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 52 cities that had a cumulative population of 3,327,824 and an average population of 63,997 in the 2016 Census. British Columbia's largest and smallest cities are Vancouver and Greenwood with populations of 631,486 and 665 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 Delta, which was redesignated from a district municipality to a city on September 22, 2017.

List

Notes:

Former cities

held city status between 1898 and 1920. Phoenix held city status between 1900 and 1919.

City status eligibility

As of the 2016 Census, eight towns – Comox, Creston, Ladysmith, Osoyoos, Qualicum Beach, Sidney, Smithers and View Royal – meet the requirement of having populations greater than 5,000 to incorporate as a city. Also, 19 district municipalities meet the minimum population requirements to incorporate as a city.

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