A district municipality 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 district municipality by letters patent, under the recommendation of the Minister of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development, if the area is greater than 800 ha (2,000 acres) and has a population density of less than 5 people per hectare, and at least 50% of the affected residents vote in favour of the proposed incorporation. [1]
British Columbia has 50 district municipalities [2] [3] [4] , with a cumulative population of 746,125 and an average population of 14,923 in the 2011 Census. [5] British Columbia's largest and smallest district municipalities are Saanich and Wells with populations of 109,752 and 245 respectively. [5]
Of British Columbia's 50 district municipalities, the first to incorporate as a district municipality was North Cowichan on June 18, 1873, while the most recent community to incorporate as a district municipality was the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM) on February 6, 2009. [2] [3] Although portrayed as a regional municipality in its name, the NRRM is classified as a district municipality. [3]
District municipality | Corporate name [2] | Regional district [2] | Incorporation date [2] | Population (2011) [5] | Population (2006) [5] | Change (%) [5] | Area (km²) [5] | Population density [5] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Barriere | Barriere, District of | Thompson-Nicola | December 4, 2007 | 1,773 | 1,432 | 23.8 | 10.77 | 164.7 |
Central Saanich | Central Saanich, The Corporation of the District of | Capital | December 12, 1950 | 15,936 | 15,745 | 1.2 | 41.33 | 385.6 |
Chetwynd | Chetwynd, District of | Peace River | September 25, 1962 | 2,635 | 2,633 | 0.1 | 63.04 | 41.8 |
Clearwater | Clearwater, District of | Thompson-Nicola | December 3, 2007 | 2,331 | 2,225 | 4.8 | 55.68 | 41.9 |
Coldstream | Coldstream, The Corporation of the District of | North Okanagan | December 21, 1906 | 10,314 | 9,471 | 8.9 | 66.28 | 155.6 |
Elkford | Elkford, District of | East Kootenay | July 16, 1971 | 2,523 | 2,463 | 2.4 | 108.42 | 23.3 |
Esquimalt | Esquimalt, Corporation of the Township of | Capital | September 1, 1912 | 16,209 | 16,840 | −3.7 | 7.08 | 2,290.1 |
Fort St. James | Fort St. James, District of | Bulkley-Nechako | December 19, 1952 | 1,691 | 1,350 | 25.3 | 23.47 | 72.0 |
Highlands | Highlands, District of | Capital | December 7, 1993 | 2,120 | 1,903 | 11.4 | 38.05 | 55.7 |
Hope | Hope, District of | Fraser Valley | April 6, 1929 | 5,969 | 6,185 | −3.5 | 41.14 | 145.1 |
Houston | Houston, District of | Bulkley-Nechako | March 4, 1957 | 3,147 | 3,163 | −0.5 | 72.94 | 43.1 |
Hudson's Hope | Hudson's Hope, District of | Peace River | November 16, 1965 | 970 | 1,012 | −4.2 | 827.36 | 1.2 |
Invermere | Invermere, District of | East Kootenay | May 22, 1951 | 2,955 | 3,002 | −1.6 | 10.73 | 275.3 |
Kent | Kent, The Corporation of the District of | Fraser Valley | January 1, 1895 | 5,664 | 4,738 | 19.5 | 168.39 | 33.6 |
Kitimat | Kitimat, District of | Kitimat-Stikine | March 31, 1953 | 8,335 | 8,987 | −7.3 | 240.01 | 34.7 |
Lake Country | Lake Country, District of | Central Okanagan | May 2, 1995 | 11,708 | 9,606 | 21.9 | 122.19 | 95.8 |
Langley | Langley, The Corporation of the Township of | Greater Vancouver | April 26, 1873 | 104,177 | 93,726 | 11.2 | 308.03 | 338.2 |
Lantzville | Lantzville, District of | Nanaimo | June 25, 2003 | 3,601 | 3,661 | −1.6 | 27.66 | 130.2 |
Lillooet | Lillooet, District of | Squamish-Lillooet | December 31, 1946 | 2,321 [6] | 2,324 | −0.1 | 27.51 | 84.4 |
Logan Lake | Logan Lake, District of | Thompson-Nicola | November 10, 1970 | 2,073 | 2,162 | −4.1 | 325.33 | 6.4 |
Mackenzie | Mackenzie, District of | Fraser-Fort George | May 19, 1966 | 3,507 | 4,539 | −22.7 | 155.41 | 22.6 |
Metchosin | Metchosin, District of | Capital | December 3, 1984 | 4,803 | 4,795 | 0.2 | 71.09 | 67.6 |
New Hazelton | New Hazelton, District of | Kitimat-Stikine | December 15, 1980 | 666 | 627 | 6.2 | 24.36 | 27.3 |
North Cowichan | North Cowichan, The Corporation of the District of | Cowichan Valley | June 18, 1873 | 28,807 | 27,557 | 4.5 | 195.54 | 147.3 |
North Saanich | North Saanich, District of | Capital | August 19, 1965 | 11,089 | 10,823 | 2.5 | 37.25 | 297.7 |
North Vancouver | North Vancouver, The Corporation of the District of | Greater Vancouver | May 13, 1907 | 84,412 | 82,562 | 2.2 | 160.76 | 525.1 |
Northern Rockies [3] | Northern Rockies Regional Municipality | Northern Rockies | February 6, 2009 | 5,290 [6] | 5,702 | −7.2 | 85,014.52 | 0.1 |
Oak Bay | Oak Bay, The Corporation of the District of | Capital | July 2, 1906 | 18,015 | 17,908 | 0.6 | 10.53 | 1,710.3 |
Peachland | Peachland, The Corporation of the District of | Central Okanagan | January 1, 1909 | 5,200 | 4,883 | 6.5 | 15.75 | 330.2 |
Port Edward | Port Edward, District of | Skeena-Queen Charlotte | June 29, 1966 | 544 | 577 | −5.7 | 168.01 | 3.2 |
Port Hardy | Port Hardy, District of | Mount Waddington | May 5, 1966 | 4,008 | 3,822 | 4.9 | 38.73 | 103.5 |
Saanich | Saanich, The Corporation of the District of | Capital | March 1, 1906 | 109,752 | 108,265 | 1.4 | 103.78 | 1,057.6 |
Sechelt | Sechelt, District of | Sunshine Coast | February 15, 1956 | 9,291 | 8,454 | 9.9 | 39.01 | 238.2 |
Sicamous | Sicamous, District of | Columbia Shuswap | December 4, 1989 | 2,441 | 2,676 | −8.8 | 12.71 | 192.0 |
Sooke | Sooke, District of | Capital | December 7, 1999 | 11,435 | 9,699 | 17.9 | 56.72 | 201.6 |
Spallumcheen | Spallumcheen, The Corporation of the Township of | North Okanagan | July 21, 1892 | 5,055 | 4,960 | 1.9 | 255.77 | 19.8 |
Sparwood | Sparwood, District of | East Kootenay | October 6, 1964 | 3,667 | 3,618 | 1.4 | 191.01 | 19.2 |
Squamish | Squamish, District of | Squamish-Lillooet | May 18, 1948 | 17,158 | 14,949 | 14.8 | 104.88 | 163.6 |
Stewart | Stewart, District of | Kitimat-Stikine | May 16, 1930 | 494 | 496 | −0.4 | 552.08 | 0.9 |
Summerland | Summerland, The Corporation of the District of | Okanagan-Similkameen | December 21, 1906 | 11,280 | 10,828 | 4.2 | 74.06 | 152.3 |
Taylor | Taylor, District of | Peace River | August 23, 1958 | 1,373 | 1,384 | −0.8 | 17.09 | 80.4 |
Tofino | Tofino, District of | Alberni-Clayoquot | February 5, 1932 | 1,876 | 1,655 | 13.4 | 10.53 | 178.2 |
Tumbler Ridge [lower-alpha 1] | Tumbler Ridge, District of | Peace River | April 9, 1981 | 2,710 | 2,454 | 10.4 | 1,558.97 | 1.7 |
Ucluelet | Ucluelet, District of | Alberni-Clayoquot | February 26, 1952 | 1,627 | 1,487 | 9.4 | 6.81 | 238.9 |
Vanderhoof | Vanderhoof, District of | Bulkley-Nechako | January 22, 1926 | 4,480 | 4,064 | 10.2 | 54.83 | 81.7 |
Wells [lower-alpha 2] | Wells, District of | Cariboo | June 29, 1998 | 245 | 236 | 3.8 | 158.28 | 1.5 |
West Vancouver | West Vancouver, The Corporation of the District of | Greater Vancouver | March 15, 1912 | 42,694 | 42,131 | 1.3 | 87.26 | 489.3 |
Total district municipalities | — | — | — | 777,017 | 743,030 | 4.6 | 92,425.88 | 8.4 |
Notes:
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The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass is a specialized municipality in southwest Alberta, Canada. Within the Rocky Mountains adjacent to the eponymous Crowsnest Pass, the municipality formed as a result of the 1979 amalgamation of five municipalities – the Village of Bellevue, the Town of Blairmore, the Town of Coleman, the Village of Frank, and Improvement District No. 5, which included the Hamlet of Hillcrest and numerous other unincorporated communities.
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Chetwynd is a district municipality located in the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Situated on an ancient floodplain, it is the first town eastbound travellers encounter after emerging from the Rockies along Highway 97, and acts as the gateway to the Peace River Country. The town developed during the construction of infrastructure through the Rocky Mountains in the 1950s; additionally, it was used as a transshipment point during the building of hydroelectric dams, in the 1960s and 1970s, and the new town of Tumbler Ridge, in the early 1980s. Home to approximately 2,600 residents, the town’s population has increased little—if at all—since the 1980s, but is significantly younger than the provincial average.
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Jumbo Glacier, also known as Jumbo, was a mountain resort municipality within the Regional District of East Kootenay in southeast British Columbia, Canada between 2013 and 2021. It was approximately 55 km (34 mi) west of Invermere near the Commander Glacier and around the headwaters of Jumbo Creek in the Purcell Range of the Columbia Mountains.
Canada has a total of 3,573 municipalities among its 10 provinces and 3 territories that are subject to some form of local government.
The class of the municipality is a district municipality.