List of population centres in British Columbia

Population centre, in Canadian census data, is a populated place, or a cluster of interrelated populated places, which meets the demographic characteristics of an urban area, having a population of at least 1,000 people and a population density of no fewer than 400 persons per square km².[1]

Main article: List of the 100 largest population centres in Canada

The term was first introduced in the Canada 2011 Census; prior to that, Statistics Canada used the term urban area.[1]

In the 2011 census, Statistics Canada listed 100 population centres in the province of British Columbia.[2]

Characteristics

A population centre does not necessarily correspond to the boundaries of a municipality, a census division or a metropolitan area, but solely to a band of census dissemination blocks that meets the statistical definition of an urban area. A less densely populated or unpopulated area within a city's municipal boundaries may not be included as part of its urban area, while neighbouring municipalities whose urban development is directly contiguous with the main city's urban core population will be included.

For example, the cities of Surrey and White Rock are part of Metro Vancouver; however, the population centre of Vancouver includes only the urbanized northern part of Surrey. As a band of more sparsely populated rural area separates White Rock and the adjacent South Surrey neighbourhood from northern Surrey, these communities form the distinct population centre of White Rock and are not part of Vancouver's statistical urban area.[3] Similarly, the district municipality of Delta is also part of Metro Vancouver, while the population centre of Vancouver does not include any part of Delta, and instead the neighbourhoods of Ladner and Tsawwassen each constitute their own separate small population centres.

List

Rank	Population centre	Size group	Population in 2016	Population in 2011	% Change
1	Vancouver	Large urban	2,264,823	2,124,443	+6.6%
2	Victoria	Large urban	335,696	314,596	+6.7%
3	Kelowna	Large urban	151,957	140,131	+8.4%
4	Abbotsford	Large urban	121,279	115,011	+5.4%
5	White Rock	Medium	93,729	85,062	+7.8%
6	Nanaimo	Medium	92,004	85,357	+10.2%
7	Kamloops	Medium	78,026	72,755	+7.2%
8	Chilliwack	Medium	73,161	67,374	+8.6%
9	Prince George	Medium	65,510	62,623	+4.6%
10	Vernon	Medium	48,073	46,125	+4.2%
11	Courtenay	Medium	45,018	43,346	+3.9%
12	Campbell River	Medium	35,138	33,448	+5.1%
13	Penticton	Medium	33,617	32,823	+2.4%
14	Mission	Medium	33,261	31,109	+6.9%
15	Parksville	Small	23,574	22,493	+4.8%
16	Duncan	Small	23,278	22,179	+3.3%
17	Ladner	Small	22,193	22,539	+0.1%
18	Tsawwassen	Small	21,588	21,439	+0.7%
19	Port Alberni	Small	20,712	20,823	-0.5%
20	Fort St. John	Small	19,897	18,572	+7.1%
21	Cranbrook	Small	19,259	18,761	+2.7%
22	Squamish	Small	17,587	15,554	+13.1%
23	Terrace	Small	13,663	13,395	+2.0%
24	Salmon Arm	Small	12,875	12,218	+5.4%
25	Trail-Fruitvale	Small	12,643	12,427	+1.7%
26	Powell River	Small	12,384	12,374	+0.1%
27	Quesnel	Small	12,064	12,216	-1.2%
28	Aldergrove	Small	12,007	12,083	-0.6%
29	Prince Rupert	Small	11,733	11,985	-2.1%
30	Dawson Creek	Small	11,574	10,987	+5.3%
31	Nelson	Small	10,664	10,347	+3.1%
32	Ladysmith	Small	10,637	9,904	+7.4%
33	Williams Lake	Small	10,508	10,902	-3.6%
34	Sooke	Small	9,269	8,238	+12.5%
35	Gibsons	Small	9,132	8,767	+4.2%
36	Castlegar	Small	9,023	8,815	+2.4%
37	Sechelt	Small	8,832	8,060	+9.6%
38	Summerland	Small	8,742	8,456	+3.4%
39	Whistler	Small	8,713	7,176	+21.4%
40	Shawnigan-Mill Bay	Small	7,021	6,543	+7.3%
41	Duck Lake	Small	6,982	6,764	+3.2%
42	Revelstoke	Small	6,719	6,298	+6.7%
43	Kitimat	Small	6,394	6,633	-3.6%
44	Smithers	Small	5,351	5,400	-0.9%
45	Merritt	Small	5,321	5,447	-2.3%
46	Oliver	Small	5,279	5,037	+4.8%
47	Creston	Small	5,226	5,159	+1.3%
48	Armstrong	Small	5,114	4,830	+5.9%
49	Fernie	Small	4,850	4,156	+16.7%
50	Peachland	Small	4,698	4,527	+3.8%
51	Osoyoos	Small	4,520	4,210	+7.4%
52	Kimberley	Small	4,513	4,178	+8.0%
53	Dallas	Small	4,479	4,445	+0.8%
54	Hope	Small	4,067	3,911	+4.0%
55	Grand Forks	Small	3,953	3,892	+1.6%
56	Kent	Small	3,802	3,399	+11.9%
57	Port Hardy	Small	3,643	3,552	+2.6%
58	Cumberland	Small	3,600	3,271	+10.1%
59	Cobble Hill	Small	3,580	3,337	+7.3%
60	Aldergrove East	Small	3,491	2,383	+46.5%
61	Sparwood	Small	3,490	3,511	-0.6%
62	Fort Nelson	Small	3,366	3,561	-5.5%
63	Mackenzie	Small	3,262	3,087	+5.7%
64	Golden	Small	3,240	3,262	-0.7%
65	Rossland	Small	3,219	3,134	+2.7%
66	Chemainus	Small	3,021	2,914	+3.7%
67	Lake Cowichan	Small	3,013	2,848	+5.8%
68	Enderby	Small	2,964	2,932	+1.1%
69	Invermere	Small	2,882	2,537	+13.6%
70	Princeton	Small	2,745	2,579	+6.4%
71	Cowichan Bay	Small	2,394	2,108	+13.6%
72	Chase	Small	2,263	2,463	-8.1%
73	Okanagan Falls	Small	2,167	2,080	+4.2%
74	Houston	Small	2,126	2,120	+0.3%
75	Port McNeill	Small	2,064	2,186	-5.6%
76	Tumbler Ridge	Small	1,982	2,700	-26.6%
77	Vanderhoof	Small	1,979	1,980	-0.1%
78	Blind Bay	Small	1,976	1,915	+3.2%
79	Pemberton	Small	1,957	1,738	+12.6%
80	Rayleigh	Small	1,951	2,014	-3.1%
81	Burns Lake	Small	1,932	1,771	-13.1%
82	Roberts Creek	Small	1,848	2,222	+4.3%
83	One Hundred Mile House	Small	1,811	1,721	+5.2%
84	Sicamous	Small	1,786	1,843	-3.1%
85	Elkford	Small	1,752	1,791	-2.2%
86	Rosedale	Small	1,741	1,744	-0.2%
87	Keremeos	Small	1,714	1,479	+15.9%
88	Cedar	Small	1,674	1,595	+5.0%
89	Ucluelet	Small	1,576	1,525	+3.3%
90	Lillooet	Small	1,560	1,545	+1.0%
91	Fort St. James	Small	1,510	1,393	+8.4%
92	Puntledge	Small	1,387	1,358	+2.1%
93	Crofton	Small	1,373	1,322	+3.9%
94	Lions Bay	Small	1,334	1,318	+1.2%
95	Lumby	Small	1,303	1,248	+2.0%
96	Harrison Hot Springs	Small	1,242	1,248	-0.5%
97	Logan Lake	Small	1,208	1,245	-3.0%
98	Telkwa	Small	1,160	1,163	-0.3%
99	Fairwinds	Small	1,147	1,060	+8.2%
100	Salmo	Small	1,141	1,139	+0.2%
101	Nakusp	Small	1,130	1,094	+3.3%
102	Welcome Beach	Small	1,125	1,155	-2.6%
103	Miller's Landing	Small	1,097	1,113	-1.4%
104	Ashcroft	Small	1,084	1,151	-5.8%
105	Canoe	Small	1,081	1,149	-5.9%
106	Cultus Lake	Small	1,053	1,071	-1.7%
107	Naramata	Small	1,003	915	+9.6%

References

1. "From urban areas to population centres" Archived 2012-12-13 at the Wayback Machine. Statistics Canada, May 5, 2011.
2. Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and population centres, 2011 and 2006 censuses: British Columbia. Statistics Canada.
3. Map: Vancouver (Population Centre), British Columbia. Statistics Canada, February 1, 2012.