Shop Like The Locals

Discover Unique Businesses

Shop like a local and build a thriving economy.

Whether you are a visitor or resident, there is one thing we can agree upon — we all love to enjoy the side of Vancouver Island that people around the world are talking about.

There are many things that make our region a bucket-list destination, including the unique experiences and shops and services that Greater Victoria offers from Sooke to Sidney and from the Westshore to Oak Bay.

We all want to discover the local gems, eat where the locals eat and create great memories.

Greater Victoria would not be the diverse and remarkable community it is without the local, independent businesses that provide everything from groceries, stationery, clothes and shoes to accounting services and auto repair. These business owners take the time to understand their customers’ needs because they live here, too. Their products and services are geared for life in Greater Victoria, and they deliver them in a way that works for the people in their community.

There can be a real sense of connection when you buy from a local business. In fact, you might see the owners of Buddies Toys at a weekend soccer game with their kids, or the CEO of Monk

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Tuesdayto Saturday 3pm to Late (Happy Hour 3to5pm)

Continued from page 27 Office eating lunch at a local café, or one of the fourth-generation owners of Robinson’s Outdoor Store at a charity event. Their passion for their business directly translates into passion for their community’s growth and prosperity.

At Think Local First, the goal is to support these local, independent businesses and help everyone understand the huge impact that spending our money with local businesses has on the prosperity of our region. We aim to raise the awareness of local businesses because they each contribute to the success and sustainability of our economy. We are working with other likeminded organizations to build neighbourhoods that flourish for those who live in them and those who visit.

Getting the message out about the benefits of shopping locally is a full-time passion. “Victoria’s strength and vibrancy comes from the incredible neighbourhoods that have unique experiences and passionate community-minded locally-owned businesses who are the pillars of the community providing expert service to locals and visitors.” says Steve Pearce, president of Think Local First.

The Think Local First app is a successful tool to help people navigate our great communities and receive rewards for doing so. “By connecting visitors and locals to the experience, diversity and expertise that our local businesses offer, we are creating a sustainable future for the economy and culture of Victoria. We are also participating in continuing to make Victoria a preferred destination for world travellers.”

This free Think Local First app rewards people for visiting more than 300 locally owned businesses as well as points of interest that make Greater Victoria one of BC’s most popular destinations.

The app is both a wayfinding tool and a gamified way to reward people for shopping locally. The app’s Explore button takes you to the map of Greater Victoria, which has pins indicating the location of local businesses and the area’s unique points of interest, from heritage sites to places for outdoor recreation.

When you click on each pin on the map you get more information about that place. Locations are assigned a point value. Tap the “Collect Points” button while physically visiting a location and the app will add the location’s points to your point total. Your accumulated points can be redeemed for discounts on goods or services at any of the Rewards locations listed in the app.

When you use the Think Local First app, not only are you discovering local gems, you are directly helping to strengthen and enhance the local economy. You are also contributing to making Greater Victoria a place where new and diverse local businesses can thrive. This adds to the unique character of our region, so it continues to draw the attention of people around Vancouver Island, Canada and the world.

victoria’s local Quintessential

Where locals bring friends, family and visiting guests to enjoy great food and drinks, overlooking the harbour. Relentlessly local since 1984. Victoria’s Best Pub, Yam Magazine, 2019.

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308 CATHERINE ST | 250.386.2739

Don’t miss Deuce Days In 2022

Northwest Deuce Days, a three-day gathering of hot rods that celebrates the 1932 Ford — commonly called a Deuce, is returning to the streets of Victoria in 2022.

The wheels are rolling once again for one of the region’s star tourist attractions. About 1,400 colourfully modified vehicles from across North America show up for the street party around the Empress and the Inner Harbour.

The event typically draws crowds of 100,000 spectators and is an economic engine for the region, with an estimated $2-million annual impact.

Northwest Deuce Days typically takes place in the third week of July.

DARREN STONE DISCOVER 2021

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The Circle Route

Cowichan Lake Honeymoon Bay Lake Cowichan

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Salt Spring Island

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Pacific Marine Rd.

PACIFIC MARINE CIRCLE ROUTE

Cowichan Bay

Mill Bay

Port Renfrew VA N COUVER

ISLAND 1

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Jordan JUANCANADAU.S.A. DE River FUCA SOOKE STRAIT

14 VICTORIA

10 km Take a drive on the Pacific Marine Circle Route, and trace the coastline from Victoria through Sooke and Port Renfrew, turning east past Avatar Grove and along the road out to Lake Cowichan and onward to the Cowichan Valley. From there the highway leads back to Victoria.

The 255-kilometre trip takes you through lush rain forests, rocky cliffs, hiking trails and some of the most scenic beaches on Vancouver Island. It can be enjoyed in a long day, or better still, on a multi-night excursions.

Be sure to stop at East Sooke Regional Park, where hiking trails range from casual walks to fullday missions. Birdwatchers will enjoy Whiffin Spit, a natural breakwater between the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Sooke Harbour.

Visit the Sooke Region Museum and be sure to experience the natural swimming holes at Sooke Potholes Provincial Park or explore the beaches and pathways in East Sooke Regional Park.

West of Sooke, the highway leads to some of the Island’s most beautiful scenery along the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail at French Beach, China Beach, Mystic Beach, Sombrio Beach, Botanical Beach (famous for its tide pools) and the southern terminal of the West Coast Trail. This area contains numerous special natural features, including waterfalls, grottos, old growth forests, estuaries, tide pools and shale and quartz rock formations.

Hiking the world famous West Coast Trail.

WALK AMONG THE GIANTS

A little fishing village and logging hamlet, Port Renfrew is surrounded by ancient rain forest. The wilderness brings visitors from around the world to look with awe at Canada’s tallest and largest Douglas fir, cedar and spruce trees. The area offers unlimited hiking and recreational activities for all ages.

Port Renfrew is the southern entrance to the Pacific Rim National Park and the world renowned “shipwreck life saving trail” now called the West Coast Trail, and the beginning of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail.

This is the home of the Pacheedaht First Nation. The name translates to ‘Children of the Sea Foam.’

The Avatar Grove and Canada’s Gnarliest Tree are in a magnificent forest, within the traditional territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation.

The forest contains a stunning and impressive grove of monumental old-growth trees.

The Red Creek Fir is the world’s largest Douglas fir tree at 74 metres high, or 243 feet, and there are others, called the Three Sisters, nearly as high, as well as Big Lonely Doug.

The San Juan Spruce in the region is the largest Sitka spruce tree in the world.

OCEAN JEWELS

Botanical Beach and Botany Bay feature many geological marvels, such as its ridges of shale and quartz that marble through the black basalt, producing some of the most picturesque terrain. Low tide offers the best viewing opportunities of the many organisms that inhabit the shoreline and tide pools — sea urchins, starfish, chitons and anemones, as well as mussels, barnacles, and snails. It is considered one of the richest tidal zones on he entire west coast.

IT’S WILD HERE

The open waters of the Pacific Ocean are abundant with orcas as well as gray and humpback whales. Around Port Renfrew and Lake Cowichan, bears, cougars and Roosevelt elk live in the shelter of the massive fir, cedar and hemlock trees which tower hundreds of feet above the moss covered forest floor; their limbs reaching out to the eagles and osprey flying overhead.

JUAN DE FUCA MARINE TRAIL

Juan de Fuca Provincial Park on the west coast of southern Vancouver Island offers scenic beauty, spectacular hiking, marine and wildlife viewing and roaring surf along its 47km course along the Pacific coastline of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

There are four main areas to the park: China Beach Campground, the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, the China Beach day-use area and Botanical Beach. There are four trailheads to the Juan de Fuca Trail at Juan de Fuca East (China Beach), Sombrio Beach, Parkinson Creek and Botanical Beach. Although most of the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail is designed for strenuous day or multi-day hiking/camping in this rugged and isolated area, some easy to moderate day hiking opportunities to the beach or along the trail are available starting from the trailheads.