Ellison.

How Ellison took shape

Ellison is a rural farming district northeast of Kelowna named for rancher and cabinet minister Price Ellison. It had its own post office from 1912 to 1920, and in 1946 Kelowna bought the 320 acre Dickson Ranch here for its airport. Much of Ellison sits outside city limits in the regional district.

Ellison is dry grassland and pine savannah laced by Scotty, Whelan and Mill creeks, on the valley floor and benches northeast of Kelowna. Its name honours Price Ellison, who arrived in the Okanagan in 1876, built up cattle and fruit holdings, and served as MLA from 1898 to 1916, including as Minister of Finance and Agriculture. The provincial names office records that he once owned or controlled 80 per cent of the property in the area. A local post office called Ellison opened on May 1, 1912, and closed in 1920. Irrigation made orchards possible across the Glenmore and Ellison valleys, and the district that grew from that work, now the Glenmore Ellison Improvement District, marked 100 years of its letters patent in 2021. The biggest change came in 1946, when Kelowna voters approved buying the 320 acre Dickson Ranch in Ellison for $20,000.

The first flight left Ellison Field in the fall of 1947, and a grass strip opened in 1949. That field grew into Kelowna International Airport. Ellison stayed rural. Unlike Rutland and Glenmore, which joined Kelowna in 1973, much of Ellison is still unincorporated, and today it is one of the two largest communities in the Regional District's Central Okanagan East electoral area, guided by its own OCP. The old CN rail line through the area became the Okanagan Rail Trail, which opened in 2018. Water service is also changing: the City began absorbing the Glenmore Ellison Improvement District in January 2025.

1. 1912Ellison Post Office opens on May 1 (closed May 15, 1920). Source
2. 1946Kelowna voters approve buying the 320 acre Dickson Ranch in Ellison for $20,000 for an airport. Source
3. 1947First flight departs Ellison Field. Source
4. 1955The name Ellison is formally adopted by the provincial names office. Source
5. 2018The Okanagan Rail Trail opens on the former CN line, including the Kelowna section to Old Vernon Road. Source

The homes & their setting

Mostly acreages, hobby farms, horse properties and rural ranchers on large parcels, set among orchards, vineyards and hay fields. Nearly all freehold. There is little subdivision housing because the area has stayed rural.

Building age, tenure, amenities and permitted uses vary by address. Explore the actual property documents with Elaine and the appropriate specialists.

Places with a story

• Ellison Field (Kelowna International Airport) — Began as the Dickson Ranch, bought by Kelowna voters in 1946; first flight in 1947. History source
• Okanagan Rail Trail — Follows the former CN line that carried valley fruit and lumber; rail service ended in 2013 and the trail opened in 2018. History source