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]
Name | Corporate name [2] | Regional district [2] | Incorporation date [2] | Population (2021) [7] | Population (2016) [5] | Change (%) [5] | Area (km2) [5] | Population density [5] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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|Metro Vancouver | March 15, 1955 | 28,963 | 25,888 | 11.9 | 10.18 | 2845.2 |
Maple Ridge | Maple Ridge, City of | Metro Vancouver|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|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|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|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|Metro Vancouver | March 7, 1913 | 61,498 | 58,612 | 4.9 | 29.16 | 2108.7 |
Port Moody | Port Moody, City of | Metro Vancouver|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|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|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 [lower-alpha 1] | Vancouver, City of | Metro Vancouver|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 [lower-alpha 2] | 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|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:
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]
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.
Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard Inlet with its Indian Arm to the north, Port Moody and Coquitlam to the east, New Westminster and Surrey across the Fraser River to the southeast, and Richmond on the Lulu Island to the southwest.
Abbotsford is a city located in British Columbia, next to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver and the Fraser River. With a census population of 153,569 people (2021), it is the largest municipality in the province outside metropolitan Vancouver. Abbotsford–Mission has the third-highest proportion of visible minorities among census metropolitan areas in Canada, after the Greater Toronto Area and the Greater Vancouver CMA. It is home to Tradex, the University of the Fraser Valley, and Abbotsford International Airport.
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Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term "Greater Vancouver" describes an area that is roughly coterminous with the region governed by the Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), though it predates the 1966 creation of the regional district. It is often used to include areas beyond the boundaries of the regional district but does not generally include wilderness and agricultural areas that are included within the MVRD.
The demographics of Metro Vancouver indicate a multicultural and multiracial region. Metro Vancouver is a metropolitan area, with its major urban centre being Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Vancouver census metropolitan area, as defined by Statistics Canada, encompasses roughly the same territory as the Metro Vancouver Regional District, a regional district in British Columbia. The regional district includes 23 local authorities. Figures provided here are for the Vancouver census metropolitan area and not for the City of Vancouver.
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