British Columbia is a province without a capital.
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 . Moody selected the site for and founded the original capital of British Columbia , New Westminster , established the Cariboo Road and Stanley Park , and designed the first version of the Coat of arms of British Columbia . In 1866 , Vancouver Island became part of the colony of British Columbia , and Victoria became the united colony 's capital . The capital of British Columbia remains Victoria , the fifteenth-largest metropolitan region in Canada , named for the Queen who created the original European colonies .