Incorporated 1 March 1906 as The Corporation of the District of Saanich. "Saanich (Municipal District)" adopted in the 18th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1924, as labelled on BC map 2A, 1914. Re-approved 6 November 1934 on National Defence sheet 1449, Saanich.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

"Our word Wsanec in Saanich means 'raised up'. If you go offshore to the east and look [back] you will see why. You'll see what it looks like in the distance compared to the surrounding land. It is 'raised up'." (Saltwater People, as told by David Elliott Sr., ed. Janet Poth; a resource book for the Saanich Native Studies program, School District 63, 1990). Elsewhere in the publication, Wsanec is identified as the name for Saanich Peninsula, meaning 'emerging people', where the name Wsanec comes from the name of the Saanich people (ibid, p.26).

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

There is some uncertainty over the origin of the word Saanich, which designated the local First Nation people, who today call themselves the Wsanec and comprise four separate bands: the Pauquachin, Tsartlip, Tsawout, and Tseycum. According to David Elliott, author of Saltwater People, a resource book used in local Natives studies programs, the word means "elevated" or "emerging" and refers to the appearance of Mount Newton (Lau'wel'new to the Wsanec) when viewed from offshore to the east. Thus the Wsanec are the "emerging" people. The rolling Saanich Peninsula, which includes the municipalities of Highlands, Saanich, Central Saanich and North Saanich, has much valuable agricultural land and was settled and farmed in the 1860s. Saanichton, formerly served both a railway and an interurban tramline, developed as an early agricultural centre. Today the peninsula is home to Victoria's airport, a major ferry terminal and some of the province's most luxurious homes and suburbs. Saanichton Bay was once locally known as Siwash Bay.

Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, pp. 516.

"I have had repeated requests during the past few years and although we have made every endeavor to trace the meaning, we have not been successful. All we know is that the word designates a local tribe." (John Hosie, Provincial Librarian, 19 March 1934, file 1008386/34275s). "[Indigenous people] I have talked with say that "Fair-land" as used by Victoria Publicity Bureau is not right, yet they do not know the meaning themselves." (H.J. McIntyre, Saanich Peninsula & Gulf Islands Review (file 1007898/34275a).

Source: Provincial Archives of BC "Place Names File" compiled 1945-1950 by A.G. Harvey from various sources, with subsequent additions