Overview
- Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards 2026, based on over 207,000 readers and more than 661,000 votes, ranked Vancouver Island as Canada’s top island.
- Cape Breton Island placed second and Prince Edward Island placed third in the magazine’s Canadian island standings.
- The Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino was named Canada’s top resort and the Fairmont Empress in Victoria led the list of city hotels, highlighting British Columbia’s strong showing.
- Readers praised features such as Chesterman’s Beach, Long Beach and Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, and cited whale watching, temperate rainforests and rugged coastline as reasons for the island’s appeal.
- The result continues a shift that began in 2024 when Vancouver Island displaced long-time leader Cape Breton and is likely to boost tourism marketing and visitor interest across Vancouver Island and B.C.