List of cities in British Columbia

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Map of British Columbia with its notable cities

A city is a classification of municipalities used in the Canadian province of British Columbia. British Columbia's Lieutenant Governor in Council may incorporate a community as a city by letters patent, under the recommendation of the Minister of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development, if its population is greater than 5,000 and the outcome of a vote involving affected residents was that greater than 50% voted in favour of the proposed incorporation.[1]

British Columbia has 52 cities[2][3][4] that had a cumulative population of 3,327,824 and an average population of 63,997 in the 2016 census.[5] British Columbia's largest and smallest cities are Vancouver and Greenwood with populations of 631,486 and 665 respectively.[5] The largest city by land area is Abbotsford, which spans 375.55 km2 (145.00 sq mi), while the smallest is Duncan, at 2.07 km2 (0.80 sq mi).[5]

The first community to incorporate as a city was New Westminster on July 16, 1860,[2] while the province's newest city is Mission, which was redesignated from a district municipality to a city on March 29, 2021.[6]

List[edit]

Name Corporate name[2] Regional district[2] Incorporation date[2] Population (2021)[7] Population (2016)[5] Change (%)[5] Area (km2)[5] Population density[5]
Abbotsford Abbotsford, City of Fraser Valley December 12, 1995 153,524 141,397 8.6 375.33 409.0
Armstrong Armstrong, City of North Okanagan March 31, 1913 5,323 5,114 4.1 5.22 1020.0
Burnaby Burnaby, City of Metro Vancouver September 22, 1892 249,125 232,755 7.0 90.57 2750.7
Campbell River Campbell River, City of Strathcona June 24, 1947 35,519 32,588 7.6 144.38 246.0
Castlegar Castlegar, City of Central Kootenay January 1, 1974 8,338 8,039 3.7 19.67 419.6
Chilliwack Chilliwack, City of Fraser Valley April 26, 1873 93,203 83,788 11.2 261.34 356.6
Colwood Colwood, City of Capital June 24, 1985 18,961 16,859 12.5 17.66 1073.6
Coquitlam Coquitlam, City of Metro Vancouver July 25, 1891 148,625 139,284 6.7 122.15 1216.7
Courtenay Courtenay, The Corporation of the City of Comox Valley January 1, 1915 28,420 25,599 10.8 32.42 876.7
Cranbrook Cranbrook, The Corporation of the City of East Kootenay November 1, 1905 20,499 20,047 2.3 31.97 641.2
Dawson Creek Dawson Creek, The Corporation of the City of Peace River May 26, 1936 12,323 12,178 1.2 26.72 461.1
Delta Delta, City of Metro Vancouver September 22, 2017[4] 108,455 102,238 6.1 179.66 603.7
Duncan Duncan, The Corporation of the City of Cowichan Valley March 4, 1912 5,047 4,944 2.1 2.06 2444.5
Enderby Enderby, The Corporation of the City of North Okanagan March 1, 1905 3,028 2,964 2.2 4.26 710.4
Fernie Fernie, The Corporation of the City of East Kootenay July 28, 1904 6,320 5,249 17.1 15.11 418.3
Fort St. John Fort St. John, City of Peace River December 31, 1947 21,465 20,155 5.9 32.67 656.9
Grand Forks Grand Forks, The Corporation of the City of Kootenay Boundary April 15, 1897 4,112 4,049 1.6 10.37 396.4
Greenwood Greenwood, The Corporation of the City of Kootenay Boundary July 12, 1897 702 665 5.6 2.42 290.2
Kamloops Kamloops, City of Thompson-Nicola October 17, 1967 97,902 90,280 8.4 297.93 328.6
Kelowna Kelowna, City of Central Okanagan May 4, 1905 144,576 127,380 13.5 211.85 682.4
Kimberley Kimberley, City of East Kootenay March 29, 1944 8,115 7,425 9.3 60.51 134.1
Langford Langford, City of Capital December 8, 1992 46,584 35,342 31.8 41.43 1124.4
Langley Langley, City of Metro Vancouver March 15, 1955 28,963 25,888 11.9 10.18 2845.2
Maple Ridge Maple Ridge, City of Metro Vancouver September 12, 2014[8] 90,990 82,256 10.6 267.82 339.7
Merritt Merritt, City of Thompson-Nicola April 1, 1911 7,051 7,139 -1.2 26.04 270.7
Mission Mission, City of Fraser Valley March 29, 2021[6] 41,519 38,833 7.7 226.98 182.9
Nanaimo Nanaimo, City of Nanaimo December 24, 1874 99,863 90,504 10.3 90.45 1104.1
Nelson Nelson, The Corporation of the City of Central Kootenay March 18, 1897 11,106 10,572 5.1 11.93 930.6
New Westminster New Westminster, The Corporation of the City of Metro Vancouver July 16, 1860 78,916 70,996 11.2 15.62 5052.4
North Vancouver North Vancouver, The Corporation of the City of Metro Vancouver August 10, 1891 58,120 52,898 9.9 11.83 4913.0
Parksville Parksville, City of Nanaimo June 19, 1945 13,642 12,514 9.5 14.52 939.5
Penticton Penticton, The Corporation of the City of Okanagan-Similkameen January 1, 1909 36,885 33,761 9.3 44.03 857.3
Pitt Meadows Pitt Meadows, City of Metro Vancouver April 25, 1914 19,146 18,573 3.1 86.34 221.7
Port Alberni Port Alberni, City of Alberni-Clayoquot October 28, 1967 18,259 17,678 3.3 19.66 928.9
Port Coquitlam Port Coquitlam, The Corporation of the City of Metro Vancouver March 7, 1913 61,498 58,612 4.9 29.16 2108.7
Port Moody Port Moody, City of Metro Vancouver March 11, 1913 33,535 33,551 0.0 25.85 1297.3
Powell River Powell River, The Corporation of the City of Powell River October 15, 1955 13,943 13,157 6.0 28.91 482.4
Prince George Prince George, City of Fraser-Fort George March 6, 1915 76,708 74,003 3.7 316.74 242.2
Prince Rupert Prince Rupert, City of North Coast March 10, 1910 12,300 12,220 0.7 66.00 186.4
Quesnel Quesnel, City of Cariboo March 21, 1928 9,889 9,879 0.1 35.35 279.8
Revelstoke Revelstoke, City of Columbia Shuswap March 1, 1899 8,275 7,547 9.4 41.28 200.5
Richmond Richmond, City of Metro Vancouver November 10, 1879 209,937 198,309 5.9 128.87 1629.0
Rossland Rossland, The Corporation of the City of Kootenay Boundary March 18, 1897 4,140 3,729 11.0 59.72 69.3
Salmon Arm Salmon Arm, City of Columbia Shuswap May 15, 1905 19,432 17,706 9.7 155.19 125.2
Surrey Surrey, City of Metro Vancouver November 10, 1879 568,322 517,887 9.7 316.11 1797.9
Terrace Terrace, City of Kitimat–Stikine December 31, 1927 12,017 11,643 3.2 57.33 209.6
Trail Trail, City of Kootenay Boundary June 14, 1901 7,920 7,709 2.7 34.90 226.9
Vancouver[a] Vancouver, City of Metro Vancouver April 6, 1886 662,248 631,486 4.9 115.18 5749.9
Vernon Vernon, The Corporation of the City of North Okanagan December 30, 1892 44,519 40,116 11.0 96.43 461.7
Victoria[b] Victoria, The Corporation of the City of Capital August 2, 1862 91,867 85,792 7.1 19.45 4722.3
West Kelowna West Kelowna, City of Central Okanagan June 26, 2015[3] 36,078 32,655 10.5 122.09 295.5
White Rock White Rock, The Corporation of the City of Metro Vancouver April 15, 1957 21,939 19,952 10.0 5.17 4240.6
Williams Lake Williams Lake, City of Cariboo March 15, 1929 10,947 10,753 1.8 33.12 330.5
Total cities — — — 3,327,824 3,133,081 4.5 4263.15 1081.81

Notes:

  1. ^ Vancouver is Canada's eighth-largest city and British Columbia's largest city by population. The Vancouver CMA includes the cities of Burnaby, Coquitlam, Delta, Langley, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, Surrey, Vancouver and White Rock.
  2. ^ Victoria is British Columbia's capital. The Victoria CMA includes the cities of Colwood, Langford and Victoria.

Former cities[edit]

Kaslo held city status between 1893 and 1959,[9] having been the first incorporated city in the Kootenay region. It was reincorporated to village status in 1959.[10] Sandon held city status between 1898 and 1920.[11] Phoenix held city status between 1900 and 1919.[12]

City status eligibility[edit]

As of the 2021 census, nine towns – Comox, Creston, Ladysmith, Oliver, Osoyoos, Qualicum Beach, Sidney, Smithers and View Royal – meet the requirement of having populations greater than 5,000 to incorporate as a city. Also, 21 district municipalities meet the minimum population requirements to incorporate as a city.

Gallery[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Local Government Act: Part 2 — Incorporation of Municipalities". Government of British Columbia Queen's Printer. November 12, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e "British Columbia Regional Districts, Municipalities, Corporate Name, Date of Incorporation and Postal Address". British Columbia Ministry of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development. Archived from the original (XLS) on July 13, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Order in Council No. 357". Province of British Columbia. June 26, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Order in Council No. 362". Province of British Columbia. September 22, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2016 and 2011 censuses (British Columbia)". Statistics Canada. February 20, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Order in Council 0187-2021". March 29, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  7. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population, 2021 census (British Columbia)". Statistics Canada. October 30, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  8. ^ "Order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council: Order in Council No. 513" (PDF). Province of British Columbia. September 9, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
  9. ^ "City of Kaslo Fonds - The British Columbia Archival Information Network". MemoryBC. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  10. ^ "Kaslo". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  11. ^ "From Boom to Bust in 20 Years: Sandon's History as an Incorporated City". Sandon Museum. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  12. ^ "Name Details: Phoenix (Abandoned Locality)". GeoBC. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
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