Nanaimo news

• Canada presses on with trade diversification strategy as Trump blusters - Nanaimo News NOW

  04-02-2025 20:53
  Canada presses on with trade diversification strategy as Trump blusters  Nanaimo News NOW
  
  Read more

• Surrey Schools seeks $5.5B from B.C. to address future growth, overcrowding

  24-06-2026 19:01 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Surrey Schools is asking the province for billions of dollars to help accommodate the district’s student population growth.
  At its final meeting of the 2025-26 school year, held June 10, the Surrey school board approved its 2027-28 Five-Year Capital Plan.
  The plan requests $5.49 billion from the Ministry of Education and Child Care for 76 major capital projects aimed at addressing overcrowding and future enrolment growth.
  Included in this plan were requests for 29 new schools, 19 school ad
  
  Read more

• Over a half-tonne of opium seized at Tsawwassen inspection facility

  24-06-2026 19:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  More than half a tonne of opium was seized from a marine container at Canada Border Services Agency’s Tsawwassen Container Examination Facility.
  CBSA announced the seizure in a press release issued Tuesday (June 23), though the contraband was found over five months prior.
  According to the release, the container was referred for examination by border services officers on Jan. 14 based on information provided by the CBSA’s National Targeting Centre, Pacific Regional Intelligence Sectio
  
  Read more

• CRD issues blue-green algae alert for popular Greater Victoria swimming lake

  24-06-2026 19:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  In the ebb and flow of blue-green algae in regional lakes, Thetis is the latest to detect the toxin, according to the Capital Regional District, which routinely tests water quality.
  The CRD, in consultation with Island Health, advises that a blue-green algae advisory is in place for the main beach at Lower Thetis Lake in Thetis Lake Regional Park.
  An advisory remains in place for Beaver Lake in Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park.
  Visitors are advised to avoid contact with blue-green algae and to keep
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• World’s largest EV battery repurposing facility opens in Surrey

  24-06-2026 18:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Moment Energy now operates what the company calls the world’s largest EV battery repurposing facility at a Bridgeview industrial building.
  The new facility, dubbed Megafactory 1, transforms retired EV batteries into “cost-effective, rapidly deployable energy storage systems that support critical infrastructure, including data centres, hospitals, factories and microgrids,” the company boasts.
  At 12850 112B Ave., a ribbon-cutting event Tuesday (June 23) celebrated work to bring d
  
  Read more

• Victoria breaks 2nd consecutive daily temperature record, rain on the way

  24-06-2026 18:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Victoria’s Gonzales Point scored a second consecutive daily temperature record on Tuesday.The high of 30.4 C recorded on June 23 defeated the 2017 record of 26.6 C, according to preliminary data from Environment and Climate Change Canada.The day before, the same weather station in Victoria recorded a daily high temperature record of 27 C to trump the 1961 record of 25.As is often the case, mid Island came in even hotter on Tuesday with several communities breaking records, including Duncan
  
  Read more

• Richard Damien George Stevenson

  24-06-2026 18:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Gone Fishing 1945-2026
  Rick left us Saturday, May 30th, to go to that big fishing hole in the sky. He will be sorely missed by his Wife, Janet and his hunting and fishing buddy, Barry Calvin. Rick was predeceased by his Parents, Jack and Alice Stevenson, Brother Alec and Sister Sharon. He was a Nanaimo boy at heart and enjoyed participating in many sports while a youth. Later he focused on competitive shooting, especially Skeet and Sporting Clays. He spent many years fishing and hunting with his
  
  Read more

• Kelowna Rockets forward Tij Iginla named CHL second-team all-star

  24-06-2026 18:20 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Tij Iginla has been recognized as one of the best junior hockey players from the 2025-26 season.
  On Wednesday, June 24, the Kelowna Rockets forward was named a second-team all-star by the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), which is made of the WHL, OHL, and OMJHL.
  The Utah Mammoth prospect from Lake Country led the CHL in points per game (1.88) as he collected 90 points (41 points, 49 assists) in 48 games played.
  He was named a second-team all-star along with Markus Ruck (Medicine Hat Tigers), Nikita
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Kelowna sprinter set to represent Canada at 2026 Commonwealth Games

  24-06-2026 17:52 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Kelowna’s Jerome Blake will compete in his first Commonwealth Games this summer.
  On Wednesday, June 24, the 30-year-old sprinter was named by Commonwealth Sport Canada (CSC) and Athletics Canada to the roster, along with 50 other athletes, for the 2026 games, taking place in Glasgow, Scotland.
  Blake will be sprinting in the 4×100 metre relay with his teammates who he won gold with at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, and Brendon Rodney. He’ll also b
  
  Read more

• Nanaimo neighbourhood associations list their priority requests

  24-06-2026 17:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The upcoming major sewer project that will see several kilometres of Hammond Bay Road torn up provides a unique opportunity for the City of Nanaimo to invest in much-needed pedestrian, cyclist, and transit-user infrastructure on the road, according to neighbours.
  That was one of the priority requests offered by the Linley Valley-Stephenson Point Neighbourhood Association to the city at the municipality’s fourth annual neighbourhood-association engagement event that was held in April, discu
  
  Read more

• WORLD CUP DAILY, June 24: Canada continues march to Round of 32 vs. Switzerland, noon today

  24-06-2026 16:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Daily FIFA World Cup soccer match updates and news for Black Press Media publications.
  There are six matches today to avoid “fixing” on the final day of play for Groups A, B and C, with two at a time at noon, then 3 and 6 p.m.
  Canada will clinch top spot in Group B with a win or tie vs. Switzerland today, noon start in Vancouver.
  The march to the match promises another flag-waving celebration outside BC Place Stadium, to be filled with 52,000 soccer fans for the afternoon clash.
  The
  
  Read more

• Nanaimo looks to cap off-street parking requirements for some developments

  24-06-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  The City of Nanaimo is moving forward with plans to lower to eliminate off-street parking requirements for commercial and residential developments.
  Council endorsed an update to the city’s off-street parking-bylaw regulations at its meeting on Monday, June 22, intended to help manage population growth, support housing affordability by reducing or removing requirements and costs for developers of providing off-street parking, and increase supports for a sustainable-transportation network.
  I
  
  Read more

• Defence argues mental illness in long-running Kelowna homicide trial

  24-06-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Five years after Darren Middleton died of blunt force trauma to the head, suffered a severed penis, missing his testicles, and was found in a bathroom of the home in Rutland, the second-degree murder trial for the woman accused of his death is one step closer to being completed.
  Gabriella Sears was first arrested and charged on the morning of June 17, 2021, with the killing of 49-year-old Middleton.
  Sears had confessed to police that she had killed Middleton following her arrest, but after a voi
  
  Read more

• Despite recent modest increase in visits, cross-border traffic still down from 2024

  24-06-2026 05:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Southbound trips across the border are still far below 2024 levels in B.C., despite a recent modest increase reported by Statistics Canada.
  When the federal agency reported a 9.5 per cent increase in Canadian-resident return trips in May of this year, it was seen in some news reports as an easing of the travel reluctance that was trigggered when U.S. president Donald Trump launched a trade war and suggested Canada should become the 51st state.
  However, a review of cross-border travel statistics
  
  Read more

• ‘Just disappointing’: Island World Cup fans lament England-Ghana tie

  24-06-2026 02:45 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  While most of the country was getting ready to cheer on Canada in their game against Switzerland, a small crowd of die-hard soccer fans were busy supporting an entirely different team.
  On June 23, the Penny Farthing Pub in Oak Bay was swarming with England followers, all wearing white as the nation’s FIFA squad took on Ghana at 1 p.m.
  Coming hot off a 4-2 win in what was predicted to be a tough match against Croatia, hopes were high among the roughly 20 supporters that England would have n
  
  Read more

• Advocates press B.C. to curb NDAs in harassment, abuse cases

  24-06-2026 02:05 via nanaimobulletin.com
  For several years now, advocates in the legal profession have been calling for the B.C. government to create new rules restricting the use of non-disclosure agreements in cases of sexual assaults, harassment or abuse.
  In 2024, the Canadian Bar Association’s B.C. Division sent Attorney General Niki Sharma a letter urging changes.
  Sharma responded at the time, saying that B.C. is monitoring other jurisdictions while participating in a working group on the subject, “all in the aid of de
  
  Read more

• Nanaimo United FC teams want to finish season off strong

  24-06-2026 02:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Nanaimo United FC teams want to finish on a high as their seasons conclude.
  The Harbour City’s B.C. Premier League men’s and women’s soccer teams play their final home games of the season Saturday, June 27 at Q’unq’inuqwstuxw Stadium with tilts against Langley United.
  The men’s side sports a 4-5-2 record going into this weekend’s action and Daragh Fitzgerald, Nanaimo United FC technical lead, is pleased with how the men have performed, saying they have b
  
  Read more

• Trial begins for Kelowna equestrian coach accused of sex crimes, child luring

  24-06-2026 01:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A high-performance equestrian coach based in Kelowna appeared in B.C. Supreme Court on June 23 for day one of his criminal trial.
  Sebastien Devrainne, originally from France, has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual touching, sexual exploitation and making sexually explicit material available to minors for incidents that are alleged to have occurred as early as 2011.
  Crown counsel called its first witness to the stand, a former student of Devrainne. The witness was a minor at the time of the
  
  Read more

• 3 B.C. clean-energy projects among $16M announced from feds

  24-06-2026 00:59 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Three clean-energy projects in B.C. are among the $16 million announced by the federal government Tuesday (June 23).
  The federal government announced five projects would be getting the funding: three in B.C., one in the Yukon and one in the Northwest Territories.
  In B.C., the three projects are located in Penticton, Prince Rupert and Vanderhoof.
  The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen is the recipient of the Penticton project funding, which is for renewable and electrification feasibility
  
  Read more

• Campaign kicks off to help Loaves and Fishes finish food centre in Nanaimo

  24-06-2026 00:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The charitable organization of a late Nanaimo philanthropist has kick-started an initiative that will help Loaves and Fishes Community Food Bank complete its new facility.
  On Friday, June 19, Tony Harris announced a $750,000 commitment from the non-profit bearing his father’s name, the Tom Harris Community Foundation, for completion of the food bank’s regional food centre building on East Wellington Road – it will be named the Tom Harris Regional Food Centre.
  “Friday&rsqu
  
  Read more

• Vernon resident swings her way to a world record

  24-06-2026 00:08 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  On June 19 Tammy Kovaluk broke the world record for most weight lifted by kettle bell swing in 12 hours.
  After 10,105 reps of kettle bell swings for a total of 416,326 pounds swung, the record was hers.
  “The women’s record I did it kind of halfway through. The men’s record was like 11 and a half hours,” said Kovaluk.
  The previous mens record was 410,896 pounds.
  In 2021, Kovaluk broke two Guinness world records for most chest to ground burpees by a female for both 12 hours
  
  Read more

• Gas station car blaze quickly put out by Parksville Fire Rescue

  23-06-2026 22:35 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Three people escaped injury after a vehicle caught fire at a Parksville gas station on June 22.
  Parksville Fire Rescue responded to the Gas N Go on the Island Highway shortly after 7:45 p.m., to find a car ablaze about 15 feet from the building, according to Cam Cruickshank, assistant fire chief.
  “It didn’t spread to the building. There was a small grass fire kind of behind the building but it was very slow moving, probably just from the exposure to the heat,” Cruickshank said.
  
  Read more

• IIO looking for witnesses to June 12 arrest in Port Alberni

  23-06-2026 22:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO) is seeking witnesses to an arrest that happened in Port Alberni on Friday, June 12 after a man suffered injuries during an interaction with police.
  Shortly before 3 p.m., Port Alberni RCMP responded to a call about a possible domestic disturbance at a residence in the 4600-block of Burke Road. When officers arrived they observed a man running from the residence in question. They arrested him a short distance away, near the intersection of Arrow
  
  Read more

• Missing man’s body found in woods near Duncan

  23-06-2026 22:25 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The body of Parminder Singh Grewal, 33, has been found in a wooded area near Duncan, his brother has confirmed.
  Grewal had last been seen on May 23 walking near Allenby Road and Government Street in Duncan. A large search from police, family, friends, Cowichan Search and Rescue and other volunteers yielded no further sightings.
  North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP Cpl. Kim Granneman said that Grewal’s body was located on June 13.
  “Victoria Police were the lead investigating agency as he was re
  
  Read more

• Remains found at lake near Whistler, RCMP investigating

  23-06-2026 22:21 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  RCMP is investigating after remains were found at a lake near Whistler.
  The Sea to Sky RCMP’s Whistler detachment was notified of human remains located in Alta Lake near Rainbow Park, east of Whistler, on Sunday (June 21) just before 3:30 p.m., according to a news release Tuesday.
  Whistler Fire Services, B.C. Conservation Officer Service and the Whistler Sailing Association helped to recover the remains, police said.
  Sea to Sky RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Katrina Boehmer said the det
  
  Read more

• Canucks bringing development camp to Abbotsford

  23-06-2026 22:14 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Vancouver Canucks are bringing the team’s 2026 Development Camp to Abbotsford.
  The club announced that Rogers Forum will host all of the on-ice activities for the event, which runs from June 30 to July 2.
  Development camp annually welcomes the Canucks’ top prospects and focuses on skill-building, fitness testing and off-ice training. Last year’s camp occurred at the University of British Columbia.The #Canucks announced today details for the team’s 2026 Development Cam
  
  Read more

• Man, woman found dead on remote road near Nakusp: criminality not suspected

  23-06-2026 21:40 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Police say the deaths of two people whose bodies were discovered in a remote area near Nakusp are not currently being treated as criminal in nature.
  The Nakusp RCMP is working with the BC Coroners Service following the discovery of two bodies along the Tate Creek Forest Service Road.
  Police said they received a report at about 9:17 a.m. on June 16 of a burned vehicle and a body in the vicinity.
  Investigators determined the vehicle had become stuck in difficult terrain and appeared to have subseq
  
  Read more

• Man believed to have been swept away in Columbia River: Castlegar RCMP

  23-06-2026 21:27 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Castlegar RCMP say a missing man, who is believed to have been swept away in the Columbia River, may have drowned.
  Officers were called after multiple reports of a lone man in distress in the Columbia River on June 21 around 9:30 p.m., according to a news release from Castlegar RCMP Tuesday (June 23).
  Police said witness reported seeing a man being carried downstream by current.
  A backpack, believed to belong to the man, was later found along the shoreline.
  Castlegar Search and Rescue, Columbia
  
  Read more

• Collaboration important for economic success, Nanaimo conference hears

  23-06-2026 21:01 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Working together collaboratively and with respect for each other will help lead to economic prosperity in Nanaimo, and across B.C., was the message participants of the Indigenous Resource Opportunities Conference heard.
  On June 5, stakeholders gathered from across B.C. in Nanaimo to discuss resource opportunities with one of the panels, Rising Tides Lifts all Boats: Collaborative Economic Development in Canada, focusing on the need for joint collaboration on economic development opportunities.
  O
  
  Read more

• Progress slow but visible, five years after Lytton fire

  23-06-2026 21:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Five years after the Lytton Creek fire tore through the Village of Lytton, longtime resident and first-term mayor Denise O’Connor expresses frustration about the slow pace of recovery but sees multiple signs of progress.
  On June 29, 2021, much of British Columbia was in the grip of a heat dome that saw temperature records shattered. On that day, Lytton recorded the highest temperature ever seen in Canada: 49.6 C.
  The next day, with temperatures falling to a comparatively mild 39 C, a fire
  
  Read more

Follow @news_nanaimo on Twitter!