A town 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 town by letters patent, under the recommendation of the Minister of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development, if its population is greater than 2,500 but not 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.[1]

British Columbia has 14 towns[2] that had a cumulative population of 87,514 and an average population of 6,251 in the 2011 Census.[3] British Columbia's largest and smallest towns are Comox and Port McNeill with populations of 13,627 and 2,505 respectively.[3]

"Town" as a British Columbia municipal designation should not be confused with "township," which has no legal definition in the province. The three municipalities in British Columbia which refer to themselves as townships - Esquimalt, Langley, and Spallumcheen - are incorporated as district municipalities.

Of British Columbia's current 14 towns, the first to incorporate as a town was Ladysmith on June 3, 1904, while the most recent community to incorporate as a town was View Royal on December 5, 1988.[2]

List

Name Corporate
name[2] 		Regional
district[2] 		Incorporation
date[2] 		Population
(2011)[3] 		Population
(2006)[3] 		Change
(%)[3] 		Area
(km²)[3] 		Population
density[3]
Comox Comox, Town of Comox Valley January 14, 1946 13,627 12,385 10.0 16.74 814.3
Creston Creston, Town of Central Kootenay May 14, 1924 5,306 4,826 9.9 8.47 626.8
Gibsons Gibsons, Town of Sunshine Coast March 4, 1929 4,437 4,182 6.1 4.29 1,033.4
Golden Golden, Town of Columbia Shuswap June 26, 1957 3,701 3,811 −2.9 11.41 324.4
Ladysmith Ladysmith, Town of Cowichan Valley June 3, 1904 7,921 7,538 5.1 11.99 660.6
Lake Cowichan Lake Cowichan, Town of Cowichan Valley August 19, 1944 2,974 3,012 −1.3 8.05 369.6
Oliver Oliver, Town of Okanagan-Similkameen December 31, 1945 4,824 4,395 9.8 5.50 877.1
Osoyoos Osoyoos, Town of Okanagan-Similkameen January 14, 1946 4,845 4,752 2.0 8.56 566.3
Port McNeill Port McNeill, Town of Mount Waddington February 18, 1966 2,505 2,623 −4.5 13.77 181.9
Princeton Princeton, Town of Okanagan-Similkameen September 11, 1951 2,724 2,780 −2.0 10.47 260.2
Qualicum Beach Qualicum Beach, Town of Nanaimo May 5, 1942 8,687 8,502 2.2 17.98 483.2
Sidney Sidney, Town of Capital September 30, 1952 11,178 11,315 −1.2 5.12 2,183.6
Smithers Smithers, Town of Bulkley-Nechako October 6, 1921 5,404 5,217 3.6 15.27 353.8
View Royal View Royal, Town of Capital December 5, 1988 9,381 8,768 7.0 14.36 653.3
Total towns — — — 87,514 84,106 4.1 151.98 575.8

Former towns

Fort Nelson, originally incorporated as a village on April 8, 1971, became a town on October 31, 1987[4] and then amalgamated with the Northern Rockies Regional District on February 6, 2009 to form the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality.[5][6]

Kinnaird, originally incorporated as a village on August 6, 1948, became a town on August 5, 1967, and then amalgamated with the Town of Castlegar on January 1, 1974, to form the City of Castlegar.[7]

Mission City, originally incorporated as a village on December 12, 1939, became a town on January 1, 1958, and then amalgamated with the District of Mission on November 1, 1969.[8]

Town status eligibility

As of the 2021 Census, two villages – Cumberland and Pemberton – meet the requirement of having a population greater than 2,500 to incorporate as a town.

City status eligibility

As of the 2021 Census, nine of the above towns – Comox, Creston, Ladysmith, Oliver, Osoyoos, Qualicum Beach, Sidney, Smithers and View Royal – meet the requirement of having populations greater than 5,000 to incorporate as a city.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Local Government Act: Part 2 — Incorporation of Municipalities". Government of British Columbia Queen's Printer. November 12, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e "British Columbia Regional Districts, Municipalities, Corporate Name, Date of Incorporation and Postal Address" (XLS). British Columbia Ministry of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development. Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2011 and 2006 censuses (British Columbia)". Statistics Canada. May 28, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  4. ^ "Name Details: Fort Nelson". GeoBC. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  5. ^ "Fort Nelson". Northern Rockies Regional Municipality. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  6. ^ "Statistics Relating to Regional and Municipal Governments in BC 2011" (PDF). Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development. p. 21 of 30. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  7. ^ "Name Details: Kinnaird". GeoBC. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  8. ^ "Name Details: Mission City". GeoBC. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
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