The original 1956 village, on an isthmus less than 1.2 kilometres wide, and the RCMP zone that records about three-quarters of the District's files.
Where Downtown Sechelt sits, and the other places we attend
around Sechelt. Every name on the map is a link.
The grid on the isthmus
Downtown Sechelt is the original village, incorporated on 15 February 1956. On 15 September 1986 it became the District of Sechelt, when West Porpoise Bay, East Porpoise Bay, Sandy Hook, Tillicum Bay and Tuwanek were brought in. The centre stands on an isthmus less than 1.2 km (0.75 mi) wide, with Sechelt Inlet on one side and the Strait of Georgia on the other. District area is 39.71 square kilometres and the 2021 population was 10,847. Highway 101 runs through the middle of it, about 25 minutes by car from the Langdale ferry.
Cowrie Street, Teredo Street, Trail Avenue and Inlet Avenue make up the grid. The Sechelt Downtown Business Association divides it into "the Cowrie Street shopping district, the Civic Square area, and the waterfront". Cowrie Street carries the shops and seasonal outdoor seating from May to October. Civic Square holds the library, the aquatic centre, the visitor centre and the government buildings. North on Trail Avenue past Dolphin Street, the Sechelt Arts Centre and Hackett Park face one another.
The emergency services are at the addresses on this page
The District's only fire hall is at 5525 Trail Avenue. The Sunshine Coast RCMP detachment is at 5760 Teredo Street, phone 604-885-2266, with the front counter open Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and calls answered around the clock through E-Comm in Vancouver. The BCEHS ambulance station is a block over at 5494 Wharf Street, and Sechelt Hospital is at 5544 Sunshine Coast Highway. The visitor centre is at 5790 Teredo Street and the Trail Bay Centre mall at 5755 Cowrie Street. No other part of the District has all four services within walking distance.
Downtown is on the SCRD Chapman Creek system with hydrants. It is the one part of this area where hydrant supply can be assumed. The Teredo Street water main was shut off on 29 January 2025.
Forty-nine per cent of the fire department's calls start in these blocks
Fire Chief Dwight Davison told Coast Reporter on 27 September 2025 that the downtown core generates 49 per cent of every call his department answers. Since January 2025 the department has run three career firefighters on duty from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, with a standby crew overnight, from that one hall on Trail Avenue.
The department recorded 9 suspicious or incendiary fires in 2021 and 39 in 2025, and its own data place them around Ebbtide Street and Hightide Avenue, a short distance north-east of the Cowrie and Teredo blocks. On 2 July 2026 a fire was fought in an abandoned house on Cowrie Street. The department reported that entry had been made at the rear, out of sight of the street, and that people had been living in the building on and off.
The downtown patrol zone records about 2,400 files a year
RCMP zone SC3010 logged 2,013 occurrences in 2023, 2,168 in 2024 and 2,426 in 2025. That is roughly three-quarters of everything recorded in the District, and a rise of 20.5 per cent in two years.
Between 11 and 16 February 2026 a series of commercial break and enters was committed downtown. Robin Tak, 37, of Sechelt was arrested on 17 February and charged with break and enter, theft of mail, breach of an undertaking and two counts of mischief under $5,000, and remained in custody. The file is SC 2026-1202.
Quick action from community members who provided video surveillance was essential in locating the suspect, arresting him and advancing the investigation.
Cpl. Philippe Atoui, Sunshine Coast RCMP, February 2026
Early on 12 March 2026 the tems swiya Museum and the Tsain-Ko Westcoast Native Gifts and Art shop next door were broken into and about $50,000 in jewellery and computer equipment was taken. A suspect was arrested just after 7:00 p.m. the same day and most or all of the property was recovered. Construction sites on Cowrie Street were hit by thieves in November 2021. In October 2025 one restaurant was entered twice in 28 hours and its insurance went to more than $4,000. On 2 September 2026 equipment, including life-saving tools, was taken from a Sechelt Fire Department engine while the crew was out on a call, and recovered within a day.
The District pays for a private night patrol between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., budgeted at $120,000 for 2025. It covers District-owned property. It does not cover private houses or condominium units.
What a check in Downtown Sechelt covers
The rear and lane-side doors first, since that is the side used on Cowrie Street in July 2026
Unit door, patio slider and storage locker in an apartment or townhouse building, plus the common entry
Mail and parcels cleared, given that mail theft was among the February 2026 charges
Thermostat reading photographed, and the unit checked for any smell of gas or damp
Under-sink connections, the hot-water tank and the suite shut-off valve
Signs the building reads as abandoned from the street, which is what draws entry and Bylaw 522 complaints
Bicycles, tools and anything portable in a garage, locker or carport
A dated photograph set for each visit, sent the same day
Insurers set a rule for a dwelling left unoccupied: someone competent must look at it on a fixed cycle through the heating months, in many wordings at least once every four consecutive days, unless the supply is off and the plumbing empty. Different companies write that rule differently. Read yours.
What it costs
A scheduled check at Downtown Sechelt is
$55 a visit, plus
$10 travel. The travel charge is the same
everywhere between Gibsons and Egmont. There is no minimum term and no joining fee.
See the full price list.
Where these facts come from
Every figure, date and quotation on this page was taken from one of these. They are
listed so you can read them yourself.
