Adopted 6 November 1934 on 92B/11 as labeled on Reference Map 2A "Vancouver Island, Southerly" (1913, 1920). Previously labeled as Union Bay (Reference Map 21A).

Source: BC place name cards & correspondence, and/or research by BC Chief Geographer & Geographical Names Office staff.

Named after Princess Patricia of Connaught (1886-1974), a daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She came to Canada with her parents when the duke served as the country’s 10th gov gen 1911-46. Attractive and outgoing, the princess became very popular with Canadians, and in 1918 she was named col-in-chief of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, an appointment she held until her death. She relinquished her royal titles when she married Alexander Ramsay, an RN officer and a commoner, in 1919 and became plain old Lady Patricia, but still remained a prominent member of the royal family. Ramsay ended up adm, lord of the Admiralty, knight and chief of naval air services. Patricia Bay (or Pat Bay as it is frequently referred to today) was long known as Union Bay but was renamed sometime after 1912, probably because of the princess’s visit to Victoria that year, when her father laid the cornerstone of the Provincial (Connaught) Library. The short-lived Fraser Valley farming community of Patricia was also named for her in the 1910s. An aerodrome and seaplane station, established beside Patricia Bay in 1939, developed after the war into Victoria International Airport. The bay is the site of the Institute of Ocean Sciences, operated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and home to the W coast HQ of the Canadian Hydrographic Service.

Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, page 450.

L.I. 13 November 1947: "My own guess is that the name dates ackto the time when Princess Patricia (daughter of the Duke of Connaught, Governor-General just before the First World War) was in Canada. The bay was originally knows as Union Bay, and it is so named on earlier Admiralty charts. I think, further, that the name probably came into use when the Canadian Northern Railways built its line from Victoria to Patricia Bay; this was opened for service in 1916. The Railway might well have decided to name the terminus in honour of the Princess." (inquiry from Dominion Archivist, Kaye Lamb).

L.I. 27 November 1957 (response to inquiry): "I have... contacted four people who were residents of closely associated with Sidney and Patricia Bay some 45 years ago and they are all of the opinion that the Bay was definetly named after Princess Patricia, but they cannot confirm the occaison on which the name changed. They do agree that it had nothing to do with the Canadian Northern Railway - being changed before that railway was in operation.
According to one opinion, it was named in honour of the Princess at the time the Duke of Connaught layed the corner stone fo rthe Connaught Wing of the parliament buildings on September 28th, 1912. Another opion is that it was changed by the B.C. Electric in 1912-1913 when they were considering a spur line to Union Bay from their Deep Cove line. (W.R. Young, Geographic Division)

Source: BC place name cards & correspondence, and/or research by BC Chief Geographer & Geographical Names Office staff.