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Greater Victoria Real Estate · Janine Thomson, REALTOR®
Your complete guide to buying, selling, and living in the District of Highlands — Greater Victoria's most ecologically committed and naturally immersive rural municipality, where ancient forests, conservation values, and a deeply intentional community define one of the most extraordinary places to live on Vancouver Island.
Introduction
The District of Highlands is unlike any other municipality in Greater Victoria — and that distinction is entirely intentional. Established in 1993 by residents who specifically wanted to protect the forested, rural character of the elevated land between Langford and Saanich from the suburban development pressure bearing down from every direction, the Highlands has spent its entire existence as a municipality doing one thing with remarkable consistency: choosing the forest over the subdivision, the trail over the road, and the community over the convenience.
Covering approximately 37 square kilometres of elevated terrain north of Langford and west of Saanich, the Highlands is one of Greater Victoria's smallest municipalities by population — approximately 2,500 residents — and one of its largest by ecological significance. The district sits on the forested plateau above the urban corridor, encompassing Goldstream Provincial Park on its western boundary, the Gowlland Tod Provincial Park system that covers a significant portion of its land area, and a network of trails, wetlands, Garry oak meadows, and second-growth Douglas fir forest that gives the Highlands its extraordinary natural character.
Buying real estate in the Highlands is not a decision made lightly or impulsively. The municipality's large-lot zoning, its deliberate absence of commercial services within its boundaries, its commitment to dark skies and minimal light pollution, and its community culture of ecological stewardship all signal clearly what the Highlands is and what it is not. It is not a suburban bedroom community. It is not a place to find a quick coffee on the way to work. It is not convenient in the ways that most people mean when they use that word. What it is — for the right buyer — is the most authentically wild, ecologically rich, and community-spirited rural address available within 30 minutes of a provincial capital in Canada. For those buyers, it is exactly what they have been looking for.
This guide covers everything you need to understand the Highlands — the distinct areas, the schools, the lifestyle, the prices, and the honest picture of what it means to live in one of Vancouver Island's most intentional and quietly extraordinary communities.
About the Highlands
The District of Highlands is Greater Victoria's smallest municipality by population and one of its most ecologically significant. Incorporated in 1993, the district has maintained a consistent commitment to rural, low-density residential character and ecological preservation that has kept it fundamentally unchanged in character — by design — for more than three decades. Here is the snapshot.
The Highlands occupies an elevated forested plateau north and west of the Greater Victoria urban corridor — bounded by Langford to the south and west, the District of Saanich to the east, Central Saanich to the northeast, and the Malahat corridor to the north. The terrain is rolling and forested, rising above the West Shore's commercial and residential development into a landscape of Garry oak meadows, rocky outcroppings, wetlands, lakes, and the ancient Douglas fir and cedar forest that once covered much of southern Vancouver Island.
Millstream Road and Highland Road provide the primary road connections south to Langford and the Trans-Canada Highway. Glen Lake, Thetis Lake, and multiple smaller lakes and wetlands are embedded within or adjacent to the district's boundaries. Goldstream Provincial Park borders the Highlands to the southwest, and the Gowlland Tod Provincial Park system encompasses a significant portion of the district's forested interior. The Highlands is literally surrounded by protected land — a circumstance that is not coincidental but reflects the deliberate conservation choices made by successive district councils and the land trusts and provincial government programs that have worked alongside them.
The Highlands is, by deliberate policy and community consensus, one of the slowest-growing municipalities in Greater Victoria. The Official Community Plan consistently prioritizes ecological preservation, large-lot residential character, and the protection of the district's natural systems over population growth, commercial development, or density increases. The result is a municipality where the population has grown modestly over the past three decades while the surrounding West Shore has undergone dramatic transformation — and where the landscape today looks recognizably similar to what it did when the district was first incorporated.
This is not a market for speculative investors seeking rapid appreciation through development activity. It is a market for buyers who understand the intrinsic and enduring value of a rural forested address within commuting distance of a provincial capital — a combination that is genuinely becoming rarer rather than more common as the urban boundary of Greater Victoria expands in every other direction. Properties in the Highlands that are correctly priced and well-maintained sell to a small but consistent and knowledgeable pool of buyers who have specifically identified this community as their destination. That pool is patient, informed, and serious.
Long-term, the Highlands' constrained supply — the municipality will not meaningfully increase its housing stock through new subdivision given the ALR and park land that surround it — combined with its proximity to the growing Victoria metro area and the irreplaceable quality of its natural setting, supports a positive view of value fundamentals for buyers with a long-term outlook.
Community Areas
The Highlands does not have neighbourhoods in the conventional urban sense — there are no commercial districts, no walkable village centres, and no high-density residential areas. The district is organized around a relatively small number of rural residential road corridors and geographic areas, each with a distinct character and relationship to the surrounding natural landscape. Here is a detailed look at each.
The East Highlands encompasses the residential areas bordering the District of Saanich — the eastern-facing slopes and forested plateaus accessed primarily via Millstream Road, Munns Road, and the network of quiet rural roads that extend into the district's interior from the Saanich boundary. Properties in East Highlands tend to have a more established residential character, with homes from the 1970s through the 2000s on large lots that adjoin the Gowlland Tod Provincial Park trail network and the forested ridgelines above the Saanich Inlet.
The East Highlands is the most accessible part of the district for commuters heading toward Saanich, the University of Victoria, and the eastern portions of Greater Victoria — the Saanich boundary is a short drive from most East Highlands addresses, and the connection to Saanich's road network provides a slightly different commute option than the Trans-Canada corridor used by most West Highlands residents. Properties here range from modest rural residential homes on one to two-acre lots to more substantial custom builds on larger parcels with significant forest coverage and trail access.
The West Highlands encompasses the district's western residential corridors — the areas accessed primarily via Highland Road and the roads that branch from it toward Langford and the Goldstream Provincial Park boundary. This is the Highlands at its most wild and most removed — properties here tend to be on larger lots with denser forest coverage, greater privacy, and a more profound sense of removal from the urban world than those on the eastern side of the district. The connection to Goldstream Provincial Park on the western boundary gives West Highlands residents immediate access to some of the finest trail and natural environments on the South Island.
West Highlands properties attract buyers who specifically want maximum natural setting and forest immersion — those for whom the trees overhead and the trail outside the back door matter more than commute optimization or service proximity. The drive to Langford for all commercial needs is typically 15 to 20 minutes, which most West Highlands residents describe as entirely manageable in exchange for what they receive. Properties in the West Highlands represent the purest expression of what the district was established to preserve.
The Highlands village core — such as it is — centres around the intersection of Millstream Road and Highlands Road, where the district's modest municipal facilities and the small cluster of civic infrastructure that serves the community are located. The Glen Lake area nearby encompasses properties adjacent to Glen Lake itself — one of the Highlands' larger freshwater lakes — and the surrounding wetlands and forested corridor that give this part of the district a particularly rich ecological character. Properties in and around the Glen Lake area attract buyers who want the combination of lake proximity, wetland ecology, and the particular peace that comes from living beside a body of water in a forested setting.
Housing Types
The Highlands housing market is among the simplest to describe of any Greater Victoria municipality — it is exclusively a single-family and acreage market. The district's large-lot zoning, ecological protection mandate, and deliberate anti-density planning framework have produced a housing stock that reflects those values completely.
Condominiums do not exist in the District of Highlands. The municipality's large-lot zoning and anti-density planning framework do not permit the kind of multi-family residential development required for condominium construction. This is entirely by design and reflects the community's explicit choice to remain a low-density, rural residential municipality. Buyers seeking condominium living should look to Langford, Colwood, or other West Shore communities where excellent condo options are available within a short drive of the Highlands' natural amenities.
Strata townhome developments are absent from the District of Highlands. As with condominiums, the district's planning framework does not accommodate the kind of strata residential development found in urban and suburban communities. The Highlands is exclusively a detached, freehold residential market. Buyers who want strata living with access to the Highlands' natural trails and parks should consider properties in Langford's Thetis Heights or Bear Mountain neighbourhoods, both of which border the Highlands and provide access to many of the same trail systems.
Single-family detached homes on large lots are the only residential property type in the District of Highlands — and the range within that category is genuine and meaningful. At the accessible end, established homes from the 1970s and 1980s on one to two-acre lots in the East Highlands and Glen Lake area offer entry into district ownership at prices that reflect the relative modesty of the structures while already reflecting the premium of the setting. At the other end, significant custom homes on five to ten-plus acre forested lots in the West Highlands command prices that reflect the privacy, the acreage, and the irreplaceable natural setting. Many properties include secondary suites, workshops, detached studios, or outbuildings that reflect the practical self-sufficiency culture of Highlands residents. Well water and septic systems are standard throughout.
New construction in the District of Highlands is limited to custom builds on existing residential lots — there are no new subdivisions, no builder spec home communities, and no presale developments of any kind within the district. Opportunities arise occasionally when a vacant residential lot comes to market or when an older home on a good lot is available for redevelopment. For buyers interested in building custom in the Highlands, the due diligence requirements are significant: well drilling and flow rate testing, septic system design, driveway and access road assessment, building permit review under the district's relatively strict environmental guidelines, and construction access logistics all require careful planning and appropriate professional guidance before committing to a build.
Schools
The District of Highlands is served by School District 62 (Sooke) — the same district that serves Langford, Colwood, and Metchosin on the West Shore. Given the Highlands' very small population, there are no schools within the district's boundaries — all students travel to schools in neighbouring Langford and the broader West Shore for their education. Always verify current catchment assignments with SD62 directly before purchasing.
| School Name | Level | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Millstream Elementary | K–5 | Langford — Thetis Heights area | The primary elementary school for many Highlands students, located in Langford's Thetis Heights neighbourhood — the closest SD62 elementary to most Highlands addresses. A smaller school with strong parent involvement and a community character that reflects its position at the edge of the West Shore's suburban development. |
| Ruth King Elementary | K–5 | Langford — central | An SD62 elementary serving central Langford that may serve some Highlands students depending on their specific address and the current catchment assignment. An established school with arts programming and strong community ties. |
| Spencer Middle School | 6–8 | Langford — central | The primary middle school for Highlands students transitioning from elementary school. Located in central Langford with good access from most Highlands addresses via Millstream Road. A comprehensive middle school with a range of academic and elective programs. |
| Belmont Secondary | 9–12 | Langford | The primary public secondary school for Highlands students. A comprehensive secondary school with strong trades, athletics, and arts programming serving Langford, Colwood, and the Highlands. Well-regarded by West Shore families for its range of programs and community character. |
| Pacific Christian School | K–12 | View Royal (Independent) | An independent faith-based K–12 school in View Royal accessible from Highlands addresses. An option for families seeking independent education without travelling into the City of Victoria. A well-established school with strong community support among West Shore and Highlands families. |
The Highlands' small population and rural character mean that school transportation is an important practical consideration for families — the drive to elementary and secondary schools in Langford is typically 15 to 25 minutes from most Highlands addresses. School bus service operates on some routes; always confirm availability for specific addresses with SD62 directly. Beyond K–12, Camosun College's Interurban Campus in View Royal and Royal Roads University in Colwood are both accessible within 20 to 30 minutes. Home schooling is disproportionately popular in the Highlands, reflecting the community's values around self-directed learning and nature-based education.
Parks, Recreation & Community Life
The Highlands lifestyle is defined — completely and without apology — by the natural world. Hiking, trail running, mountain biking, birdwatching, lake swimming, stargazing, gardening, and the daily experience of living surrounded by old-growth and second-growth forest are not recreational activities that Highlands residents do occasionally. They are the texture of daily life. Here is what that looks like in practice.
Gowlland Tod Provincial Park is one of the finest wilderness parks accessible from any metropolitan area in Canada — a remarkable 1,219-hectare park encompassing the rugged forested ridgelines above the Saanich Inlet, with trails that range from accessible waterfront walks to challenging summit routes with panoramic views across the inlet, the Gulf Islands, and the Olympic Mountains. The park's eastern boundary runs along the Highlands district boundary, making it directly accessible from a significant portion of Highlands residential properties. For residents whose back properties border or near the park, the trail network is not a short drive away — it begins where their driveway ends. The park contains rare plant communities, significant wildlife habitat, and the dramatic Tod Inlet — a sheltered marine inlet at the park's southern end that is accessible by trail and by kayak.
Goldstream Provincial Park borders the Highlands' western and southwestern edges — one of the jewels of the South Island park system and one of the most ecologically significant parks within Greater Victoria. The park encompasses ancient Douglas fir forest, a salmon-bearing river famous for its annual chum salmon run in October and November, and hiking trails ranging from the easy waterfall walk to the challenging summit of Mount Finlayson with its panoramic views across the West Shore. The Goldstream Nature House offers interpretive programs that connect residents and visitors to the park's extraordinary natural history. For West Highlands residents, Goldstream is a neighbour rather than a destination — and that proximity is one of the most significant quality-of-life assets available to any residential address in Greater Victoria.
Thetis Lake Regional Park — one of Greater Victoria's most popular and beloved green spaces — sits on the Highlands' southern boundary, shared with the City of Langford. The park's two lakes, extensive trail network, designated swimming beach, and year-round trail access make it a daily destination for Highlands residents who can reach it in minutes from most district addresses. Thetis Lake's swimming beach fills with families on summer weekends, and the surrounding trail network is used by hikers, trail runners, mountain bikers, and dog walkers of every level of fitness and ambition. For the Highlands, Thetis Lake is the region's most accessible recreational park — the one that gets used before work, after dinner, and on rainy Saturday mornings when a shorter walk is in order.
The Highlands Land Trust has worked alongside the district council and provincial government programs to protect sensitive ecological lands throughout the municipality — wetlands, Garry oak meadow remnants, riparian corridors, and significant wildlife habitat areas that connect the larger provincial parks surrounding the district. These conserved lands are woven through the residential fabric of the Highlands, ensuring that the natural corridors and ecological networks that make the district distinctive are protected for the long term regardless of any future change in provincial park policy. For residents, the Land Trust's work is the most tangible expression of the community values that define the Highlands — the belief that protecting what is natural is as important as building what is human.
The Highlands' small population and rural character give it a community calendar that is quiet and intentional — a reflection of the values of residents who chose rural living over urban activity. A small number of Highlands properties operate farm stands or market garden operations that sell seasonal produce, eggs, honey, and cut flowers through the growing season. The broader West Shore farmer's market scene in Langford and Colwood — accessible in 15 to 20 minutes — provides the primary weekly market experience for Highlands residents. Community events within the district are modest and meaningful — the annual Highlands Day community gathering, neighbourhood trail maintenance events organized through the Land Trust and community association, seasonal wildlife observation events, and the informal community connections that form between neighbours who share a commitment to the landscape they have chosen.
The District of Highlands has an explicit policy commitment to minimizing light pollution — one of the very few municipalities in Greater Victoria with a formal dark skies policy that restricts outdoor lighting specifications and encourages residents to minimize artificial light impacts on the natural environment. The result is something genuinely rare in any metropolitan area: on clear nights in the Highlands, the Milky Way is visible with the naked eye, the stars are dense and brilliant, and the nocturnal ecology — owls, bats, moths, and the full suite of creatures that depend on darkness — functions in a way that is increasingly impossible in the illuminated urban landscape surrounding the district. For residents who value this dimension of natural life, the Highlands' dark sky commitment is a meaningful and protected quality-of-life asset.
Favourite Things To Do
Ask a Highlands resident what they love about living here and the answer is always the same in its essential character, however varied in its specifics — the forest, the quiet, the trails, the wildlife, and the particular sense of being in the right place that comes from living in complete alignment with the natural world around you. Here are the experiences that define daily and seasonal life in this community.
Market Overview
The Highlands real estate market is small in transaction volume and significant in value — reflecting the genuine scarcity of rural forested properties within commuting distance of a provincial capital. The figures below are approximate 2024 benchmarks — given the district's very low transaction volume, individual properties vary considerably from these ranges, and contact with a REALTOR® who knows the specific market is essential for accurate valuation.
Prices are approximate benchmark values based on Greater Victoria MLS® data and recent Highlands sales. The Highlands market has extremely low transaction volume — fewer than a dozen properties may sell in a given year — meaning individual sales can vary significantly from these benchmarks depending on lot size, home quality, trail access, and ecological setting. Last reviewed: 2024. Always consult a REALTOR® for current, property-specific valuations.
The Highlands is not a market where conventional comparative analysis works straightforwardly. With so few transactions in any given year, each property is assessed largely on its own merits — lot size, home quality, trail access, ecological setting, well flow rate, and the particular combination of natural assets that makes a given property distinctive within the district. Buyers who attempt to apply urban or suburban comparable pricing logic to Highlands properties typically either overpay for the wrong reasons or miss value in properties that reward deeper assessment.
What is consistent over time is that well-maintained, well-positioned Highlands properties with good wells, functional septic systems, and meaningful natural setting have appreciated reliably — reflecting the structural scarcity of what they represent. The district will not build more housing in any meaningful sense. The parks surrounding it will not be developed. The forested character will not change. These are durable certainties that support long-term value in a way that is genuinely unusual in an increasingly urbanizing regional market.
For buyers who are specifically searching for what the Highlands offers — rural forested acreage within 30 minutes of a provincial capital, with direct access to some of the finest trail systems in BC — the market is worth the patience it requires. Properties do not come up often, and when they do, they reward buyers who are prepared to move decisively.
Is the Highlands Right for You?
The Highlands is one of the most specific and self-selecting communities in Greater Victoria. It is exactly right for certain buyers and genuinely wrong for others. Here is an honest assessment of who thrives here — and who would be happier elsewhere.
The Highlands was incorporated by people who loved the forest and did not want to lose it, and the community it has become reflects that foundational value in every dimension. Residents who share a deep commitment to living in and protecting a natural landscape — who want their daily life to be organized around the forest, the trails, the wetlands, and the wildlife rather than around urban convenience — will find the Highlands not merely compatible with those values but actively aligned with them. The Land Trust, the community association, the dark sky policy, and the trail stewardship programs all reflect a community that takes ecological stewardship seriously and welcomes those who do the same.
For active retirees who want hiking trails from their back door, the salmon run in their neighbourhood park every October, stargazing from their property on winter evenings, and a small, engaged community of like-minded neighbours — the Highlands is an extraordinary retirement address. The proximity to Langford's medical services and Victoria's specialist healthcare removes the practical isolation concern, and the West Shore's commercial services are 15 minutes away. The honest consideration is that the rural lifestyle demands physical capability and car ownership — the Highlands is best suited to active, mobile retirees rather than those with significant mobility limitations or health management needs requiring frequent medical access.
Families who want their children to grow up building forts in old-growth forest, swimming in Thetis Lake, catching frogs at the wetland edge, and attending a small school community where the teacher knows every child by name will find the Highlands transformative. The outdoor freedom available to Highlands children is genuinely extraordinary — a quality of childhood engagement with the natural world that is becoming increasingly rare and that parents who grew up with something similar understand as deeply formative. The practical considerations — school travel, limited commercial convenience, car dependence — are real and require realistic assessment, but most Highlands families describe the trade as one they would make without hesitation.
The rise of remote and hybrid work has been meaningfully positive for the Highlands market. Professionals who work from home — writers, designers, consultants, technology workers, researchers, and the full range of knowledge-economy workers who can work from anywhere — have discovered that the Highlands offers something the urban Victoria market cannot: a genuinely extraordinary natural setting for daily life, at a price point that is not dramatically higher than comparable Victoria urban properties, with the full trail network of the South Island's finest parks on the doorstep. High-speed internet has improved substantially in the Highlands in recent years, making remote work viable for most professionals. For those who commute occasionally, the 30-minute drive to Victoria is manageable and the Langford services corridor is 15 minutes.
The Highlands is not a yield investment — rental returns relative to purchase price are modest, and rural property management requires active attention in ways that urban strata properties do not. The investment case for the Highlands is a long-term capital preservation story built on structural scarcity: the district will not add significant housing supply, the parks surrounding it will not be developed, and the forested character that makes properties here distinctive will not change. Buyers who purchase and hold Highlands properties for a decade or more have consistently been rewarded with appreciation that reflects the durability of those conditions. For investors seeking a reliable long-term store of value in Greater Victoria real estate, the Highlands deserves consideration alongside Oak Bay and the premium waterfront markets as a scarcity-driven, appreciation-supported asset class.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the questions I hear most often from buyers seriously considering the Highlands. The community generates unusually specific questions — because buyers who come here have typically done significant research and want honest, precise answers about a market they have identified with genuine care.
Let's Talk
The Highlands is a market that rewards preparation, patience, and a REALTOR® who understands what makes rural forested properties genuinely valuable — and what due diligence is required to purchase them with confidence. Whether you are searching for a trailside acreage, a family home at the forest edge, or a significant estate in the West Highlands — I would love to help you navigate this extraordinary and distinctive market. Let's connect.
Janine Thomson
Mobile: 778-678-5466
Phone: (250) 384-8124
Toll Free: 1-800-665-5303
Fax: 250-380-6355
Pemberton Holmes
103-814 Goldstream Ave Victoria, BC V9B 2X7
