It will soon cost more to enjoy parks throughout British Columbia, especially for out-of-province visitors.
The Ministry of Environment and Parks announced via a late January news release that new camping fees and a new surcharge would be introduced for users from outside of British Columbia on May 15.
Tamara Davidson, B.C.’s minister of Environment and Parks, believes the increased costs are justified.
Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation has partnered with Redd Fish Restoration Society (Redd Fish) and West Coast Kelp Ltd. to undertake a large-scale kelp restoration project on the Pacific Coast.
The total project budget is roughly $240,000 with a large portion of the funds coming from the provincial government, plus a patchwork of grants from the Pacific Salmon Foundation, World Wildlife Fund Canada, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, and Clayoquot Biosphere Trust, according to Redd Fish.
North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP is asking for the community’s help finding a woman who was reported missing on Feb. 4, 2026.
Rosemarie Harry was last seen on Wednesday, Jan. 28 in the Duncan area on Vancouver Island. Her support worker at the Hiiye'yu Lelum-House of Friendship says she never returned to the friend’s house she was staying at.
“This is out of character for her and that’s worrisome,” said Harry’s support worker Myra Antoniuk. “She had a visible presence online, always posting 20 Facebook posts a day. There has been nothing since the 27th or 28th.”
The 66th annual All Native Basketball Tournament (ANBT), which is always held in Prince Rupert, B.C., will run from Feb.14 to 21.
For the second year in a row, the Hesquiaht Descendants women’s team are the lone Nuu-chah-nulth sqad entered. Their first game is on Feb. 14 at 1 p.m. against Lax Kw’alaams.
“The best salmon-making machine is an ancient rainforest,” according to those behind an initiative to collectively find a more holistic approach to managing First Nations’ territories.
“We need to carefully manage the resources in such a way that it doesn’t deplete our resources, it doesn’t create that imbalance that’s in societies,” said Terry Dorward, board president of the IISAAK OLAM Foundation, which promotes the establishment of Indigenous protected conservation areas. “We have a common denominator, which is working to heal broken lands and broken communities.”
Today’s health care system is overburdened and struggling, as indicated by the temporary closure of the West Coast General Hospital’s ICU wing in late 2025.
Meanwhile an estimated 700,000 to one million British Columbians still lack a family doctor, according to provincial estimates.
But expectations on the provincial system remain high, leading to the issue of how much should fall on the individual to better manage their own health.
The first-time sighting of European/Asian geese in British Columbia has drawn a gaggle of bird watchers to the tiny community of Port Renfrew in Pacheedaht First Nation territory.
The geese, with their orange markings, were spotted in Port Renfrew for the first time on February 2, 2026 and were identified by birders as Taiga Bean Geese.
Pacheedaht Chief Councillor Arliss Jones says the geese were spotted by her brother-in-law as they flew over his house on February 4.
Simon Fraser University and the First Nations Health Authority have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding aimed at improving the wellness of First Nations across the province.
The memorandum was signed in the shared territories of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
From the warmth of Quality Foods’ cafeteria, an elderly man peers out at the school playing field across the street where hundreds of sea gulls scratch the srubby grass searching for worms.
“They know me, they get excited when they see me leaving the store,” says Mr. Em.
Because he’s a senior citizen known for his and his wife’s generosity, the man keeps his private information safe. For this story, he asked to be called Mr. Em.
Hoobiyee 2026 will take place on Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28 at Vancouver’s PNE Forum.
It was uncertain if the two-day celebration of Indigenous dance and culture would be a go this year, but the show will go on, according to Vancouver-based Ts’amiks Nisga’a Cultural Dancers.
“Things are in motion. It is happening,” said Jade Doolan, an executive member of the Ts’amiks Nisga’a Cultural Dancers.