Maple Ridge was incorporated as a district municipality on September 12, 1874.[4] It covered an area of 33,000 acres (130km2) yet was home to only approximately 50 families. Maple Ridge is British Columbia's fifth-oldest municipality (after New Westminster, Victoria, Langley, and Chilliwack). From the creation of British Columbia's regional districts in 1965 until the expansion of Metro Vancouver in 1995, it was part of the now-defunct Dewdney-Alouette Regional District with the City of Pitt Meadows and District of Mission and other north-side communities east to Chehalis. Maple Ridge has been part of Metro Vancouver since 1995.
On March 26, 2014, Maple Ridge residents voted to change the community's status from district municipality to city. Subsequently, Maple Ridge Council submitted its request for status change to the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development.[5] The status change became official on September 12, 2014,[1] which coincided with Maple Ridge's 140th anniversary of municipal incorporation.[4]
Geography
Communities
Maple Ridge is made up of several different historical areas, including:
Some of these areas are identified with a cultural group. For instance, Albion and Webster's Corners are represented by the many Finnish families that settled in the area. Port Hammond is known for its small cottage-like mill houses originally built by the local mill to house its workers, Ruskin is the location of a community hall of the Sons of Norway, although the area was founded by English followers of John Ruskin, and Kanaka Creek originally was a community for Kanaka employees of Fort Langley.
Port Haney, located adjacent to the Fraser River to the southwest of downtown Haney, and the site of the West Coast Express commuter rail station, is a heritage district created to protect some of the remaining buildings from earlier times. In addition to buildings already on-site when this was the steamboat landing as well as the CPR station, other heritage buildings from around the City of Maple Ridge were relocated to Port Haney to preserve them and enhance the heritage flavour of the location.[6]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Maple Ridge had a population of 90,990 living in 33,103 of its 34,254 total private dwellings, a change of 10.6% from its 2016 population of 82,256. With a land area of 267.82km2 (103.41sqmi), it had a population density of 339.7/km2 (879.9/sqmi) in 2021.[2]
Ethnicity
Panethnic groups in the City of Maple Ridge (2001−2021)
78.5% of residents spoke English as their mother tongue in 2021. The next most common first languages were Chinese languages (2.5%), Punjabi (1.5%), Tagalog (1.5%), Persian (1.5%), Spanish (1.2%), Korean (1.1%), French (1.0%). 2.2% of residents listed both English and a non-official language as mother tongues.
Economy
Early settlers in Maple Ridge engaged in forestry and agriculture. Forestry companies continue to be the largest private-sector employers in the district. They include Interfor and companies that manufacture building materials, yachts and poles.
Maple Ridge hosted the only North American high-volume manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries, E-One Moli Energy.[13] However, the factory suffered major layoffs due to the 2008 recession and now only hosts a small product testing team.
The city of Maple Ridge has become a popular location for feature films and television series. The Ridge Film Studios is located downtown, in an old retail space, and serves as a set location for episodic television programs. Maple Ridge's film roots go back to the 1970s, when scenes for the feature film Rambo were shot here. Over time the city has been a background for a number of films and television series, including The X-Files, Bordertown, Smallville, Bird on a Wire, We're No Angels, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and Stargate SG-1. In recent months the old Bordertown set was featured in an episode of the WB series Legends of Tomorrow.
The city is currently working to zone new commercial and industrial lands in order to expand local employment opportunities.
Arts and culture
Venues for performing arts in Maple Ridge include the Arts Centre and Theatre (ACT), the bandstand in Memorial Peace Park, and various theatres in local secondary schools.
The ACT contains a main stage theatre capable of seating 486 for musical and dramatic performances as well as a studio theatre used for other performances, classes and special events. The ACT is also home to a conference room and smaller classrooms for activities such as pottery and painting. The ACT is a non-profit public resource. The Maple Ridge Art Gallery is also located in the ACT, focusing on local artists and art students.
Maple Ridge also has several festivals and annual parades, including the Santa Claus Parade & Christmas in the Park, Earth Day celebrations in Memorial Peace Park, Canada Day in Memorial Peace Park, GETI Fest in Memorial Peace Park, AdStock Music Festival in Memorial Peace Park, Aboriginal Day celebrations in Memorial Peace Park, The Celebrate the Night Halloween & Fireworks event at Memorial Peace Park, the Caribbean Festival at the Albion Fairgrounds and one of the longest running agricultural fairs in BC, Country Fest at the fairgrounds.
Maple Ridge offers one of the largest Remembrance Day celebrations in the Lower Mainland each November 11 at Memorial Peace Park. The event is hosted by the Royal Canadian legion Branch No. 88 and boasts annual attendance of over 2,000 local residents for the parade of veterans and first responders and moving Cenotaph ceremony.
The Haney Farmers market runs every Saturday from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm starting in May through to October at Memorial Peace Park
Maple Ridge is the home of the Maple Ridge Concert Band, a community concert band that has been in existence for over 50 years.[14]
Maple Ridge is governed at the municipal level by a seven-member council made up of six councillors and a mayor. Five of the seven school trustees elected to the School District 42 Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Board of Education are chosen by Maple Ridge voters. School trustees, councillors and the mayor are elected on the same ballot for four-year terms. In addition, residents of Maple Ridge vote for representatives to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and the House of Commons of Canada.
Dan Ruimy is the current mayor of Maple Ridge. He was first elected mayor on October 15, 2022. Previous mayors include Gordon Robson, Kathy Morse, Al Hogarth, Bill Hartley, Belle Morse, Carl Durkson, Ernie Daykin, Nicole Read, and Mike Morden. The next Municipal Election will be held in the fall of 2026.
Maple Ridge has two constituencies in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. In the 2017 BC Provincial Election, the British Columbia New Democratic Party won both of Maple Ridge's seats. NDP MLA Bob D'Eith holds the Maple Ridge-Mission constituency while MLA Lisa Beare represents the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows constituency.
Translink provides public transit services to Maple Ridge, via buses and the West Coast Express. Haney Place Exchange is the main bus exchange, with every bus line in Maple Ridge stopping here at some point along its route.[17]
The Pitt Meadows Regional Airport is the only Fraser Valley airport (other than water airports) located on the Fraser River's north side. It is located 2.5km (1.6mi) east of the confluence of the Pitt and Fraser rivers, and serves the area north of the Fraser River from Mission up to and including Vancouver.
Education
Public schools are administered by School District 42 Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows. The school district serves residents of Maple Ridge and neighbouring Pitt Meadows, along with students transferred in from other British Columbia school districts. The district also accepts international students.
The school district operates eighteen elementary schools, five secondary schools, an adult learning centre, a community college, and several other educational facilities in Maple Ridge.[18]
Several of the five public secondary schools have specialized in certain areas and/or started academy programs to attract more students.
Thomas Haney Secondary School operates on a self-directed learning system that is designed to allow students to plot their own paths toward fulfilling ministry learning outcomes. The school also operates an equestrian academy for all abilities as well as music, theatre and athletic programs.
Samuel Robertson Technical Secondary School, opened in 2005, was designed to allow students to experience various technologies as well as their traditional education. The school offers various trades programs in partnership with local trade schools and colleges.
Several of the elementary schools also offer non-traditional systems. These include Kanaka Creek Elementary, which operates a year-round schooling system, exchanging a long summer break for shorter breaks throughout the year; and Alouette Elementary School, which operates a cyberschool program, enabling some students to work from home on a computer on certain days.
Several private schools are located in Maple Ridge. These include: Meadowridge School, a JK-12 independent non-denominational school; James Cameron School, a school for children in Grades 2–7 with learning disabilities; St. Patrick's, a Catholic school, and Maple Ridge Christian School which is K-12. These are not operated by the school district, but must still meet the British Columbia Ministry of Education standards.
Post-secondary education in Maple Ridge is available through:
BCIT, which offers courses as part of the BCIT School of Business Entrepreneurship Associate Certificate Program;[19]
Douglas College, which has a campus in Thomas Haney Secondary School[20] and also offers courses at the Ridge Meadows Maternity Clinic;[21] and
↑ Statistic includes all persons that did not make up part of a visible minority or an indigenous identity.
↑ Statistic includes total responses of "Chinese", "Korean", and "Japanese" under visible minority section on census.
↑ Statistic includes total responses of "Filipino" and "Southeast Asian" under visible minority section on census.
↑ Statistic includes total responses of "West Asian" and "Arab" under visible minority section on census.
↑ Statistic includes total responses of "Visible minority, n.i.e." and "Multiple visible minorities" under visible minority section on census.
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