According to the 2021 Canadian census, British Columbia is the third most populous province in Canada, with 5,000,879 inhabitants, and the fourth largest province by land area, covering 920,686.55 square kilometres (355,479.06 square miles).[1] As of 2024, British Columbia has 161 municipalities,[2] out of which 53 are categorized as cities.[3]
Cities, towns, districts 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 Governance Act of 2015. In order for a municipality in British Columbia to be labelled as a city, it must have a minimum population of 5,000.[4][5] Although the populations of Enderby, Grand Forks, Greenwood and Rossland fall below this threshold, they are still categorized as cities.[1]
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 375.55 square kilometres (145.00 square miles), while the smallest is Duncan, at 2.07 square kilometres (0.80 square miles).[3] The first municipality to incorporate as a city was New Westminster on July 16, 1860,[6] while the province's newest city is Mission, a district municipality that was reclassified as a city on March 29, 2021.[7] Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia.[8]
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