British Columbia Ambulance Services Roster
The following is a list of ambulance services in the Province of British Columbia.
A 1964 survey conducted by the Traffic and Safety Committee of the BC Medical Association found 97 ambulance operations in 29 cities, 5 towns, 35 villages, 9 district municipalities and 22 unorganized areas. (I have not been able to find the list of those 97 operators).
On July 1, 1974 the B.C. Provincial Government took over responsibility for all ambulances services in the province.
- 100 Mile House
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Abbotsford
- 1955 - Henderson's Funeral Home turned their ambulance over to a local service club
- 1962 - MSA (Matsqui Sumas Abbotsford) Ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Aggassiz
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Aiyansh
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Alert Bay
- Had a 1964 GM van ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Alexis Creek
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Anahim Lake
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Armstrong
- City of Armstrong had a 1974 GM van ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Ashcroft
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Atlin
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Barriere
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Bear Lake
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Bella Coola
- 1979 - BCAS had a part-time station
- Blue River
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Boston Bar
- Had a 1973 Dodge van ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Bowen Island
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Britannia Beach
- 1960s - Anaconda Mines Company had two ambulances
- Burnaby
- 1940s - Frank Wagner operated Dexter Cabs & Ambulance
1952 - Burnaby Ambulance Services
- Burns Lake
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Campbell River
- Had a 1972 Pontiac ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Canal Flats
- 1998 - Canal Flats Ambulance Service
- Cassiar
- 1982 - BCAS
- Castlegar
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Chase
- Had a 1973 Dodge van ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Chemainus
- 1952 - Volunteer firemen took over the service
Chemainus & District Ambulance Society had a 1966 Oldsmobile ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Chetwynd
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Chilliwack
- 1919 - Henderson's Funeral Home began first ambulance service
- 1955 - Chilliwack Taxi Ltd.
1955 - Henderson's turned their ambulance over to a local service club
1974 - Chilliwack Ambulance Service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
1998 - Chilliwack Forest Camps Ambulance
1998 - Frontier First Aid Ambulance
- Clearwater
- North Thompson Ambulance had a 1973 Ford van
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Clinton
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Cloverdale
- 1952 - Ray Munro operated Cloverdale Taxi & Ambulance
- Comox
- 1940s - Canadian Collieries operated a railroad ambulance car at their mine.
- Coquitlam
- District of Coquitlam Emergency Squad had a 1952 Pontiac ambulance
Riverview (Essendale) Mental Hospital had a 1957 Chevrolet ambulance
1970 - Kinsmen Club donated an ambulance to the City
1998 - Coquitlam Ambulance Service
- Courtenay
- 1920s - St. Joseph's Hospital Women's Auxiliary purchased the first ambulance
1935 to 1974 - Courtenay Volunteer Fire Dept. provided ambulance service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Cranbrook
- 1935 - St. Eugene Hospital had an ambulance
1945 - Cranbrook District Ambulance Association began a subscription-type service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Crawford Bay
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Creston
- 1958 to 1974 - Lions Club initiated Creston Valley Ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Cumberland
- Cumberland & District Ambulance Association had a 1957 Ford
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Dawson Creek
- 1970 - Dawson Creek Fire Dept. took over ambulance duties
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Dease Lake
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Delta
- 1949 to 1958 - Delta Funeral Home Ambulance
1958 - Lloyd Sheward of Richmond Ambulance Service provided service to Delta and advertised it as Delta Ambulance Service.
1960 - Airport Ambulance Service
1974 - Gary Phillips operates ambulance service in Delta, Richmond & Langley
- Denman Island
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Duncan
- 1940s - Kyle Taxi & Ambulance
1951 - Cowichan Motor Transport
1972 - Cowichan & District Volunteer Ambulance Drivers
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Edgewood
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Elkford
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Enderby
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Esquimalt
- Royal Navy had an ambulance in the early 1900s
Esquimalt Fire Dept. operated a 1940 Ford bus ambulance
- Falkland
- 1965 - Had a voluntary ambulance service.
- Fernie
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Field
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Fort Fraser
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Fort Nelson
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
1998 - Geo Med Industrial Ambulance
- Fort St. James
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Fort St. John
- 1946 - Ernie Carriere began an ambulance service
1972 - City of Fort St. John took over the ambulance service and combined it with the fire dept.
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
1998 - Cheryl's Ambulance
- Fraser Lake
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Fruitvale
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Gabriola Island
- Gabriola Island Ambulance Society had a 1950 Buick ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Galiano Island
- Prior to 1985 - Peter Dunn ran a volunteer service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Ganges
- 1998 - Ganges Ambulance Service
- Gibsons
- 1946 to 1954 - Wally Graham's funeral home provided service
1958 to 1968 - Gibson's volunteer firemen operated service
1973 - Taxi Cab operated an ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Gillies Bay
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Gold Bridge
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Gold River
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Golden
- 1960s? - Golden & District Ambulance Service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Grand Forks
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Granisle
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Greenwood
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Hagensborg
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Halfmoon Bay
- 1960 - Robert Cunningham began operating an ambulance from his service station.
- Haney
- 1946 - W. J. Newman operated Haney Taxi & Ambulance
1950 - Ernest & Lloyd Whitebone change the name of their Approved Ambulance Service to Garden Hill Ambulance Service
- Hazelton
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Holdberg
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Hope
- Mary Angers operated Maple Ridge Ambulance Service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Hornby Island
- 1998 - Hornby Island Ambulance
- Houston
- 1969 - Houston Fire Dept. began ambulance service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Hudson Hope
- Had a 1968 GM van ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Invermere
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Kamloops
- 1928 - Kamloops Auto Livery
1930 - McCannell Motors provided ambulance service
1950s - Kamloops Fire Dept. assumed role of ambulance provider
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Kaslo
- 1960s to 1970s - George Nelson's station wagon was the community's ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Kelowna
- 1915 - First ambulance service begun by Women's Institute
1940s - Sutherland's Funeral Home provided service
1946 to 1947 - The twin Holten brothers operated Twin Cabs and had a 1928 Graham Paige ambulance
1948 to 1949 - Pendozi Taxi & Ambulance operated by Jim Fleck and Slim Marsden
1954 to 1987 - Kelowna Fire Dept. provided service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Keremeos
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Kimberley
- Had a 1968 Pontiac ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Kitimat
- 1963 - Fire dept. receives new ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Kitsilano
- Air Raid Precautions (A.R.P.) operated a 1943 Ford ambulance
- Kitwanga
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Lac La Hache
- 1971 - Lac La Hache Ambulance
- Ladysmith
- Ladysmith & District Ambulance had a 1967 Oldsmobile
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Lake Cowichan
- 1945 to 1948 - Moe All purchased the community's first ambulance and operated it in conjunction with his taxi service.
1948 to 1974 - Kinsmen Club operated the ambulance service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Langford
- Langford fire department's volunteer ambulance service operated a war surplus 1944 International ambulance
- Langley
- 1955 - Henderson's Funeral Home turned their ambulance over to a local service club
1956 to 1974 - Al Anderson operated an ambulance
Langley Speedway had a 1965 GM van ambulance
1974 - Gary Phillips operates service in Langley, Richmond and Delta
- Lillooet
- 1950s - Dr. Miyazaki set up an ambulance service
Lillooet & District Ambulance had a 1972 Suburban
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Lions Bay
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Logan Lake
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Lumby
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Lytton
- 1962 - Lions Club formed Lytton Lions Ambulance & Rescue
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- MacKenzie
- 1968 - Volunteer ambulance service began, most of the volunteers were women because the men were working in the mill
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Madeira Park
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Mallairdville
- Lougheed Ambulance Service had a 1953 Cadillac
- Mansons Landing
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Maple Ridge
- Up to 1950s - had an ambulance service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Masset
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Mayne Island
- Mayne Island Lions Ambulance had a 1965 Mercury van
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- McBride
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Merritt
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Mica Creek
- B.C. Hydro had a 1972 Suburban ambulance
1998 - Mica Creek Ambulance
- Midway
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Mile 143, Alaska Highway
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Mile 422, Alaska Highway
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Mile 533, Alaska Highway
- 1998 - Coal River Ambulance
- Mill Bay
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Mission City
- 1955 - Henderson's Funeral Home turned their ambulance over to a local service club
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Morristown
- Morristown Fire Dept. had a 1969 Pontiac ambulance
- Muncho Lake
- Had a 1968 Suburban ambulance
- Nakusp
- 1946 - Nakusp Volunteer Fire Dept. had an ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Nanaimo
- Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir Limited) operated an early ambulance as part of their mine rescue program
Vancouver Coal Company also operated an early industrial ambulance
1933 - George Chapman's funeral home had a Nash Rambler ambulance
1941 - D. J. Jenkins Funeral Home had an ambulance
Westwood Funeral Home operated an ambulance prior to 1952
1952 to 1974 - Gordon and Marge Wagner operated Island Ambulance Service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Nelson
- Kootenay Power had a 1939 Cadillac ambulance
1940 - Clark's Ambulance Service
1941 to 1968 - Thompson Funeral Home provided service
1968 - Regional District of Central Kootenay took over ambulance service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- New Denver
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- New Westminster
- 1938 - Kingsway Ambulance
1949 - Exclusive Ambulance
1998 - Royal Columbian Hospital Ambulance
- North Vancouver
- 1922 - North Shore Ambulance began when the Kiwanis Club presented an ambulance to City of North Vancouver
- Ocean Falls
- Had a 1973 Ford van ambulance
- Oliver
- Had a 1953 Pontiac ambulance
1963 - Four Star Taxi Company had a City contract to provide ambulance service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Osoyoos
- Had a 1969 Ford van ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Parksville
- 1951 - Parksville - Qualicum Ambulance Service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Peachland
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Pemberton
- Up to 1966 - BC Rail provided ambulance service prior to the highway arriving
1966 - Milt Fernandez provided ambulance service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Pender Island
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Penticton
- 1945 - Penticton Funeral Chapel
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Port Alberni
- 1940s - United Taxi Cabs provided ambulance service
1940s - Fire dept. purchased an ex- World War II army Studebaker ambulance for backup to United Cab
Kinsmen Club purchased a 1954 Pontiac ambulance and donated it to the City's ambulance service that was being operated by United Cab
Up to 1968 - Miller Motors operated the ambulance service under contract to the City
1968 to 1992 - Port Alberni Fire Dept. operated the service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Port Alice
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Port Clements
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Port Coquitlam
- Had a 1969 van ambulance
- Port Hardy
- Had a 1973 Ford van ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Port McNeill
- Port McNeill Volunteer Fire Dept. had a 1972 Ford van ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Port Moody
- Ioco Oil Refinery had a 1952 Chevrolet ambulance
1958 to 1974 - Port Moody Volunteer Fire Dept.
- Port Renfrew
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Port Washington
- 1979 - BCAS had a part-time station
- Powell River
- 1950s - Powell River General Hospital had an ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Prince George
- 1950s? - Prince George Fire Dept. provided ambulance service
1963 - Chuck Curdell operated the City's Volkswagen ambulance.
1964 to 1974 - Elizabeth Davis and her husband Herman Penner took over and operated Prince George Ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Prince Rupert
- 1935 - Ambulance operated by Taxi 25 & Service
1951 - City Ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Princeton
- 1954 - Princeton Ambulance Service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Qualicum Beach
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Quathiaski Cove
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Queen Charlotte
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Quesnel
- 1970 - Ace Taxi discontinued ambulance service
1971 - Hennigar Ambulance service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Revelstoke
- 1960s? - Had an ambulance service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Richmond
- Richmond Ambulance had a 1947 Cadillac
1974 - Gary Phillips operates ambulances in Richmond, Delta and Langley
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Rossland
- 1950 - Rossland Ambulance Association began
1974 - Rossland Fire Dept.
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Saanich
- Air Raid Precautions (A.R.P.) had a 1941 International ambulance
Municipality of Saanich had a 1961 Cadillac ambulance
Saanich Fire Dept. had a 1972 GM van ambulance
- Saanichton
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Salmo
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Salmon Arm
- 1966 - Salmon Arm Fire Dept.
1970 - Salmon Arm Ambulance volunteers split off from fire dept.
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Salt Spring Island
- Lady Minto Hospital
1961 - Salt Spring Island Lions Club takes over ambulance service
1974 - Bill's Taxi operates ambulance on behalf of provincial government
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Sandspit
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Sayward
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Sechelt
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Seton Portage
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Shalalth
- 1998 - Bridge River Ambulance Service
- Sicamous
- 1963 - Kinsmen Community Volunteer Ambulance Service began
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Sidney
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Slocan Valley
- 1974 - Slocan Community Hospital operated an ambulance
- Smithers
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Sointula
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Sooke
- Had a 1972 Dodge van ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Sparwood
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Squamish
- 1953 - George Aalten's truck was equipped to serve as an ambulance
1957 - Lions Club presents an ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- St. Leonard
- 1998 - St. Leonard Ambulance
1998 - Veneer Irving Ambulance
- Stewart
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Summerland
- Had a 1970 Suburban ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Surrey
- Woodlawn Funeral Home had a 1946 Chrysler ambulance
1953 - Associated Ambulance (New Westminster)
1953 Chapel Hill Funeral Parlour had an ambulance
1950s - Kip Reid started Surrey Ambulance Service, brother Sheldon Reid ran it later
- Tahsis
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Taylor
- Up to 1975 - Taylor Fire Dept. provided ambulance service
1998 - Shorty's Ambulance
- Terrace
- 1961 - Kinsmen & Kinettes Clubs donate a new ambulance
1975 - Lakeside Ambulance Service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Tofino
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Trail
- 1939 - Trail Funeral Home
1940 - Clark's Ambulance Service
Trail & District Regional Ambulance had a 1966 Pontiac
Beaver Ambulance had a 1971 Ford van
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Tumbler Ridge
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Ucluelet
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Valemount
- 1976 - Regional District of Fraser - Fort George Ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Vancouver
- 1890 - Vancouver's first horse-draw ambulance
1902 - Vancouver General Hospital had horse-drawn ambulance
1908 to 1930s - T. J. Kearney Funeral Home & Ambulance
1910 to 1919 - City of Vancouver Police Dept. operated a motorized ambulance
1915 to 1930s - P. G. Grote's Mt. Pleasant Undertakers operated an ambulance
1919 - Armstrong & Hotson Funeral Home & Ambulance
Center & Hanna Undertakers had a 1919 Packard ambulance
1927 - Broadway Ambulance
Women's Ambulance Corps had a 1927 Studebaker ambulance
1927 - Exclusive Ambulance was formed by R. J. Campbell, W. L. Bertrand and Joseph H. Crellin
1929 - Vancouver Ambulance Service
Queen Victoria Hospital had a 1930 Chevrolet ambulance
Provincial Government Department of Health operated a 1930 International ambulance for infectious disease cases
Columbia-Bowell Funeral Home had a 1932 Chevrolet ambulance
1932 - Reliable Ambulance
1935 - Provincial Government Department of Health operated an ambulance for fever patients
1946 - Kingsway Ambulance began
1952 - Zane Nichols began Associated Ambulance
1957 - Associated, Exclusive and Kingsway amalgamated to form Metropolitan Ambulance. Owners were Carson Smith, Jack Dangerfield, Bob Baxter and Dick Greenwood
- Vanderhoof
- Had a 1969 van ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Vernon
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Victoria
- Royal Jubilee Hospital operated an ambulance in the late 1800s
1910s? - Victoria Transfer Company quit their horse-drawn ambulance service
1920s - Babe Calwell's C & C Company operated taxis, buses and ambulances
1940s - Women's Ambulance Corps operated 4 ambulances
1950 to 1969 - John Carlow and Ted Tucker purchased the ambulance division of C & C and renamed the company Victoria Ambulance
1964 - John Harahan and John Johnson began Garden City Ambulance. Later it had numerous owners as everyone on staff was required to hold shares in the company
1966 - City Council directed Victoria Fire Dept. to acquire and operate an ambulance
1967 - City Council gave the fire dept's ambulance to Garden City as part of a City contract
1969 - Capital City Ambulance was operating
1972 - John Knezacky discontinued Garden City Ambulance
1972 - City of Victoria purchased a Ford van ambulance which operated from St. Joseph's Hospital
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Waglisla
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Wells
- 1998 - Wells Ambulance Service
- West Summerland
- 1947 - Summerland Funeral Home
- West Vancouver
- West Vancouver Fire Dept. had a 1974 Ford van ambulance
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Westbank
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Whalley
- 1953 - Associated Ambulance Whalley
- Whistler
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- White Rock
- 1947 - Reg Taylor began an ambulance service
1952 - Dudley Evans of Chapel Hill Funeral Parlour took over
1958 to 1974 - Al Gordon owned White Rock's ambulance service
- Williams Lake
- 1965 to 1974 - Gregory's Williams Lake Funeral Home provided ambulance service
1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Winfield
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Winlaw
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
- Zeballos
- 1998 - BC Ambulance Service
