List of cities in British Columbia

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]

Map of British Columbia with its notable cities

British Columbia has 52 cities^[2][3][4] that had a cumulative population of 3,327,824 and an average population of 63,997 in the 2016 census.^[5] British Columbia's largest and smallest cities are Vancouver and Greenwood with populations of 631,486 and 665 respectively.^[5] 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).^[5]

The first community to incorporate as a city was New Westminster on July 16, 1860,^[2] while the province's newest city is 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]
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|Metro Vancouver	March 15, 1955	28,963	25,888	11.9	10.18	2845.2
Maple Ridge	Maple Ridge, City of	Metro Vancouver|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|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|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|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|Metro Vancouver	March 7, 1913	61,498	58,612	4.9	29.16	2108.7
Port Moody	Port Moody, City of	Metro Vancouver|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|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|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[lower-alpha 1]	Vancouver, City of	Metro Vancouver|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[lower-alpha 2]	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|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:

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

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
• 
  Surrey
• 
  Burnaby
• 
  Kelowna
• 
  Kamloops
• 
  Nanaimo
• 
  Victoria, the capital of British Columbia
• 
  Prince George
• 
  Penticton
• 
  Prince Rupert

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. "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. "Order in Council No. 357". Province of British Columbia. June 26, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
5. "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. "Order in Council 0187-2021". March 29, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
7. "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population, 2021 census (British Columbia)". Statistics Canada. October 30, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
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. "From Boom to Bust in 20 Years: Sandon's History as an Incorporated City". Sandon Museum. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
10. "Name Details: Phoenix (Abandoned Locality)". GeoBC. Retrieved June 27, 2013.