As of 2024, British Columbia has 161 municipalities, out of which 53 are classified as cities. According to the 2021 Canadian census, British Columbia is the third most populous province in Canada, with 5,000,879 inhabitants, and the second largest province by land area, covering .

Cities, towns, district municipalities and villages in British Columbia are referred to as municipalities and all are included in local governments in the province, which may be incorporated under the Local Government Act of 2015. In order for a municipality in British Columbia to be classified as a city, it must have a minimum population of 5,000. Although the populations of Enderby, Grand Forks, Greenwood and Rossland fall below this threshold, they are still classified as cities.

The largest city by population in British Columbia is Vancouver, with 662,248 residents, and the smallest is Greenwood, with 702 residents. The largest city by land area is Abbotsford, which spans , while the smallest is Duncan, at . The first municipality to incorporate as a city was New Westminster on July 16, 1860, while the province's newest city is Mission, a district municipality that was reclassified as a city on March 29, 2021. Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia.

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Cities

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

+Former cities in British ColumbiaNameHeld city statusKaslo18931959Phoenix19001919Sandon18981920

See also List of communities in British Columbia List of municipalities in British Columbia List of district municipalities in British Columbia List of towns in British Columbia List of villages in British Columbia

Notes

References