| Sunshine Coast | |
| Official Name: | Sunshine Coast Regional District |
| Settlement Type: | Regional district |
| 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: | Sechelt |
| Government Footnotes: | [1] |
| Government Type: | Regional district |
| Governing Body: | Board of Directors |
| Leader Title: | Chair |
| Leader Name: | Leonard Lee (Area A) |
| Leader Title1: | Vice Chair |
| Leader Name1: | Alton Toth (District of Sechelt) |
| Leader Title2: | Electoral Areas |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Land Km2: | 3773.73 |
| Dimensions Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Total: | 32,170 |
| Population Density Km2: | 8.5 |
The Sunshine Coast Regional District is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the southern mainland coast, across Georgia Strait (part of the Salish Sea) from Vancouver Island. It borders on the qathet Regional District to the north, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District to the east, and, across Howe Sound, the Metro Vancouver District to the south. The regional district offices are located in the District Municipality of Sechelt.
The majority of the Sunshine Coast is sparsely populated. The Coast Mountains make up the inland area. Population is concentrated along the coast. Midway up the coast, beginning at the town of Sechelt, the coastal area forms a peninsula separated from the inland area by Sechelt Inlet. The 2016 census reported a total population of 29,970 persons[3] living on a land area of 3,778.17 km2 (1,458.76 sq mi).
The Sunshine Coast is typically accessed via boat or plane; no roads connect the district with the rest of the province. From Vancouver, ferries run from Horseshoe Bay to Gibsons across Howe Sound. At the northern end of the peninsula, ferries run from Earl's Cove to Saltery Bay.
| A - Pender Harbour/Egmont/Madeira Park | 3,039 | 16.0 | 2,619 | 1,898 | |
| B - Halfmoon Bay | 2,969 | 8.9 | 2,726 | 1,270 | |
| D - Roberts Creek | 3,523 | 3.0 | 3,421 | 143 | |
| E - Elphinstone | 3,883 | 6.0 | 3,664 | 22 | |
| F - West Howe Sound | 2,407 | 17.8 | 2,043 | 381 |
As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Sunshine Coast Regional District had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 3767.43km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[5]
| 2021[6] | 2016[7] | 2011[8] | 2006[9] | 2001[10] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European | 26,370 | 25,320 | 25,220 | 24,770 | 23,515 | ||||||
| Indigenous | 2,270 | 2,020 | 1,430 | 1,485 | 1,215 | ||||||
| Southeast Asian | 930 | 560 | 490 | 230 | 155 | ||||||
| East Asian | 830 | 800 | 595 | 510 | 340 | ||||||
| South Asian | 435 | 235 | 125 | 95 | 45 | ||||||
| African | 230 | 170 | 115 | 135 | 100 | ||||||
| Latin American | 135 | 100 | 20 | 115 | 55 | ||||||
| Middle Eastern | 85 | 45 | 15 | 60 | 35 | ||||||
| Other | 230 | 115 | 60 | 90 | 10 | ||||||
| Total responses | 31,510 | 29,370 | 28,070 | 27,510 | 25,450 | ||||||
| Total population | 32,170 | 29,970 | 28,619 | 27,759 | 25,599 | ||||||