List of cities in British Columbia

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Vancouver is British Columbia's largest city
File:Victoria, British Columbia Skyline at Twilight.jpg
Skyline of downtown Victoria, British Columbia's capital city

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 51 cities[2] that had a cumulative population of 3,033,046 and an average population of 59,471 in the 2011 Census.[3] British Columbia's largest and smallest cities are Vancouver and Greenwood with populations of 603,502 and 708 respectively.[3] British Columbia's largest and smallest cities are Vancouver and Greenwood with populations of 603,502 and 708 respectively.[3] 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).[3]

The first community to incorporate as a city was New Westminster on July 16, 1860,[2] while the most recent community to incorporate as a city was West Kelowna, which was redsignated from a district municipality to a city on June 26, 2015.[4]

List

Name Corporate
name[2]
Regional
district
[2]
Incorporation
date[2]
Population
(2011)[3]
Population
(2006)[3]
Change
(%)[3]
Area
(km²)[3]
Population
density[3]
Abbotsford Abbotsford, City of Fraser Valley December 12, 1995 133,497 124,258 7.4 375.55 355.5
Armstrong Armstrong, City of North Okanagan March 31, 1913 4,815 4,241 13.5 5.19 928.0
Burnaby Burnaby, City of Greater Vancouver September 22, 1892 223,218 202,799 10.1 90.61 2,463.5
Campbell River Campbell River, City of Strathcona June 24, 1947 31,186 29,572 5.5 143.12 217.9
Castlegar Castlegar, City of Central Kootenay January 1, 1974 7,816 7,259 7.7 19.58 399.3
Chilliwack Chilliwack, City of Fraser Valley April 26, 1873 77,936 69,217 12.6 261.50 298.0
Colwood Colwood, City of Capital June 24, 1985 16,093 14,687 9.6 17.66 911.2
Coquitlam Coquitlam, City of Greater Vancouver July 25, 1891 126,840[5] 114,565 10.7 122.30 1,037.1
Courtenay Courtenay, The Corporation of the City of Comox Valley January 1, 1915 24,099 22,021 9.4 29.38 820.2
Cranbrook Cranbrook, The Corporation of the City of East Kootenay November 1, 1905 19,319 18,329 5.4 31.95 604.7
Dawson Creek Dawson Creek, The Corporation of the City of Peace River May 26, 1936 11,583 10,994 5.4 24.37 475.4
Duncan Duncan, The Corporation of the City of Cowichan Valley March 4, 1912 4,932 4,986 −1.1 2.07 2,381.7
Enderby Enderby, The Corporation of the City of North Okanagan March 1, 1905 2,932 2,828 3.7 4.26 687.7
Fernie Fernie, The Corporation of the City of East Kootenay July 28, 1904 4,448 4,217 5.5 14.83 299.8
Fort St. John Fort St. John, City of Peace River December 31, 1947 18,609 17,402 6.9 22.69 820.2
Grand Forks Grand Forks, The Corporation of the City of Kootenay Boundary April 15, 1897 3,985 4,036 −1.3 10.43 382.0
Greenwood Greenwood, The Corporation of the City of Kootenay Boundary July 12, 1897 708 625 13.3 2.42 292.7
Kamloops Kamloops, City of Thompson-Nicola October 17, 1967 85,678 80,376 6.6 299.23 286.3
Kelowna Kelowna, City of Central Okanagan May 4, 1905 117,312 107,035 9.6 211.82 553.8
Kimberley Kimberley, City of East Kootenay March 29, 1944 6,652 6,139 8.4 60.62 109.7
Langford Langford, City of Capital December 8, 1992 29,228 22,459 30.1 39.94 731.9
Langley Langley, City of Greater Vancouver March 15, 1955 25,081 23,606 6.2 10.22 2,454.6
Maple Ridge Maple Ridge, City of Greater Vancouver September 12, 2014[6] 76,052 68,949 10.3 266.78 285.1
Merritt Merritt, City of Thompson-Nicola April 1, 1911 7,113 6,998 1.6 24.82 286.6
Nanaimo Nanaimo, City of Nanaimo December 24, 1874 83,810 78,692 6.5 91.30 918.0
Nelson Nelson, The Corporation of the City of Central Kootenay March 18, 1897 10,230 9,258 10.5 11.93 857.7
New Westminster New Westminster, The Corporation of the City of Greater Vancouver July 16, 1860 65,976 58,549 12.7 15.63 4,222.2
North Vancouver North Vancouver, The Corporation of the City of Greater Vancouver August 10, 1891 48,196 45,165 6.7 11.83 4,073.8
Parksville Parksville, City of Nanaimo June 19, 1945 11,977 10,993 9.0 14.44 829.6
Penticton Penticton, The Corporation of the City of Okanagan-Similkameen January 1, 1909 32,877 31,909 3.0 42.10 780.9
Pitt Meadows Pitt Meadows, City of Greater Vancouver April 25, 1914 17,736 15,623 13.5 86.51 205.0
Port Alberni Port Alberni, City of Alberni-Clayoquot October 28, 1967 17,743 17,548 1.1 19.76 897.9
Port Coquitlam Port Coquitlam, The Corporation of the City of Greater Vancouver March 7, 1913 55,958[5] 52,687 6.2 29.17 1,918.3
Port Moody Port Moody, City of Greater Vancouver March 11, 1913 32,975 27,512 19.9 25.89 1,273.8
Powell River Powell River, The Corporation of the City of Powell River October 15, 1955 13,165 12,957 1.6 28.91 455.3
Prince George Prince George, City of Fraser-Fort George March 6, 1915 71,974 70,981 1.4 318.26 226.1
Prince Rupert Prince Rupert, City of Skeena-Queen Charlotte March 10, 1910 12,508 12,815 −2.4 54.93 227.7
Quesnel Quesnel, City of Cariboo March 21, 1928 10,007 9,326 7.3 35.38 282.8
Revelstoke Revelstoke, City of Columbia Shuswap March 1, 1899 7,139 7,230 −1.3 40.76 175.1
Richmond Richmond, City of Greater Vancouver November 10, 1879 190,473 174,461 9.2 129.27 1,473.5
Rossland Rossland, The Corporation of the City of Kootenay Boundary March 18, 1897 3,556 3,278 8.5 59.79 59.5
Salmon Arm Salmon Arm, City of Columbia Shuswap May 15, 1905 17,464 16,012 9.1 155.28 112.5
Surrey Surrey, City of Greater Vancouver November 10, 1879 468,251 394,976 18.6 316.41 1,479.9
Terrace Terrace, City of Kitimat-Stikine December 31, 1927 11,486 11,320 1.5 57.36 200.3
Trail Trail, City of Kootenay Boundary June 14, 1901 7,681 7,237 6.1 34.93 219.9
Vancouver[lower-alpha 1] Vancouver, City of Greater Vancouver April 6, 1886 603,502 578,041 4.4 114.97 5,249.1
Vernon Vernon, The Corporation of the City of North Okanagan December 30, 1892 38,150 35,979 6.0 95.76 398.4
Victoria[lower-alpha 2] Victoria, The Corporation of the City of Capital August 2, 1862 80,017 78,057 2.5 19.47 4,109.4
West Kelowna West Kelowna, City of Central Okanagan June 26, 2015 30,892 27,214 13.5 123.51 250.1
White Rock White Rock, The Corporation of the City of Greater Vancouver April 15, 1957 19,339 18,755 3.1 5.13 3,773.5
Williams Lake Williams Lake, City of Cariboo March 15, 1929 10,832 10,744 0.8 33.13 327.0
Total cities 3,033,046 2,784,917 8.9 4,063.15 746.5

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, Langley, 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

Sandon held city status between 1898 and 1920.[7] Phoenix held city status between 1900 and 1919.[8]

City status eligibility

As of the 2011 Census, seven townsComox, Creston, Ladysmith, Qualicum Beach, Sidney, Smithers and View Royal – meet the requirement of having populations greater than 5,000 to incorporate as a city. Also, 19 district municipalities meet the minimum population requirements to incorporate as a city.

See also

References

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