People uprooted from Saanich (1)

Saanich, a Greater Victoria district municipality, was established through WSÁNEĆ and Hudson’s Bay Company treaties in 1852. During the gold rush of the late 1850s and 1860s, non-Indigenous settlers arrived in the area. They often became farmers, and they built schools and churches to support the community. In 1872, Saanich was split into two districts: North and South.

North Saanich became popular for its fertile soil, used to grow berries, hops, fruits, hay, and grains. In the early 1900s, Japanese immigrants arrived and found work as farm labourers. In the 1920s, Rinzo Ono began operating the Tillicum Dairy (3157 Tillicum Road). He had a wife and two daughters, and the dairy farm operated until the family was forcibly uprooted in 1942. Other families operated produce farms, and some specialized in strawberries. By 1921, the population of Saanich was 14,693, with roughly forty-six Japanese Canadians living in the area. It is likely that some Japanese Canadians living in Victoria were within the more urban South Saanich area.