ABOUT OAK BAY
Certainly one of the Capital Regional District’s most famous municipalities, Oak Bay is a prestigious central community known for its heritage homes and oceanfront estates. Its lively main street is bursting with artisanal and culinary delights all representative of the area’s long history, and rich community spirit.

REAL ESTATE
Oak Bay is recognized as one of Vancouver Island’s most desirable municipalities. With its extensive coastline, long history, and proud sense of community, Oak Bay is home to some of Canada’s most luxurious private residences boasting spectacular waterfront views, meticulous landscaping, and opulent architecture. From prestigious estates to modest heritage builds, there is a property for all tastes and budgets, despite more affordable offerings being scooped up in record time. Oak Bay’s reputation as an historic, world-class neighborhood with consistently high resale values greatly dampens any ill-effects of market fluctuations, making this area supremely desirable to the risk-averse investor.

LIFESTYLE & RECREATION
Oak Bay is a vibrant, historically rich municipality saturated in an old-world charm and a passionate sense of community. Located minutes away from Victoria’s downtown core, homes for sale in Oak Bay are in high demand due to its proximity to the inner city and the ocean as well as its wealth of stylish mix of historical and contemporary architecture. Life in Oak Bay is laid back, with friendly neighbors, studiously manicured properties, and endless activities for residents. The community is truly breathtaking and picturesque.

Oak Bay is a sought after locale for myriad of reasons. Its hub is the ever-popular Oak Bay Village, a long strip of retail establishments along Oak Bay Avenue that deserves a full afternoon to experience. Home to one of the largest collection of galleries on Vancouver Island, you’ll find local artisans showcasing their work in a friendly and relaxing setting. As you travel in search of homes for sale in Oak Bay, you’ll also discover a wide variety of cafes and bistros, historic pubs and restaurants, unique boutiques and vintage shops as well as many other specialty merchants that are too abundant to list.

Lovers of the sea revel in Oak Bay's eye-catching combination of rugged shorelines and sandy beaches spanning its length. With multiple public beaches, marinas, boat launches, and anchorages, one need not go far from home to indulge. Recreational enthusiasts will love the three golf courses, abundant parks and sporting facilities including tennis courts, baseball diamonds, outdoor gyms, and swimming pools. For magnificent views, take a stroll down to the Chinese Cemetery at Harling Point, often described as one of the best places to watch the sunrise in Greater Victoria.

AMENITIES & TRANSPORTATION
Oak Bay Village is a prime, quaint location to run errands in style with many banks, grocers, bakeries, butcher shops, florists and liquor stores dotting the main drive, Oak Bay Avenue. With a walk score in the 80’s, everything is accessible by foot, or seconds away by car and bike. As downtown Victoria is only a 10-minute drive away, biking or walking down picturesque, tree-lined streets is a pleasurable alternative to motorized transport.

HISTORY
Named for the Garry Oak trees growing throughout the region, Oak Bay was both seasonal and permanent home to the Coast Salish people of the Songhees First Nation for centuries prior to the arrival of Europeans in the late 1700’s. There remains many artifacts and archeological sites around the area to this day. Until the establishment of Fort Victoria in 1843, the Hudson’s Bay Company controlled most of the area’s land. Subsequently, several family farms were established, some of whose original farmhouses remain standing to this day including the oldest continually-occupied home in Western Canada, The Tod House. By the 19th century, Oak Bay had become a famous recreational getaway, with visitors flocking to visit the seaside resorts, camp on the rocky shores, build cottages overlooking the many bays, or take in the spectacles of the local exhibition grounds including lacrosse, rugby, and cricket matches.

Though incorporated as a municipality in 1906, it wasn’t until 1912 that the Hudson’s Bay Company’s land holdings were subdivided to create the now famous Uplands neighborhood. First of its kind in Canada, this subdivision eschewed the traditional gridiron layout, instead opting for long, curving streets, and large waterfront properties. John Charles Olmsted, the famous landscape architect described the Uplands area as his “masterpiece of suburban residential design”, and for good reason. Much of the charm and splendor of Oak Bay’s most sought-after neighbourhoods can trace its roots back to his vision of the Uplands subdivision.

SCHOOLS
The Greater Victoria School District No. 61 services the municipalities of Esquimalt, Oak Bay, Victoria, View Royal and portions of Saanich and Highlands. With 27 elementary schools, 10 middle schools, and 7 secondary schools serving over 20,000 local students, 1,000 international students, and 650 adult learners, this district offers a myriad of choices for academics at any age. Buyers with children will be delighted with Oak Bay’s fantastic school system complete with excellent public schools and highly acclaimed private schools. There is one elementary school, Willows Elementary, one middle school, Monterey Middle School, and one high school, Oak Bay High. If you reside in the South Oak Bay area, you may also register your children at Margaret Jenkins Elementary. Private school offerings include the highly regarded St. Michaels University School and Glenlyon Norfolk School, each providing top-notch programs with a very strong academic focus.

LOCATION
Bordering the University of Victoria Campus, Saanich, the Haro Strait, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Oak bay is located no more than a 10-minute bike ride from downtown Victoria.

Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Strait of Georgia and the Inside Passage, Vancouver Island is known as “the Hawaii of the North”. With its vast wilderness, picturesque peaks, and temperate climate, this stunning locale is a paradise for those seeking serenity and natural beauty. A breadth of lifestyles are available here from charming coastal communities and pastoral estates, to busy urban centres.

Unlike much of Canada, Vancouver Island's weather is mild year-round. Spring comes early, with cherry blossom, tulip, and daffodil blooms lit by sparkling ocean sunsets. Summer is close behind, with the first sightings of migrating whales and local fishermen. In fall, a plethora of farms, vineyards, orchards, cideries, and breweries take local culinary culture to new heights. Come winter, cars loaded with kayaks, surfboards, paddle boards, skis, and snowboards come out to play, while golfers teeing off, and joggers taking to the trails remain common sights. Whatever the season, there’s plenty to enjoy on Vancouver Island.

From the remote Canadian surf-capital, Tofino in the north, to the tech-friendly historic harbour city of Victoria in the south, Vancouver Island is a mecca of world-class destinations, and facilities:

Known also as "The Garden City" for its perpetual greenery and rarely freezing temperatures, Victoria is the capital of British Columbia, and is a thriving collection of municipalities from it's historical urban centre, to it's various suburban, and rural developments both inland and oceanfront.

Located 15-minutes from Victoria in fast-growing Langford, Bear Mountain Mountain Resort is one of North-America's finest recreational developments, It is home to Canada's only 36 holes of Nicklaus Design golf, its largest indoor/outdoor red clay court tennis centre, and an extensive network of top-tier mountain bike trails. It is the headquarters of Golf Canada's National Development Team, the Canadian National Mountain Bike Team and is supported by Tennis Canada and Tennis BC.

The Victoria International Marina, completed in 2019 offers full-service premium luxury yacht moorage for yachts from 65-feet to 175-feet in the heart of Victoria. With 28-slips, upscale security and safety, amenities, concierge services and crew facilities, this is the ultimate port-of-call from which to cast off and explore North America's most spectacular cruising waters, the Pacific Northwest and Inside Passage,

Centrally situated in the lush Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit is Canada's only year-round motorsport circuit. This highly technical circuit features 19 corners and 11.5% in elevation changes, and is committed to providing the highest quality professional training, track-side support, and driver's education available.

Only a 45-minute drive from Victoria, the Cowichan Valley often referred to as the "Napa of the North" is home to 14 unique wineries. This cool climate viticulture is paired with a growing list of craft cideries, breweries, and distilleries located throughout the island, but mostly concentrated in the south in and around the agriculturally-rich Saanich Peninsula.

There are more than 200 islands in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve located between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia. Teeming with land and sea life including seals, whales, eagles, otters, and porpoises this area is home to numerous rarely explored precious ecosystems. The larger islands are serviced by BC Ferries while the smaller ones can only be reached by private boat or float plane.

Convenient international access to Vancouver Island includes numerous ferry routes to and from mainland Canada and the USA, the award-winning Victoria International Airport, as well as numerous private flight operators, airfields and heliports scattered island-wide.

Sotheby’s International Realty Canada
752 Douglas Street
Victoria, British Columbia, V8W 3M6