James Island (British Columbia)

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James Island, one of British Columbia's Gulf Islands, lies in Haro Strait, approximately 1.5 miles off the coast of Vancouver Island and 90 miles from Seattle, Washington. It is accessible by air (float or wheel based aircraft) helicopter or by boat. In addition to a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, recent development on the island includes six luxury cottages, most with ocean views. Enhancing the island's accessibility are a seaplane ramp, a 2,600-foot runway, and a dock that accommodates large yachts at its commercial-grade facility.

James Island lies between Sidney Island and the coast of Vancouver Island near Sidney, British Columbia. It is 315 hectares in size.

It was first settled in the 1870's by farm families. These early settlers named the island after Sir James Douglas, Governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island, circa 1853. The name was made official by Captain Richards of the HMS Plumper in 1858. James Island served, in the early 1900's, as a private hunting ground for Victoria sportsmen including then British Columbia Premier Richard McBride, who served between 1903 and 1915.

In 1913 a dynamite plant was established on the island. The plant was owned by a company that merged into Canadian Explosives Ltd which changed its name to Canadian Industries Limited (CIL) in 1927. From the outset of World War II, the plant was operated by Defence Industries Ltd, a subsidiary of CIL. The plant, and many of its workers cottages, had been moved from Nanaimo. At its peak, the plant employed 800 people, most of whom lived in a small, traffic-free village on the opposite end of the island. During World War II, the plant produced 900 tonnes of TNT per month for the war effort.

In 1962, the plant closed. In 1979, it and the village was disassembled and removed from the island.