Search for "British Columbia"

Tahsis, British Columbia, incorporated as a village in 1970, population 248 (2016 census), 316 (2011 census). The village of Tahsis is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island at the end of Tahsis Inlet.

Kelowna, British Columbia, incorporated as a city in 1905, population 127,380 (2016 census), 117,312 (2011 census). The city of Kelowna is located in south-central British Columbia on the east shore of Okanagan Lake.

Squamish, British Columbia, incorporated as a district municipality in 1964, population 19,512 (2016 census) 17,158 (2011 census). The district of Squamish is located 70 km north of Vancouver at the head of Howe Sound. The municipality is governed by a mayor and six councillors. It is the service centre for a richly endowed recreational area, with road, rail and water access to Vancouver.

Surrey, British Columbia, incorporated as a city in 1993, population 517,887 (2016 census), 468, 251 (2011 census). The city of Surrey is the second-largest municipality by population in British Columbia, after Vancouver. Part of Metro Vancouver, it is bounded by the Fraser River on the north and Washington state on the south. The municipalities of Langley and Delta lie to the east and west.

Slocan, British Columbia, incorporated as a village in 1958, population 272 (2016 census), 296 (2011 census). The village of Slocan is located 70 km by road northwest of Nelson, at the south end of Slocan Lake. Slocan is an Okanagan word meaning “pierce or strike on the head,” referring to the salmon-fishing practice of the Okanagan (see Interior Salish). The community was also known as Slocan City when it was an incorporated city (1901-1958).

Smithers, British Columbia, incorporated as a town in 1967, population 5,401 (2016 census), 5,404 (2011 census). The town of Smithers is located on the Bulkley River in central BC, on Highway 16. The town is 334 km west of Prince George and 371 km east of Prince Rupert.

Coquitlam, British Columbia, incorporated as a city in 1992, population 139,284 (2016 census), 126,804 (2011 census). The city of Coquitlam is located on the north bank of the Fraser River between  Burnaby and New Westminster to the west and Port Coquitlam and  Pitt Meadows to the east. Northwest and northeast Coquitlam include the lower slopes of the Eagle and Burke Mountains, with peaks up to 1,600 m high.

Chilliwack, British Columbia, incorporated as a city in 1999, population 83,788 (2016 census), 77,936 (2011 census). The city of Chilliwack is located 100 km east of Vancouver on the south shore of the Fraser River. It is governed by a mayor and six councillors elected for four-year terms. The name is derived from the word Ts’elxwéyeqw. According to elder Albert Louie, in Halq’eméylem, the traditional language of the Stó:lō, the word means “going as far as you can go upriver” by canoe on the Chilliwack River.

New Westminster, British Columbia, incorporated as a city in 1860, population 70,996 (2016census), 65,976 (2011 census). The city of New Westminster is located on the north bank of the Fraser River, 20 km east of Vancouver. Governor James Douglas established New Westminster in 1859 as the capital of British Columbia. The Royal Engineers surveyed the city and Queen Victoria named it. As a result, New Westminster’s nickname is “The Royal City.” New Westminster is western Canada’s oldest city.

Invermere, British Columbia, incorporated as a district municipality in 1983, population 3,391 (2016 census), 2,955 (2011 census). The District of Invermere is located on the northwestern shore of Windermere Lake in the Rocky Mountain Trench. Invermere is 130 km north of Cranbrook and 120 km southeast of Golden.

Elkford, British Columbia, incorporated as a district municipality in 1981, population 2,499 (2016 census), 2,523 (2011 census). The District of Elkford is situated on the west side of the Elk River. The Elk River is a tributary to the Kootenay River, in the East Kootenay district of southeastern British Columbia. The district is 35 km north of Sparwood. It’s located among the Rocky Mountains, near the old coal-mining communities of Crowsnest Pass, and on the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa people. At 1,300 m elevation, Elkford is the highest community in British Columbia.

Fernie, British Columbia, incorporated as a city in 1904, population 5,249 (2016 census), 4,448 (2011 census). The city of Fernie lies in the narrow valley of the Elk River, amidst the Rocky Mountains. It is located on the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa people.

Sparwood, British Columbia, incorporated as a district municipality in 1966, population 3,784 (2016 census), 3,667 (2011 census). The District of Sparwood is located 32 km northeast of Fernie in the Elk River Valley, and on the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa people.

Nakusp, British Columbia, incorporated as a village in 1964, population 1,605 (2016 census), 1,569 (2011 census). The village of Nakusp is located on the east shore of Upper Arrow Lake at the foot of the Selkirk Mountains. It is in the West Kootenay district of south-eastern British Columbia. Nakusp is located on the traditional territory of the Sinixt, Ktunaxa, Secwepemc and Okanagan peoples. (See also Interior Salish.) The name is derived from a Sinixt word, though its meaning is debated. One interpretation is that the name Nakusp comes from a word meaning “the bay behind the long point,” another is that it means, “closed-in” or “safe.”

Prince Rupert, BC, incorporated as a city in 1910, population 12,220 (2016 census), 12,508 (2011 census). The City of Prince Rupert is located on Kaien Island, at the mouth of the Skeena River in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia. It is Canada's wettest city, with an average of 2,619 mm of precipitation falling each year. Prince Rupert marks western end of the Yellowhead Trans-Canada Highway and, as Canada's deepest ice-free seaport, a link between the lower United States, Vancouver and Alaska. For these reasons it is the industrial, commercial and institutional centre for BC's Northwest Coast.

New Denver, British Columbia, incorporated as a village in 1929, population 473 (2016 census), 504 (2011 census). The village of New Denver is located near the northeastern end of Slocan Lake, 100 km north of Nelson. The site was first called Eldorado, then New Denver (1892), after Denver, Colorado.

Vancouver, British Columbia, incorporated as a city in 1886, population 631,486 (2016c), 603,502 (2011c). Vancouver is the largest city in British Columbia and the third largest census metropolitan area in Canada. The City of Vancouver lies on a peninsula in the southwest corner of the province's mainland. Two surrounding waterways — Burrard Inlet and the Strait of Georgia — provide a sheltered deep-sea port and convenient access to the Pacific Ocean, while the Fraser River offers an easy route to the rich agricultural lands of the Fraser River Lowland and the interior. Railways and highways give easy access to the interior.

British Columbia is Canada's most westerly province, and is a mountainous area whose population is mainly clustered in its southwestern corner. BC is Canada’s third-largest province after Québec and Ontario, making up 10 per cent of Canada’s land surface. British Columbia is a land of diversity and contrast within small areas. Coastal landscapes, characterized by high, snow-covered mountains rising above narrow fjords and inlets, contrast with the broad forested upland of the central interior and the plains of the northeast. The intense "Britishness" of earlier times is referred to in the province's name, which originated with Queen Victoria and was officially proclaimed in 1858.

Salmon Arm, British Columbia, incorporated as a city in 2005, population 17,706 (2016 census), 17,464 (2011 census). The city of Salmon Arm is located at the head of the southwestern arm of Shuswap Lake, also called Salmon Arm, 110 km east of Kamloops.

Abbotsford, British Columbia, incorporated as a city in 1995, population 141,397 (2016 census), 133,497 (2011 census). The amalgamation of the district municipalities of Matsqui and Abbotsford formed the city of Abbotsford. Abbotsford is located on the south bank of the Fraser River, 76 km east of Vancouver. The city is named after Harry Braithwaite Abbott, the general superintendent for the British Columbia division of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Abbotsford is BC's fifth most populous municipality.