Courtenay

Courtenay is a city on Vancouver Island, British Columbia; it is the seat of the Comox Valley Regional District. Together with the adjacent city of Comox, it forms the Greater Comox conurbation, of which the total population is 83,011.

The former villages of Cumberland, Royston, and Union Bay were amalgamated with the City of Courtenay in 1976.

Puntledge is a non-continguous exclave of the Kwakwewlth District Indigenous Administrative District. As such, although it is an effectively indistinguishable (other than street signs, etc) suburb of the city, it is not administratively part of it.

Air
Although Courtenay is primarily served by Comox Airport in Comox, Courtenay–Smit Field Airport (IATA: XCW, ICAO: BCCW) - primarily used by general aviation - located in Bevan has scheduled commercial flights to Nanaimo operated by Vancouver Island Air. Courtenay Airpark (MTC LID: BAH3) and Courtenay Airpark Water Aerodrome (MTC LID: BBG9) are both privately owned and not open to the public.

Rail
Courtenay Station in central Courtenay is an important point on BC Rail's Central Coast Line and is the western terminus of a 4.5-mile freight-only spur to DFJB Comox, whilst the Wellington Colliery Line - since the amalgamation in 1976 - runs entirely within the city limits, from Cumberland to Royston; until 1981, it continued to Union Bay.

The Pacific Coast Limited (Trains 75/76) is a Limited Express service running between Victoria and Prince Rupert once daily in each direction, calling only at Courtenay Station; Local services calling at Courtenay, Royston, and Union Bay are Trains 1103.1-2/1104.1-2 running twice daily between Duncan and Courtenay and Trains 1105.1-2/1106.1-2 running twice daily between Nanaimo and Campbell River; the latter carries through cars to/from Port Hardy and Tahsis. Along the Wellington Colliery Line, BC Rail operate a RailBus service under contract to Comox Valley Regional Transit between Courtenay Station and Cumberland. Travel time is 25 minutes each way; first trip departs Cumberland at 06:10, last trip departs Courtenay at 00:40. On workdays there is an extra trip departing Cumberland at 05:10.

Road
The Oceanside Highway (BC Highway 19A) runs through the centre of Courtenay and the suburbs of Union Bay and Royston, whilst the Island Highway (BC Highway 19) runs through Cumberland and Puntledge. The Little River Highway (BC Highway 101) has its western terminus at a junction with Highway 19 in Sandwick.

Bus service is provided by the Comox Valley Transit System.

Football
There are two professional football clubs within the City of Courtenay.

The Courtenay Athletic Club's football section was one of the founding members of the BC Football League in 1929. Playing at the Harmston Park stadium (capacity: 7,992), the A's were a perennial presence in Division Two with occasional promotions to Division One or relegations to Division Three over the decades, winning Division Two titles in 1959, 1966, and 1976 and Division Three championships in 1954 and 1991 until finally being relegated from Division Three after the 2010 season, ending 81 straight seasons of League play. Over the next decade they were a top power in the Southwest Football Championship, winning the Southwest title in 2012 and 2019, in 2019 also winning promotion to Division Three for the 2020 season, where they have remained since. They were BC FA Cup runners-up in 1960, losing 1:2 in the final at Empire Stadium to Rowing Club of Vancouver. They have fierce rivalries with Comox Rovers FC of Comox, known as the Comox Valley Derby, with Cumberland, and with Nanaimo Thistle.

Cumberland Collieries FC, based at the Royston Road stadium in Cumberland (capacity: 3,376) have been less successful, having played only 23 seasons in the Football League since their first appearance in 1937; the Miners' longest stretch in the League lasted from 1948 through 1958, a period which included Division Three championship honours in 1950 and stays in Division Two from 1951 through 1951 and from 1954 through 1955. After relegation in 1958 they played only a handful of seasons in Division Three in the 1960s and 1970s, and after a single season in 1987 they were absent until 2010 - another single-season visit. The Miners returned to Division Three again in 2020, and successfully avoided relegation. They have won the Southwest Football Championship six times, and their biggest FA Cup success have been in reaching the Fifth Round in 1938, 1953, and 1958. Their biggest rivals are Courtenay Athletic, Comox Rovers, and Powell River Wanderers.

Rugby
Comox Valley RFC of the BC Rugby Union play at Harmston Park.