DUNCAN OVERVIEW

Duncan is a small town with a rich history and a fast developing future. Located in the picturesque and verdant Cowichan Valley, Duncan sits on the traditional territories of the Cowichan First Nation, and serves as the hub for the broader Cowichan Valley community encompassing Cowichan Bay, Cowichan Lake, Cowichan Station, Crofton, Maple Bay, Genoa Bay, Shawnigan Lake, Mill Bay and Cobble Hill. This means that while the town of Duncan’s current population is only around six thousand, it offers services, shopping and amenities for the broader region’s much larger population of fifty thousand plus. 

For much of its history, Duncan was a sleepy little logging town that folks drove through on their way somewhere else up or down the island, only stopping in for gas or a quick bite to eat. Case in point, when I was growing up in Victoria, any time my family went on one of our frequent island camping trips in our old VW camper van, a highlight of the trip was always stopping at the Doghouse Restaurant in Duncan for one of their amazing cinnamon buns. Fortunately, while Duncan has seen some tremendous changes since when I was a young boy, the cinnamon buns have stayed the same, and are still just as delicious as I remember.    

Duncan has seen a wave of growth the last decade or so though, with many folks relocating from other parts of the island and province (Like myself, though I was actually born in Duncan General Hospital!), bringing with them fresh new ideas and energy. This change has certainly brought its share of challenges, but it’s also breathed a fresh new life into the town, and with it a newfound sense of optimism for what the community can grow into in the future.

DOWNTOWN DUNCAN

For the most part Duncan offers all the conveniences of modern life, with its quaint “Downtown” featuring a range of shopping and dining options, and unique events like the fantastic weekly seasonal farmers market and the free summer outdoor music series The 39 Days Of July. The area around downtown Duncan has seen substantial recent development, with many new townhomes and condos being built, and forms a charming, walkable urban core with everything needed for daily life within a short 15 minute walk. 

If you lived in or around downtown Duncan, on a summer Saturday you could wake up, walk to The Garage Cafe for your morning coffee and a fresh baked croissant, take in the farmer’s market and grab some fresh seasonal produce, walk or cycle to the Cowichan River for an afternoon swim, have dinner on the patio of a local restaurant and then take in a free concert in the town square. Maybe I’m just projecting here, but that sure sounds like a pretty darn ideal summer Saturday to me! 

DUNCAN'S AMENITIES

Most of Duncan’s amenities like grocery stores, liquor stores, hardware stores, etc. are located along the Trans-Canada Highway, with amenities like schools, recreation centers, medical services, being scattered throughout the region closer to where they are needed. For your grocery shopping needs Duncan has a wide variety of options such as Real Canadian Super Store, Walmart, Save On Foods, Thrifty Foods and Country Grocer, but my personal go-to for veggies is the long standing and venerable Old Farm Market. For the DIYers and home renovators there’s a Home Depot, Home Hardware, Slegg Lumber and a number of tool rental and specialized tool shops as well. 

Dining out in Duncan also offers a wide range of excellent options. From coffee shops, to fast casual, to fine dining, Duncan has all tastes and budgets covered. As I mentioned earlier, the Doghouse Restaurant is perhaps Duncan's most venerable establishment, having served family friendly food in the same location since 1954, a full 30 years longer than I've even been alive! The Garage Cafe is also another local favorite, and is an ideal location for people watching in the summer, though as she used to work there when she was a teenager, my partner swears by Coffee On The Moon for her Americano Mistos. 

Relatively recent additions to Duncan like Aloha Bowls serving poke, and Kahuna Burger serving Hawaiian style burgers are also keeping things fresh with their more modern flavors. As Duncan is also a fairly diverse community with large and growing East Asian and South Asian communities, there are also some excellent ethnic options like Aastha Devotional Restaurant for Indian cuisine and longtime downtown staple Nah Trang for Vietnamese faire and sushi. While slightly off the beaten path, a few of my absolute favorite local(ish) spots are the Italian Kitchen & Deli for pizza over in the Lakes District and also serving pizza is the absolutely beautiful Alderlea Farm here in Glenora. My #1 absolute favorite local hidden gem though is the seasonal Brazen Fork Restaurant serving smoked meats and pizza out of a converted shipping container on Koksilah Rd. One thing to note however, is anyone relocating from a larger urban center will definitely find the delivery options lacking, as while Uber Eats, Doordash, etc. are now operating in Duncan, and while a few local restaurants offer their own delivery services, their delivery options and areas are somewhat limited compared to larger cities. 

For those with school aged children, Duncan features a number of well regarded public elementary schools and highschools located near the most densely populated residential neighborhoods, and the broader region has a few globally recognized (though pricey) private schools in St. Margaret’s Academy, The Shawnigan Lake School and Brentwood College along with both Waldorf and Montessori schools. Duncan also features a campus of the fast growing Vancouver Island University, with a substantial expansion project currently underway that will bring both new jobs and educational options to the region.

Medical services are also fairly easy to access here in Duncan, though as with almost everywhere else in Canada finding a family doctor can prove difficult. There are a couple of walk in clinics available, and a few private nurse practitioners for those willing to pay out of pocket for ongoing treatments. The Cowichan District Hospital has served the community for over 50 years and is situated well to serve the broader Cowichan Valley Community, but of great excitement to all who live here, there is a new, much larger and more modern multi-billion dollar hospital currently being constructed, with completion expected in 2027, that will substantially increase the capacity of the local medical system. Dentists, chiropractors, massage therapists and counsellors are also fairly easy to find, as most are located within or close to the downtown core. 

Duncan’s main indoor recreation options are the Duncan Aquatic Centre and the Cowichan Valley Arena, conveniently located right next to each other along the highway. Featuring a pool, gym, ice rink, library, and meeting / event spaces and an outdoor skate park. The Cowichan Valley Arena is also home to the Cowichan Capitals junior hockey team, and features the world's largest hockey stick and puck, though for how much longer is somewhat unclear. Duncan also features some other great indoor recreation options like The Cowichan Performing Arts Centre, The Mercury Players Community Theatre, The Tee Box indoor driving range and the Fort Game Cafe, though sitting on the patio with a cup of tea and my laptop watching the world go by outside the Duncan Garage Cafe has become a personal favorite activity of mine as of late.

AN OUTDOOR ADVENTURE PARADISE

While Duncan has some great indoor recreation options, the absolute best of what Duncan has to offer in terms of recreation can be found in the great outdoors. Duncan is a literal paradise for outdoor adventures and recreation, featuring amazing fishing, hiking, trail running, mountain biking, dirt biking / ATVing, off-roading, backcountry camping, swimming, rafting, kayaking, boating and even scuba diving. Pretty much anything you’d want to do outdoors apart from alpine sports and surfing, you can find in spectacular abundance in the Cowichan Valley. 

The Cowichan River is a globally recognized fly fishing river that was recently recognized as Canada’s #2 fishing destination, and its many tributaries offer even more amazing fishing further upstream. The Cowichan River is also a popular rafting and tubing spot in the warmer summer months, and has some fantastic swimming holes to help cool off on a hot summer’s day. The protected waters of the Juan De Fuca Strait off Cowichan Bay also offer fantastic fishing for salmon, ling cod, halibut and rockfish, and there’s excellent crabbing for dungeness crabs all along the coast. The sheltered inlets around Cowichan Bay, Maple Bay, and Genoa Bay also offer some truly wonderful aquatic exploration for boaters, kayakers and stand up paddle boarders, with Cowichan Bay offering a free public boat launch from which to start your adventures. 

The hills surrounding the Cowichan Valley are also a literal Mecca for Mountain Bikers. I’ve talked to a few folks who’ve moved the the area recently for whom the mountain biking was the #1 thing that drew them here. Mt. Tzouhalem and Mt. Prevost alone, which are both less than a 30 minute drive from downtown Duncan, offer literally hundreds of trails for all skill levels, and Mt. Prevost has a seriously impressive, slightly secret dirt jump park. There’s also a huge community of mountain bikers in the Cowichan Valley, and they are some of the friendliest, most welcoming folks you’ll come across, and so for many recent emigres to the valley, getting involved in the mountain biking community has formed the cornerstone of their new social circle. 

For those of us who love cycling, but are looking for something a little less extreme, the Trans Canada Trail and Cowichan Valley Trail offer some of the best gravel biking anywhere on earth. Where I live in Glenora, I can hop on my bike and be on the trail in less than 3 minutes, and ride for hours in either direction, on a wide, flat, well kept trail bordered by lush forests and bucolic farmer’s fields. If you’ve got the stamina you can ride all the way from Duncan to Cowichan Lake. One of my new favorite summer activities is packing a bag, jumping on my bike and riding the very pleasant 45 minutes up to the spectacular Kinsol Trestle, and then finding a secluded swimming hole for a dip in the staggeringly beautiful Koksilah River down below the trestle.

For those who like their outdoor adventures with a bit more horsepower, the Cowichan Valley is also a gateway to literally hundreds of KMs of logging roads and trails that can take you deep into the backcountry with your dirtbike, ATV or 4X4. Many folks use these roads and trails to access remote hunting grounds or just to get deep into the woods to do some backcountry camping. There’s also a strong community around the offroading scene here in the Valley, with many shops and specialty mechanics that specialize in building, modifying and repairing dirt bikes, ATVs and 4X4s.  

For those that like to take in the great outdoors at a slightly slower pace, Duncan and the Cowichan Valley also offer literally hundreds of KMs of walking and hiking trails. The Cowichan Trail, The Somenos Marsh walk, The Cowichan River Estuary Trail, Glenora Trails Head Park, Maple Mountain, Cobble Hill Mountain, Mt. Prevost, Mt. Tzouhalem, and my new favorite place on earth, Stoney Hill are just a few of the truly amazing hiking trails within a half hour or less drive from Downtown Duncan. For those seeking something special a little off the beaten path there’s also an absolutely unbelievably beautiful semi-secret waterfall I’ll only reveal the location of if you email me ;)

SHOULD I CONSIDER LIVING IN DUNCAN?

Of the South Vancouver Island communities north of the Malahat and South of Nanaimo, Duncan is probably the community best suited to young families and younger folks in general. Duncan is the largest town between Victoria and Nanaimo and offers the most services and amenities for families and kids, has the most active arts and culture scenes, and as I’ve detailed above has some truly amazing outdoor recreation opportunities to keep the adventurous types entertained. Duncan is also perhaps the best small town on the island for seniors given it offers a host of medical services, has a number of seniors centers and has a reasonably effective transit system. 

Duncan is also still reasonably affordable, as condos and townhomes can be found in many neighborhoods in the $400k-$600K range and single family detached homes can still be found in the $500-$750K range in many neighborhoods as well. Cost of living is also competitive compared to many other Vancouver Island communities, as given Duncan serves as the hub for the broader Cowichan Valley region, there is a greater variety of shops and services to choose from, offering more opportunity to cross shop and save where you can. I’ll be writing a future blog post on how to save money in the Cowichan Valley too, so stay tuned for that. 

Employment opportunities are perhaps the one area where Duncan is somewhat more limited compared to other larger Vancouver Island cities like Victoria or Nanaimo. Before I became a real estate agent I worked in marketing and media industries for almost 20 years, and the fact there are essentially no jobs in those fields locally was a large factor in my decision to become a real estate agent, as living in rural Glenora, I really didn’t want to work a remote job while also living in a rather remote location. My partner does though, and she loves it, but I’m more of a people person, so I had to find something new. That’s not to say Duncan isn’t without its fair share of rewarding, high paying jobs, just that these jobs are in a somewhat more limited assortment of fields. Duncan has surprisingly good internet, as even where I live in rural Glenora I’m able to get 1GBPs high speed internet, so given the more affordable real estate and reasonable cost of living Duncan is a great option for those who are remote workers like my partner. 

Duncan also has a relatively high senior citizen population and so has a lot of opportunities for those in the medical field. If you’re a doctor, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, pharmacy technician, or have any kind of specialist medical or health services training, you’ll likely have no trouble whatsoever establishing a rewarding career in Duncan. 

The Cowichan Valley is also experiencing a bit of a construction boom as of late, so folks who work in construction or trades will also likely have no trouble finding stable, high paying work. Duncan has a long history as a logging town, and while there’s not as much work in resource extraction as there once was, there’s also good opportunities for folks who have training in logging, forestry / resource management or trucking in the local forestry industry. The proximity to the forestry industry has also led to the development of a surging craft woodworking industry, and the availability of reasonably priced shop space means there’s good opportunities for entrepreneurial woodworkers and craftspeople. As Duncan is the regional shopping hub, there’s also a lot of work in local restaurants and retail, and while these jobs may not be as high paying as work in other fields, the reasonable cost of living makes them a more realistic proposition. There’s also a fair amount of work with local government and so folks with experience in the public sector should also be able to find a rewarding career. 

The Cowichan valley is also a very fertile agricultural region, and while most farms and relatively small and family owned, there are a number of somewhat larger, dairy farms, egg / poultry farms, orchards and wineries (Like my amazing neighbors Zanatta Winery) located within a 30 minute drive of downtown Duncan, and so anyone with skills or training in the agriculture industry should also be able to find work locally as well. 

Finally, for those who don't mind spending a substantial portion of their lives in their cars, there is always the option to commute to Victoria or Nanaimo for work, as both cities have far more abundant employment opportunities (Like Victoria's booming tech industry) but personally I wouldn't submit myself to driving over the Malahat and then sitting stuck in traffic in the infamous "Colwood crawl" five days a week no matter how much you paid me!