Sebelum kedatangan Kapten James Cook di akhir 1700-an, daerah Victoria adalah rumah bagi beberapa komuniti [Pantai [Salish]] orang, termasuk Songhees. Sepanyol dan British mengambil eksplorasi dari pantai barat laut Amerika Utara bermula dengan lawatan Juan Perez pada tahun 1774 dan Kapten James Cook pada tahun 1778 walaupun Victoria daerah Selat Juan de Fuca tidak menembusi sampai 1790. pelaut Sepanyol melawat Esquimalt Harbour (hanya barat Victoria tepat) pada tahun 1790, 1791, dan 1792.

Pada tahun 1841 James Douglas didakwa dengan tugas mendirikan sebuah pos perdagangan di hujung selatan Pulau Vancouver, atas cadangan oleh Sir George Simpson bahawa posting lebih utara baru akan dibina dalam hal Fort Vancouver jatuh ke tangan Amerika (lihat Oregon pertikaian sempadan). Douglas mendirikan Fort Victoria, di laman masa kini Victoria, British Columbia dalam menjangka hasil Perjanjian Oregon pada tahun 1846, memanjangkan Inggeris Amerika Utara / Amerika Syarikat sempadan sepanjang selari ke-49 dari Rockies ke Selat Georgia.[3]]]

With the discovery of gold on the British Columbia mainland in 1858, Victoria became the port, supply base, and outfitting centre for miners on their way to the Fraser Canyon gold fields, mushrooming from a population of 300 to over 5000 literally within a few days. Victoria was incorporated as a city in 1862. In 1865, Esquimalt was made the North Pacific home of the Royal Navy, and remains Canada's west coast naval base. In 1866 when the island was politically united with the mainland, Victoria was designated the capital of the new united colony instead of New Westminster - an unpopular move on the Mainland - and became the provincial capital when British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation in 1871. Memoirs still in print of those early days include those by painter Emily Carr.

In 1886, with the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway terminus on Burrard Inlet, Victoria's position as the commercial centre of British Columbia was irrevocably lost to the City of Vancouver. The city subsequently began cultivating an image of genteel civility within its natural setting, an image aided by the impressions of visitors such as Rudyard Kipling, the opening of the popular Butchart Gardens in 1904 and the construction of the Empress Hotel by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1908. Robert Dunsmuir, a leading industrialist whose interests included coal mines and a railway on Vancouver Island, constructed Craigdarroch Castle in the Rockland area, near the official residence of the province's lieutenant-governor. His son James Dunsmuir became premier and subsequently lieutenant-governor of the province and built his own grand residence at Hatley Park (used for several decades as Royal Roads Military College, now civilian Royal Roads University) in the present City of Colwood.

A real estate and development boom ended just before World War I, leaving Victoria with a large stock of Edwardian public, commercial and residential structures that have greatly contributed to the City's character. A number of municipalities surrounding Victoria were incorporated during this period, including the Township of Esquimalt, the District of Oak Bay, and several municipalities on the Saanich Peninsula. Since World War II the Victoria area has seen relatively steady growth, becoming home to two major universities. Since the 1980s the western suburbs have been incorporated as new municipalities, such as Colwood and Langford, which are known collectively as the Western Communities.

Greater Victoria periodically experiences calls for the amalgamation of the thirteen municipal governments within the Capital Regional District.[4] The opponents of amalgamation state that separate governance affords residents a greater deal of local autonomy. The proponents of amalgamation argue that it would reduce duplication of services, while allowing for more efficient use of resources and the ability to better handle broad, regional issues and long-term planning.[petikan diperlukan]