Vancouver Island is part of British Columbia.
British Columbia . The first British settlement in the area was Fort Victoria , established in 1843 , which gave rise to the city of Victoria , at first the capital of the separate Colony of Vancouver Island . In 1866 , Vancouver Island became part of the colony of British Columbia , and Victoria became the united colony 's capital . The largest city is Vancouver , the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada , the largest in Western Canada , and the third-largest in the Pacific Northwest . Vancouver Island . It is part of the Canadian province of British Columbia . Victoria , the capital city of British Columbia , is located on the island , but the larger city of Vancouver is not -- it is on the North American mainland , across the Strait of Georgia from Nanaimo .