Abbotsford (, ) is a city in British Columbia next to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver, and the Fraser River. With a census population of 153,569 people (2021), it is the most populous municipality in the province outside metropolitan Vancouver. Abbotsford–Mission has the third-highest proportion of visible minorities among census metropolitan areas in Canada, after the Greater Toronto Area and the Greater Vancouver CMA. It is home to Tradex, the University of the Fraser Valley, and Abbotsford International Airport.
As of the 2021 census, it is the largest municipality of the Fraser Valley Regional District and the fifth-largest municipality of British Columbia. The Abbotsford–Mission metropolitan area of around 195,726 inhabitants as of the 2021 census is the 23rd-largest census metropolitan area in Canada. It has also been named by Statistics Canada as Canada's most generous city in terms of charitable donations for nine consecutive years.
The community of is the largest city by area in British Columbia. The municipality's southern boundary is the Canada–United States border. In Canada, it is bordered by the Township of Langley to the west, the City of Mission to the north, and the City of Chilliwack to the east. Abbotsford borders the town of Sumas, Washington, to the south. Much of Abbotsford has views of Mount Baker (to the southeast, in Washington) and the Coast Mountains (to the north).
History Settlement The first residents of the area are the Stó:lō Nation. The Upper Sumas 6 Indian reserve of the Sumas First Nation is located at Kilgard within Abbotsford city limits.
European settlement began when the Royal Engineers surveyed the area in response to the gold rush along the Fraser River in 1858. This led to the building of Yale Road (today Old Yale Road), the first transportation route to link the Fraser Valley. The settlement grew and the production of butter, milk and tobacco began by the late 1860s. In 1889, former Royal Engineer John Cunningham Maclure applied for a Crown grant to obtain the that would become Abbotsford.
The Gur Sikh Temple, located on 33089 South Fraser Way, is the oldest Sikh temple in North America. Built in 1908 and opened in 1911, it is now over 110 years old, outlasting the now demolished 2nd Avenue temple in Vancouver (opened in 1908), and the Golden temple (opened in 1905) which was destroyed by fire.
There is some controversy over the origin of the Abbotsford name. The most commonly cited origin is that Maclure named the land "Abbotsford" after family friend Henry Braithwaite Abbott, the western superintendent of the Canadian Pacific Railway.WS Crocket 1905 Abbotsford Adam and Black London History of Abbotsford. M.S.A. Museum Maclure's sons later stated that the property had actually been named for Sir Walter Scott's home, Abbotsford House, and pronounced it with the accent on ford, In his later years Maclure himself claimed that the naming had been "a combination of two ideas". The Akriggs say that Maclure in an 1894 letter said that when the town was laid out in 1894, the town was named for Henry Abbott, general superintendent of the CPR and brother of Sir John Abbott, prime minister.
Contemporary period
The title passed hands to Robert Ward, who filed a townsite subdivision on July 9, 1891. Also in 1891, the CPR built a railway line through the area that connected Mission with the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway at Sumas, Washington. This route was the only rail connection between Vancouver and Seattle until 1904. The Village of Abbotsford was incorporated in 1892. At that time Robert Ward sold many of the lots to private investors, but also sold off a significant portion to the Great Northern Railway's subsidiary company the Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway. The British Columbia Electric Railway (BCER) arrived in 1910. The Interurban, as the BCER tram linking Abbotsford with Vancouver and Chilliwack was called, was discontinued in 1950, but BCER's successor BC Hydro retains the right to re-introduce passenger rail service. Service to Vancouver runs from neighbouring Mission by way of the West Coast Express.
The most notable natural disaster to hit Abbotsford was a major flood of the Fraser River in 1948.
In September 1984, Pope John Paul II held an open-air Mass for over 200,000 people at Abbotsford International Airport.
The amalgamation of the Village of Abbotsford and the District of Sumas into the District of Abbotsford occurred in 1972. The District of Abbotsford amalgamated with the District of Matsqui in 1995 to become the City of Abbotsford, raising the population significantly.
In June 2013, the City of Abbotsford spread chicken manure on a homeless camp located in the city. Abbotsford Mayor Bruce Banman publicly apologized for the incident.
The city of Abbotsford has a long and ongoing history of gang-related crime, particularly that of violence and the illegal sale of controlled substances.
On November 16, 2021, Abbotsford residents living in the Sumas Prairie were given an evacuation order, given the flooding in British Columbia at the time, the city calling the situation "catastrophic".
December 2025, four years after the 2021 flood, the community flooded again from atmospheric river with many from the sumas flats evacuated from their homes.
Government
Abbotsford City Council comprises a council-manager form of local government. The mayor and council were last elected in 2022. The current mayor is Ross Siemens.
The Abbotsford flag and coat of arms are the same, featuring straight, diagonal crosses representing Abbotsford as at a "crossroads". At the centre is a strawberry blossom to symbolize the local berry industry. The flag of Abbotsford was originally blue in colour. The change to green was initiated in 1995 when the District of Abbotsford and the District of Matsqui amalgamated to create the City of Abbotsford.
Demographics City of Abbotsford
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Abbotsford had a population of 153,524 living in 53,234 of its 55,659 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 141,397. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
The 2021 census reported that immigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 43,190 persons or 28.6% of the total population of Abbotsford. Of the total immigrant population, the top countries of origin were India (23,830 persons or 55.2%), United Kingdom (2,310 persons or 5.3%), Philippines (1,735 persons or 4.0%), United States of America (1,395 persons or 3.2%), Netherlands (895 persons or 2.1%), Vietnam (885 persons or 2.0%), South Korea (850 persons or 2.0%), China (845 persons or 2.0%), Germany (820 persons or 1.9%), and Pakistan (565 persons or 1.3%).
Languages According to the 2021 Census, 92,460 persons or 61.0% of Abbotsford's population have English as a mother tongue; Punjabi is the mother tongue of 34,280 persons or 22.6% of the population, followed by German (3,065 or 2.0%), Spanish (1,375 or 0.9%), Korean (1,190 or 0.8%), Tagalog (1,180 or 0.8%), Vietnamese (1,105 or 0.7%), Dutch (990 or 0.7%), French (955 or 0.6%), Mandarin (945 or 0.6%), Hindi (860 or 0.5%), Arabic (720 or 0.5%), Cantonese (555 or 0.4%), Russian (415 or 0.3%), and Urdu (400 or 0.3%).
Furthermore, the 2021 census stated 141,175 persons or 93.6% of Abbotsford's population have knowledge of the English language; 41,145 persons or 27.3% of the population have knowledge of Punjabi, followed by Hindi (7,080 or 4.7%), French (6,295 or 4.2%), German (3,665 or 2.4%), Spanish](2,880 or 1.9%), Tagalog (1,835 or 1.2%), Korean (1,430 or 0.9%), Vietnamese (1,170 or 0.8%), Dutch (1,145 or 0.8%), Mandarin (1,430 or 0.9%), Arabic (1,030 or 0.7%), Urdu (985 or 0.7%), Cantonese (810 or 0.5%), and Russian (805 or 0.5%).
Religion A plurality of Abbotsford's population is Christian. Many of the largest congregations in the city are Mennonite Brethren.
The next largest religious group is Sikh. Opened in 1911, the city contains the oldest existing Sikh Gurdwara built in Canada and North America, with earlier Gurdwaras built in Kitsilano (1908) and Golden (1905) since being demolished or destroyed by fire. A National Historic Site, located in Central Abbotsford, the Gur Sikh Temple is now over 110 years old.
The 2021 census reported the religious demography in the city of Abbotsford was: Christianity (56,900 persons or 37.7%) Irreligion (47,550 persons or 31.5%) Sikhism (38,395 persons or 25.5%) Hinduism (3,620 persons or 2.4%) Islam (2,125 persons or 1.4%) Buddhism (1,000 persons or 0.7%) Judaism (90 persons or 0.1%) Indigenous Spirituality (75 persons or <0.1%) Other (1,060 persons or 0.7%)
Ethnicity According to the 2021 census, the largest pan-ethnic group is European, comprising approximately 55.2% of the municipal population. This group includes German, Dutch, British, Irish, Scandinavian and Slavic ethnic origins.
The next largest pan-ethnic group in Abbotsford is South Asian, comprising 30.2% of the city population; this group includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka national origins; while the population in Abbotsford primarily includes persons of Punjabi ethnic origin. Members of the ethnic group first arrived in the early 1900s to work on farms and in the lumber industry."City of Abbotsford" (Archive). Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Retrieved on October 19, 2014.
This is followed by Indigenous peoples at 4.6% of the population, Southeast Asians (3.1%), and East Asians (2.7%).
Panethnic groups in the City of Abbotsford (2001−2021)Panethnic group20212016201120062001 European 83,270 85,325 87,790 86,415 88,080 South Asian 45,505 35,310 29,725 23,360 17,005 Indigenous 6,855 6,595 4,460 3,565 2,500 Southeast Asian 4,610 3,110 2,005 2,130 1,650 East Asian 4,340 4,145 3,785 4,145 2,610 African 2,080 1,415 1,120 730 500 Latin American 1,515 1,120 755 1,095 760 Middle Eastern 1,270 555 380 295 145 Other/multiracial 1,350 985 930 430 530 Total responses 150,800 138,555 130,950 122,175 113,770 Total population 153,524 141,397 133,497 123,864 115,463
Abbotsford CMA
At the census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Abbotsford–Mission CMA had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
The 2021 Canadian census reported that immigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 50,085 persons or 26.1% of the total population of the Abbotsford-Mission CMA. Of the total immigrant population, the top countries of origin were India (25,990 persons or 51.9%), United Kingdom (3,295 persons or 6.6%), Philippines (2,065 persons or 4.1%), United States of America (1,725 persons or 3.4%), Germany (1,085 persons or 2.2%), Netherlands (1,070 persons or 2.1%), Vietnam (1,040 persons or 2.1%), China (990 persons or 2.0%), South Korea (930 persons or 1.9%), and Pakistan (600 persons or 1.2%).
Ethnicity The Abbotsford-Mission CMA has the third-highest proportion of visible minorities among Census Metropolitan Areas in Canada, after the Greater Toronto Area and Greater Vancouver. The Abbotsford-Mission metropolitan area has Canada's highest Census Metropolitan Area proportion of South Asian Canadians."Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies and Research at University College of the Fraser Valley" (Archive). University College of the Fraser Valley. p. 3 (PDF p. 4/14). Retrieved on October 20, 2014.