KidzSearch Wiki

List of cities in British Columbia

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 53 cities[2] that had a cumulative population of 3,630,140 and an average population of 68,493 in the 2021 census.[3] British Columbia's largest and smallest cities are Vancouver and Greenwood with populations of 662,248 and 702 respectively.[3] The largest city by land area is Abbotsford, which spans 375.33 km2 (144.92 sq mi), while the smallest is Duncan, at 2.06 km2 (0.80 sq mi).[3]

The first community to incorporate as a city was New Westminster on July 16, 1860,[4] while the province's newest city is Mission, which was redesignated from a district municipality to a city on March 29, 2021.[5]

List

Cities in British Columbia
Name Regional district[4] Incorporation date[4] Population (2021)[3] Population (2016)[6] Change (%)[6] Area (km2)[6] Population density[6]
Abbotsford Fraser Valley December 12, 1995 153,524 141,397 8.6% 375.33 km2 409.0
Armstrong North Okanagan March 31, 1913 5,323 5,114 4.1% 5.22 km2 1020.0
Burnaby Metro Vancouver September 22, 1892 249,125 232,755 7.0% 90.57 km2 2750.7
Campbell River Strathcona June 24, 1947 35,519 33,007 7.6% 144.38 km2 246.0
Castlegar Central Kootenay January 1, 1974 8,338 8,039 3.7% 19.87 km2 419.6
Chilliwack Fraser Valley April 26, 1873 93,203 83,788 11.2% 261.34 km2 356.6
Colwood Capital June 24, 1985 18,961 16,859 12.5% 17.66 km2 1073.6
Coquitlam Metro Vancouver July 25, 1891 148,625 139,284 6.7% 122.15 km2 1216.7
Courtenay Comox Valley January 1, 1915 28,420 25,639 10.8% 32.42 km2 876.7
Cranbrook East Kootenay November 1, 1905 20,499 20,047 2.3% 31.97 km2 641.2
Dawson Creek Peace River May 26, 1936 12,323 12,178 1.2% 26.72 km2 461.1
Delta Metro Vancouver September 22, 2017[7] 108,455 102,238 6.1% 179.66 km2 603.7
Duncan Cowichan Valley March 4, 1912 5,047 4,944 2.1% 2.06 km2 2444.5
Enderby North Okanagan March 1, 1905 3,028 2,964 2.2% 4.26 km2 710.4
Fernie East Kootenay July 28, 1904 6,320 5,396 17.1% 15.11 km2 418.3
Fort St. John Peace River December 31, 1947 21,465 20,260 5.9% 32.67 km2 656.9
Grand Forks Kootenay Boundary April 15, 1897 4,112 4,049 1.6% 10.37 km2 396.4
Greenwood Kootenay Boundary July 12, 1897 702 665 5.6% 2.42 km2 290.2
Kamloops Thompson-Nicola October 17, 1967 97,902 90,280 8.4% 297.93 km2 328.6
Kelowna Central Okanagan May 4, 1905 144,576 127,390 13.5% 211.85 km2 682.4
Kimberley East Kootenay March 29, 1944 8,115 7,425 9.3% 60.51 km2 134.1
Langford Capital December 8, 1992 46,584 35,342 31.8% 41.43 km2 1124.4
Langley Metro Vancouver March 15, 1955 28,963 25,888 11.9% 10.18 km2 2845.2
Maple Ridge Metro Vancouver September 12, 2014[8] 90,990 82,256 10.6% 267.82 km2 339.7
Merritt Thompson-Nicola April 1, 1911 7,051 7,139 -1.2% 26.04 km2 270.7
Mission Fraser Valley March 29, 2021[5] 41,519 38,554 7.7% 226.98 km2 182.9
Nanaimo Nanaimo December 24, 1874 99,863 90,504 10.3% 90.45 km2 1104.1
Nelson Central Kootenay March 18, 1897 11,106 10,572 5.1% 11.93 km2 930.6
New Westminster Metro Vancouver July 16, 1860 78,916 70,996 11.2% 15.62 km2 5052.4
North Vancouver Metro Vancouver August 10, 1891 58,120 52,898 9.9% 11.83 km2 4913.0
Parksville Nanaimo June 19, 1945 13,642 12,453 9.5% 14.52 km2 939.5
Penticton Okanagan-Similkameen January 1, 1909 36,885 33,761 9.3% 43.03 km2 857.3
Pitt Meadows Metro Vancouver April 25, 1914 19,146 18,573 3.1% 86.34 km2 221.7
Port Alberni Alberni-Clayoquot October 28, 1967 18,259 17,678 3.3% 19.66 km2 928.9
Port Coquitlam Metro Vancouver March 7, 1913 61,498 58,612 4.9% 29.16 km2 2108.7
Port Moody Metro Vancouver March 11, 1913 33,535 33,551 0.0% 25.85 km2 1297.3
Powell River Powell River October 15, 1955 13,943 13,157 6.0% 28.91 km2 482.4
Prince George Fraser-Fort George March 6, 1915 76,708 74,003 3.7% 316.74 km2 242.2
Prince Rupert North Coast March 10, 1910 12,300 12,220 0.7% 66.00 km2 186.4
Quesnel Cariboo March 21, 1928 9,889 9,879 0.1% 35.35 km2 279.8
Revelstoke Columbia Shuswap March 1, 1899 8,275 7,562 9.4% 41.28 km2 200.5
Richmond Metro Vancouver November 10, 1879 209,937 198,309 5.9% 128.87 km2 1629.0
Rossland Kootenay Boundary March 18, 1897 4,140 3,729 11.0% 59.72 km2 69.3
Salmon Arm Columbia Shuswap May 15, 1905 19,432 17,706 9.7% 155.19 km2 125.2
Surrey Metro Vancouver November 10, 1879 568,322 517,887 9.7% 316.11 km2 1797.9
Terrace Kitimat–Stikine December 31, 1927 12,017 11,643 3.2% 57.33 km2 209.6
Trail Kootenay Boundary June 14, 1901 7,920 7,709 2.7% 34.90 km2 226.9
Vancouver Metro Vancouver April 6, 1886 662,248 631,486 4.9% 115.18 km2 5749.9
Vernon North Okanagan December 30, 1892 44,519 40,116 11.0% 96.43 km2 461.7
Victoria Capital August 2, 1862 91,867 85,792 7.1% 19.45 km2 4722.3
West Kelowna Central Okanagan June 26, 2015[9] 36,078 32,655 10.5% 122.09 km2 295.5
White Rock Metro Vancouver April 15, 1957 21,939 19,952 10.0% 5.17 km2 4240.6
Williams Lake Cariboo March 15, 1929 10,947 10,753 1.8% 33.12 km2 330.5
Total cities — — 3,630,140 3,367,053 7.8% 4497.15 807.2

Former cities

Kaslo held city status between 1893 and 1959.[10] Sandon held city status between 1898 and 1920.[11] Phoenix held city status between 1900 and 1919.[12]

City status eligibility

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

References

  1. ↑ "Local Government Act: Part 2 — Incorporation of Municipalities". Government of British Columbia Queen's Printer. November 12, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Local Government Legal Names & Incorporation Dates" (PDF). gov.bc.ca. October 24, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population, 2021 census (British Columbia)". Statistics Canada. October 30, 2022.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "British Columbia Regional Districts, Municipalities, Corporate Name, Date of Incorporation and Postal Address". Government of British Columbia. Archived from the original (XLS) on July 13, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Order in Council 0187-2021". Government of British Columbia. March 29, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2021 and 2016 censuses (British Columbia)". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Order in Council No. 362". Province of British Columbia. September 22, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  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. ↑ "Order in Council No. 357". Province of British Columbia. June 26, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  10. ↑ City of Kaslo Fonds. The British Columbia Archival Information Network. 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.


Retrieved from "https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/w/index.php?title=List_of_cities_in_British_Columbia&oldid=5875125"