatively underpopulated and isolated, is known globally for its excellent surfing spots, especially the resort towns of Tofino and Ucluelet on the main island; the province's population increases by nearly 50% during the summer months due to its robust tourist sector. During the winter, skiing is a popular attraction on the main island, which features many luxurious alpine resorts built atop mountains with unparalleled natural runs, the most famous of which is that of Mount Washington.

The Vancouver Island Sheriff Service (VISS) provides a provincial law enforcement role. However, all nine counties each have their own county constabulary, which is responsible for all county-level policing within the respective county and which contracts with all incorporated municipalities in the county to provide municipal policing services, relegating the Sheriff Service to provincial duties such as investigating major organised crime, assisting county constabularies with large investigations, patrol of provincial highways, security of provincial courthouses and other provincial government institutions as well as personal security of senior provincial leaders, and transportation of prisoners between institutions throughout as well as to and from the province.