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 52 cities[ 2] [ 3] [ 4] 2016 census .[ 5] Vancouver and Greenwood with populations of 631,486 and 665 respectively.[ 5] Abbotsford , which spans 375.55 km2 (145.00 sq mi), while the smallest is Duncan , at 2.07 km2 (0.80 sq mi).[ 5]
The first community to incorporate as a city was New Westminster on July 16, 1860,[ 2] Mission , which was redesignated from a district municipality to a city on March 29, 2021.[ 6]
List
Name
Corporate name[ 2]
Regional district [ 2] Incorporation date[ 2]
Population (2021)[ 7]
Population (2016)[ 5]
Change (%)[ 5]
Area (km2 )[ 5]
Population density[ 5]
Abbotsford Abbotsford, City of
Fraser Valley December 12, 1995
153,524
141,397
8.6
375.33
409.0
Armstrong Armstrong, City of
North Okanagan March 31, 1913
5,323
5,114
4.1
5.22
1020.0
Burnaby Burnaby, City of
Metro Vancouver September 22, 1892
249,125
232,755
7.0
90.57
2750.7
Campbell River Campbell River, City of
Strathcona June 24, 1947
35,519
32,588
7.6
144.38
246.0
Castlegar Castlegar, City of
Central Kootenay January 1, 1974
8,338
8,039
3.7
19.67
419.6
Chilliwack Chilliwack, City of
Fraser Valley
April 26, 1873
93,203
83,788
11.2
261.34
356.6
Colwood Colwood, City of
Capital June 24, 1985
18,961
16,859
12.5
17.66
1073.6
Coquitlam Coquitlam, City of
Metro Vancouver
July 25, 1891
148,625
139,284
6.7
122.15
1216.7
Courtenay Courtenay, The Corporation of the City of
Comox Valley January 1, 1915
28,420
25,599
10.8
32.42
876.7
Cranbrook Cranbrook, The Corporation of the City of
East Kootenay November 1, 1905
20,499
20,047
2.3
31.97
641.2
Dawson Creek Dawson Creek, The Corporation of the City of
Peace River May 26, 1936
12,323
12,178
1.2
26.72
461.1
Delta Delta, City of
Metro Vancouver
September 22, 2017[ 4]
108,455
102,238
6.1
179.66
603.7
Duncan Duncan, The Corporation of the City of
Cowichan Valley March 4, 1912
5,047
4,944
2.1
2.06
2444.5
Enderby Enderby, The Corporation of the City of
North Okanagan
March 1, 1905
3,028
2,964
2.2
4.26
710.4
Fernie Fernie, The Corporation of the City of
East Kootenay
July 28, 1904
6,320
5,249
17.1
15.11
418.3
Fort St. John Fort St. John, City of
Peace River
December 31, 1947
21,465
20,155
5.9
32.67
656.9
Grand Forks Grand Forks, The Corporation of the City of
Kootenay Boundary April 15, 1897
4,112
4,049
1.6
10.37
396.4
Greenwood Greenwood, The Corporation of the City of
Kootenay Boundary
July 12, 1897
702
665
5.6
2.42
290.2
Kamloops Kamloops, City of
Thompson-Nicola October 17, 1967
97,902
90,280
8.4
297.93
328.6
Kelowna Kelowna, City of
Central Okanagan May 4, 1905
144,576
127,380
13.5
211.85
682.4
Kimberley Kimberley, City of
East Kootenay
March 29, 1944
8,115
7,425
9.3
60.51
134.1
Langford Langford, City of
Capital
December 8, 1992
46,584
35,342
31.8
41.43
1124.4
Langley Langley, City of
Metro Vancouver
March 15, 1955
28,963
25,888
11.9
10.18
2845.2
Maple Ridge Maple Ridge, City of
Metro Vancouver
September 12, 2014[ 8]
90,990
82,256
10.6
267.82
339.7
Merritt Merritt, City of
Thompson-Nicola
April 1, 1911
7,051
7,139
-1.2
26.04
270.7
Mission Mission, City of
Fraser Valley
March 29, 2021[ 6]
41,519
38,833
7.7
226.98
182.9
Nanaimo Nanaimo, City of
Nanaimo December 24, 1874
99,863
90,504
10.3
90.45
1104.1
Nelson Nelson, The Corporation of the City of
Central Kootenay
March 18, 1897
11,106
10,572
5.1
11.93
930.6
New Westminster New Westminster, The Corporation of the City of
Metro Vancouver
July 16, 1860
78,916
70,996
11.2
15.62
5052.4
North Vancouver North Vancouver, The Corporation of the City of
Metro Vancouver
August 10, 1891
58,120
52,898
9.9
11.83
4913.0
Parksville Parksville, City of
Nanaimo
June 19, 1945
13,642
12,514
9.5
14.52
939.5
Penticton Penticton, The Corporation of the City of
Okanagan-Similkameen January 1, 1909
36,885
33,761
9.3
44.03
857.3
Pitt Meadows Pitt Meadows, City of
Metro Vancouver
April 25, 1914
19,146
18,573
3.1
86.34
221.7
Port Alberni Port Alberni, City of
Alberni-Clayoquot October 28, 1967
18,259
17,678
3.3
19.66
928.9
Port Coquitlam Port Coquitlam, The Corporation of the City of
Metro Vancouver
March 7, 1913
61,498
58,612
4.9
29.16
2108.7
Port Moody Port Moody, City of
Metro Vancouver
March 11, 1913
33,535
33,551
0.0
25.85
1297.3
Powell River Powell River, The Corporation of the City of
Powell River October 15, 1955
13,943
13,157
6.0
28.91
482.4
Prince George Prince George, City of
Fraser-Fort George March 6, 1915
76,708
74,003
3.7
316.74
242.2
Prince Rupert Prince Rupert, City of
North Coast March 10, 1910
12,300
12,220
0.7
66.00
186.4
Quesnel Quesnel, City of
Cariboo March 21, 1928
9,889
9,879
0.1
35.35
279.8
Revelstoke Revelstoke, City of
Columbia Shuswap March 1, 1899
8,275
7,547
9.4
41.28
200.5
Richmond Richmond, City of
Metro Vancouver
November 10, 1879
209,937
198,309
5.9
128.87
1629.0
Rossland Rossland, The Corporation of the City of
Kootenay Boundary
March 18, 1897
4,140
3,729
11.0
59.72
69.3
Salmon Arm Salmon Arm, City of
Columbia Shuswap
May 15, 1905
19,432
17,706
9.7
155.19
125.2
Surrey Surrey, City of
Metro Vancouver
November 10, 1879
568,322
517,887
9.7
316.11
1797.9
Terrace Terrace, City of
Kitimat–Stikine December 31, 1927
12,017
11,643
3.2
57.33
209.6
Trail Trail, City of
Kootenay Boundary
June 14, 1901
7,920
7,709
2.7
34.90
226.9
Vancouver [ a] Vancouver, City of
Metro Vancouver
April 6, 1886
662,248
631,486
4.9
115.18
5749.9
Vernon Vernon, The Corporation of the City of
North Okanagan
December 30, 1892
44,519
40,116
11.0
96.43
461.7
Victoria [ b] Victoria, The Corporation of the City of
Capital
August 2, 1862
91,867
85,792
7.1
19.45
4722.3
West Kelowna West Kelowna, City of
Central Okanagan
June 26, 2015[ 3]
36,078
32,655
10.5
122.09
295.5
White Rock White Rock, The Corporation of the City of
Metro Vancouver
April 15, 1957
21,939
19,952
10.0
5.17
4240.6
Williams Lake Williams Lake, City of
Cariboo
March 15, 1929
10,947
10,753
1.8
33.12
330.5
Total cities
—
—
—
3,327,824
3,133,081
4.5
4263.15
1081.81
Notes:
↑ 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.
↑ Victoria is British Columbia's capital. The Victoria CMA includes the cities of Colwood, Langford and Victoria.
Sandon held city status between 1898 and 1920.[ 9] Phoenix held city status between 1900 and 1919.[ 10]
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
Vancouver , the largest city in British Columbia
Victoria , the capital of British Columbia
References
↑ "Local Government Act: Part 2 — Incorporation of Municipalities" . Government of British Columbia Queen's Printer. November 12, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2012 .↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "British Columbia Regional Districts, Municipalities, Corporate Name, Date of Incorporation and Postal Address" . British Columbia Ministry of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development. Archived from the original (XLS ) on July 13, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2012 .↑ 3.0 3.1 "Order in Council No. 357" . Province of British Columbia. June 26, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015 .↑ 4.0 4.1 "Order in Council No. 362" . Province of British Columbia. September 22, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2018 .↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2016 and 2011 censuses (British Columbia)" . Statistics Canada . February 20, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2019 .↑ 6.0 6.1 "Order in Council 0187-2021" . March 29, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021 .↑ "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population, 2021 census (British Columbia)" . Statistics Canada . October 30, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2019 .↑ "Order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council: Order in Council No. 513" (PDF) . Province of British Columbia. September 9, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2014 .↑ "From Boom to Bust in 20 Years: Sandon's History as an Incorporated City" . Sandon Museum. Retrieved June 26, 2013 .↑ "Name Details: Phoenix (Abandoned Locality)" . GeoBC. Retrieved June 27, 2013 .
