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List of cities in British Columbia

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A photo of the downtown Victoria skyline.
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia.

According to the 2021 Canadian census, British Columbia is the third most populous province in Canada, with 5,000,879 inhabitants, and the fourth largest province by land area, covering 920,686.55 square kilometres (355,479.06 square miles).[1] As of 2024, British Columbia has 161 municipalities,[2] out of which 53 are categorized as cities.[3]

Cities, towns, districts and villages in British Columbia are referred to as municipalities and all are included in local governments in the province, which may be incorporated under the Local Government Act of 2015. In order for a municipality in British Columbia to be categorized as a city, it must have a minimum population of 5,000.[4][5] Although the populations of Enderby, Grand Forks, Greenwood and Rossland fall below this threshold, they are still categorized as cities.[1]

The largest city by population in British Columbia is Vancouver, with 662,248 residents, and the smallest is Greenwood, with 702 residents. The largest city by land area is Abbotsford, which spans 375.55 square kilometres (145.00 square miles), while the smallest is Duncan, at 2.07 square kilometres (0.80 square miles).[3] The first municipality to incorporate as a city was New Westminster on July 16, 1860,[6] while the province's newest city is Mission, a district municipality that was reclassified as a city on March 29, 2021.[7] Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia.[8]

Cities

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A photo of the downtown Vancouver skyline.
Vancouver is the largest city in British Columbia by population.
A photo of the downtown Abbotsford skyline.
Abbotsford is the largest city in British Columbia by area.


Cities in British Columbia
Name Regional district[6] Incorporation date[6] Population (2021)[9] Population (2016)[3] Change (%)[3] Area (km2)[3] Population density[3]
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 32,588 7.6% 144.38 km2 246.0
Castlegar Central Kootenay January 1, 1974 8,338 8,039 3.7% 19.67 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 25,599 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[10] 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 5,249 17.1% 15.11 km2 418.3
Fort St. John Peace River December 31, 1947 21,465 20,155 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 144,576 127,380 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[11] 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[7] 41,519 38,833 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 12,514 9.5% 14.52 km2 939.5
Penticton Okanagan-Similkameen January 1, 1909 36,885 33,761 9.3% 44.03 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 7,547 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[a] 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[b] Capital August 2, 1862 91,867 85,792 7.1% 19.45 km2 4722.3
West Kelowna Central Okanagan June 26, 2015[12] 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 — — 3,327,824 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

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Former cities in British Columbia
Name Held city status
Kaslo 1893–1959[13]
Phoenix 1900–1919[14]
Sandon 1898–1920[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  2. ^ Affairs, Ministry of Municipal. "Regional districts in B.C. - Province of British Columbia". Government of British Columbia. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "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.
  4. ^ Affairs, Ministry of Municipal. "Municipalities in B.C. - Province of British Columbia". Government of British Columbia. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  5. ^ "Local Government Act: Part 2 — Incorporation of Municipalities". Government of British Columbia. December 16, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c "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.
  7. ^ a b "Order in Council 0187-2021". Government of British Columbia. March 29, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  8. ^ McGillivray, Brett (September 5, 2024). "Victoria". Britannica. Retrieved September 11, 2024.
  9. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population, 2021 census (British Columbia)". Statistics Canada. October 30, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  10. ^ "Order in Council No. 362". Province of British Columbia. September 22, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  11. ^ "Order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council: Order in Council No. 513" (PDF). Province of British Columbia. September 9, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
  12. ^ "Order in Council No. 357". Province of British Columbia. June 26, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  13. ^ "City of Kaslo Fonds". MemoryBC. The British Columbia Archival Information Network. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  14. ^ "Name Details: Phoenix (Abandoned Locality)". Government of British Columbia. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  15. ^ "From Boom to Bust in 20 Years: Sandon's History as an Incorporated City". Sandon Museum. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
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