The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) is in southern British Columbia, adjacent to the U.S. state of Washington. It is bounded by Fraser Valley Regional District to the west, Thompson-Nicola Regional District and Regional District of Central Okanagan to the north, Regional District of Kootenay Boundary to the east, and by Okanogan County, Washington to the south. At the 2011 census the population was 80,742. The district covers a land area of 10,413.44 square kilometres (4,020.65 sq mi). The administrative offices are in Penticton.
Contents
Population history
2021: 90,178 (+8.6%)
2016: 83,022 (+2.8%)
2011: 80,742 (+1.6%)
2006: 79,475 (+3.7%)
2001: 76,635 (+0.9%)
1996: 75,933
Municipalities
RDOS comprises six municipalities and nine rural electoral areas designated Electoral areas A - I. The municipalities of RDOS are Penticton, Summerland, Osoyoos, Oliver, Princeton, and Keremeos.
Demographics
As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen had a population of 90,178 living in 40,981 of its 46,436 total private dwellings, a change of 8.6% from its 2016 population of 83,022. With a land area of 10,406.64 km2 (4,018.03 sq mi), it had a population density of 8.7/km2 (22.4/sq mi) in 2021.
Ethnicity
Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.
Language
According to the 2011 Census, 84.43% of Okanagan-Similkameen's population have English as mother tongue; German is the mother tongue of 2.99% of the population, followed by Punjabi (2.86%), French (1.90%), Portuguese (1.06%), Dutch (0.80%), Ukrainian (0.42%), Hungarian (0.41%), Spanish (0.41%), and Italian (0.39%).
Electoral areas
Okanagan-Similkameen A
Rural areas surrounding Osoyoos, including Anarchist Mountain to the east between Rock Creek and Osoyoos.
Population: 2,139
Okanagan-Similkameen B
The valley of the Similkameen River from Cawston downstream to Chopaka, at the US border.
Population: 1,151
Okanagan-Similkameen C
Rural areas surrounding Oliver.
Population: 3,986
Okanagan-Similkameen D
Rural areas and unincorporated communities southeast of Penticton, including Okanagan Falls.
Population: 4,016
Okanagan-Similkameen E
Rural areas and unincorporated settlements to the northeast of Penticton including Naramata.
Population: 2,015
Okanagan-Similkameen F
Rural areas west of Summerland and northwest of Penticton.
Population: 2,092
Okanagan-Similkameen G
Rural areas of the middle Similkameen Valley surrounding Keremeos, including Hedley.