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.

British Columbia has 53 cities that had a cumulative population of 3,630,140 and an average population of 68,493 in the 2021 census. British Columbia's largest and smallest cities are Vancouver and Greenwood with populations of 662,248 and 702 respectively. The largest city by land area is Abbotsford, which spans , while the smallest is Duncan, at .

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


 List 
+ Cities in British Columbia Name Regional district Incorporation date Population (2021) Population (2016) Change (%) Area () Population density Abbotsford  Fraser Valley  December 12, 1995  153,524  141,397  8.6%  375.33  409.0 Armstrong  North Okanagan  March 31, 1913  5,323  5,114 4.1%  5.22  1020.0 Burnaby  Metro Vancouver  September 22, 1892  249,125  232,755  7.0%  90.57  2750.7 Campbell River  Strathcona  June 24, 1947  35,519  33,007  7.6%  144.38  246.0 Castlegar  Central Kootenay  January 1, 1974  8,338  8,039  3.7%  19.87  419.6  Chilliwack  Fraser Valley  April 26, 1873  93,203  83,788  11.2%  261.34  356.6  Colwood  Capital  June 24, 1985  18,961  16,859  12.5%  17.66  1073.6  Coquitlam  Metro Vancouver  July 25, 1891  148,625  139,284  6.7%  122.15  1216.7  Courtenay  Comox Valley  January 1, 1915  28,420  25,639  10.8%  32.42  876.7  Cranbrook  East Kootenay  November 1, 1905  20,499  20,047  2.3%  31.97  641.2  Dawson Creek  Peace River  May 26, 1936  12,323  12,178   1.2%  26.72  461.1  Delta  Metro Vancouver  September 22, 2017 108,455  102,238  6.1%  179.66  603.7  Duncan  Cowichan Valley  March 4, 1912  5,047  4,944  2.1%  2.06  2444.5  Enderby  North Okanagan  March 1, 1905  3,028  2,964  2.2%  4.26  710.4  Fernie  East Kootenay  July 28, 1904  6,320  5,396  17.1%  15.11  418.3  Fort St. John  Peace River  December 31, 1947  21,465  20,260   5.9%  32.67  656.9  Grand Forks  Kootenay Boundary  April 15, 1897  4,112  4,049  1.6%  10.37  396.4  Greenwood  Kootenay Boundary  July 12, 1897  702  665  5.6%  2.42  290.2  Kamloops  Thompson-Nicola  October 17, 1967  97,902  90,280  8.4%  297.93  328.6  Kelowna Central Okanagan  May 4, 1905  144,576  127,390  13.5%  211.85  682.4  Kimberley  East Kootenay  March 29, 1944  8,115  7,425  9.3%  60.51  134.1  Langford  Capital  December 8, 1992  46,584  35,342  31.8%  41.43  1124.4  Langley  Metro Vancouver  March 15, 1955  28,963  25,888   11.9%  10.18  2845.2  Maple Ridge  Metro Vancouver  September 12, 2014 90,990  82,256  10.6%  267.82  339.7 Merritt  Thompson-Nicola  April 1, 1911  7,051  7,139  -1.2%  26.04  270.7  Mission  Fraser Valley  March 29, 2021 41,519  38,554  7.7%   226.98  182.9 Nanaimo  Nanaimo  December 24, 1874  99,863  90,504  10.3%  90.45  1104.1  Nelson  Central Kootenay  March 18, 1897  11,106  10,572   5.1%  11.93  930.6  New Westminster  Metro Vancouver  July 16, 1860  78,916  70,996  11.2%  15.62  5052.4  North Vancouver  Metro Vancouver  August 10, 1891  58,120  52,898  9.9%  11.83  4913.0  Parksville  Nanaimo  June 19, 1945  13,642  12,453  9.5%  14.52  939.5  Penticton  Okanagan-Similkameen  January 1, 1909  36,885  33,761  9.3%  43.03  857.3  Pitt Meadows  Metro Vancouver  April 25, 1914  19,146  18,573  3.1%  86.34  221.7  Port Alberni  Alberni-Clayoquot  October 28, 1967  18,259  17,678  3.3%  19.66  928.9  Port Coquitlam  Metro Vancouver  March 7, 1913  61,498  58,612  4.9%  29.16  2108.7  Port Moody  Metro Vancouver  March 11, 1913  33,535  33,551  0.0%  25.85  1297.3  Powell River  Powell River  October 15, 1955  13,943  13,157  6.0%  28.91  482.4  Prince George  Fraser-Fort George  March 6, 1915  76,708 74,003  3.7%  316.74  242.2  Prince Rupert  North Coast  March 10, 1910  12,300  12,220  0.7%  66.00  186.4  Quesnel  Cariboo  March 21, 1928  9,889  9,879  0.1%  35.35  279.8  Revelstoke  Columbia Shuswap  March 1, 1899  8,275  7,562  9.4%  41.28  200.5  Richmond  Metro Vancouver  November 10, 1879  209,937  198,309   5.9%  128.87  1629.0  Rossland  Kootenay Boundary  March 18, 1897  4,140  3,729   11.0%  59.72  69.3  Salmon Arm  Columbia Shuswap  May 15, 1905  19,432  17,706  9.7%  155.19  125.2  Surrey  Metro Vancouver  November 10, 1879  568,322  517,887   9.7%  316.11  1797.9  Terrace  Kitimat–Stikine  December 31, 1927  12,017  11,643  3.2%  57.33  209.6  Trail  Kootenay Boundary  June 14, 1901  7,920  7,709  2.7%  34.90  226.9  Vancouver  Metro Vancouver  April 6, 1886  662,248 631,486  4.9%  115.18  5749.9  Vernon  North Okanagan  December 30, 1892  44,519  40,116   11.0%  96.43  461.7  Victoria Capital  August 2, 1862  91,867  85,792  7.1%  19.45  4722.3  West Kelowna  Central Okanagan  June 26, 2015 36,078  32,655  10.5%  122.09  295.5  White Rock  Metro Vancouver  April 15, 1957  21,939  19,952  10.0%  5.17  4240.6  Williams Lake  Cariboo  March 15, 1929  10,947  10,753  1.8%  33.12  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. Sandon held city status between 1898 and 1920. Phoenix held city status between 1900 and 1919.

 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 

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British Columbia