CFB Esquimalt (Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt)

Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt is the Royal Canadian Navy's Pacific Coast naval base and the home port of Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters. It lies at the southern tip of Vancouver Island on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in the municipality of Esquimalt, British Columbia, adjacent to the western limit of Victoria. The base occupies roughly 41 km2. As of 2018 it employed 4,411 military personnel and 2,762 civilians.

The base services the ships of Canadian Fleet Pacific, homeporting Halifax-class frigates, Harry DeWolf-class offshore patrol vessels and Victoria-class patrol submarines, together with Orca-class patrol craft training tenders and auxiliary vessels including Glen-class and Ville-class tugs and a Fire-class fireboat. Resident units include the Naval Security Team, the Fleet Diving Unit (Pacific), 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron operating the CH-148 Cyclone, the Acoustic Data Analysis Centre, the Naval Provost Marshal (Pacific), Canadian Forces Health Services Centre (Pacific), 11 Service Battalion, the 4th Canadian Rangers Patrol Group, the 5th (British Columbia) Field Artillery Regiment, RCA, and The Canadian Scottish Regiment. Training organisations comprise the Naval Officer Training Centre Venture, the Fire Fighting and Damage Control School, Campus Pacific and the Regional Cadet Support Unit (Pacific).

Principal facilities are His Majesty's Canadian Dockyard Esquimalt, which houses the dry dock and the Royal Canadian Navy's Pacific headquarters, Naden, Work Point Barracks, and Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton, whose new buildings were completed in 2020. Housing amounts to 716 married quarters across nine sites, among them Belmont Park, Work Point and Royal Roads. Outlying properties under the base include the Albert Head training area at Metchosin, which supports the British Columbia Patrol Company of the 4th Canadian Rangers Patrol Group, Naval Tactical Operations Group training facilities and a cadet training centre; the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental Test Range at Nanoose Bay, used for non-explosive testing of sonobuoys, torpedoes and other equipment; Canadian Forces Ammunition Depot Rocky Point, which stores ammunition for Maritime Forces Pacific and maintains missiles and torpedoes; and Naval Radio Section Aldergrove in the Fraser Valley, holding transmitting and receiving equipment for long-distance communications. A base fire hall and emergency response centre serves the installation and the surrounding community.

The site has been in naval use since 1860. The dockyard and dry dock originate with the Royal Navy's Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard, established in 1842, which served as the Royal Navy's Pacific Station until 1911 before passing to Canadian control.