| Okanagan-Similkameen | |
| Official Name: | Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen |
| Settlement Type: | Regional district |
| Image Blank Emblem: | Okanagan Similkameen BC logo.png |
| Blank Emblem Type: | Logo |
| Map Alt: | A map of British Columbia depicting its 29 regional districts and equivalent municipalities. One is highlighted in red. |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | British Columbia |
| Seat Type: | Administrative office location |
| Seat: | Penticton |
| Government Footnotes: | [1] |
| Government Type: | Regional district |
| Governing Body: | Board of Directors |
| Leader Title: | Chair |
| Leader Name: | Mark Pendergraft (A) |
| Leader Title1: | Vice Chair |
| Leader Name1: | Spencer Coyne (Town of Princeton) |
| Leader Title2: | Electoral Areas |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Land Km2: | 10411.68 |
| Dimensions Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Population Total: | 83022 |
| Population Density Km2: | 7.97 |
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 . The administrative offices are in the City of Penticton.[3]
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.
| Municipality | Type | Population[4] | Growth 2016-2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| City | 36,885 | 9.3% | |
| District municipality | 12,042 | 3.7% | |
| Town | 5,556 | 10.0% | |
| Town | 5,094 | 3.4% | |
| Town | 2,826 | 3.0% | |
| Village | 1,608 | 7.1% | |
As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 10406.64km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[5]
| 2021[6] | 2016[7] | 2011[8] | 2006[9] | 2001[10] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European | 73,430 | 68,860 | 69,095 | 70,640 | 69,205 | ||||||
| Indigenous | 6,640 | 6,145 | 4,910 | 3,380 | 2,865 | ||||||
| South Asian | 3,445 | 2,950 | 2,630 | 2,805 | 2,030 | ||||||
| East Asian | 1,315 | 940 | 655 | 780 | 940 | ||||||
| Southeast Asian | 1,205 | 735 | 510 | 415 | 380 | ||||||
| Latin American | 590 | 270 | 160 | 130 | 365 | ||||||
| African | 555 | 240 | 230 | 125 | 165 | ||||||
| Middle Eastern | 185 | 115 | 75 | 30 | 30 | ||||||
| Other | 305 | 195 | 125 | 160 | 10 | ||||||
| Total responses | 87,665 | 80,445 | 78,395 | 78,475 | 75,985 | ||||||
| Total population | 90,178 | 83,022 | 80,742 | 79,475 | 76,635 | ||||||
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%).[11]
| Mother tongue | Population | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 67,360 | 84.43% | |
| German | 2,385 | 2.99% | |
| Punjabi | 2,280 | 2.86% | |
| French | 1,515 | 1.90% | |
| Portuguese | 845 | 1.06% | |
| Dutch | 640 | 0.80% | |
| Ukrainian | 335 | 0.42% | |
| Hungarian | 330 | 0.41% | |
| Spanish | 330 | 0.41% | |
| Italian | 310 | 0.39% |