THE 2021 Census marked the first time that the population of British Columbia exceeded five million people (5,000,879). This province was the lone province in Western Canada where population growth (+7.6%) exceeded the national average of 5.2%, according to Statistics Canada.

British Columbia was also the lone province in Western Canada that saw more people move into the province from elsewhere in Canada than move out from 2016 to 2021, with interprovincial migration gains (+97,424) reaching their highest level since 1991 to 1996.

Toronto (6,202,225 people) remains the most populous CMA (census metropolitan areas), followed by Montréal (4,291,732 people) and Vancouver (2,642,825 people).

Four of the five fastest growing CMAs in the country were located in British Columbia from 2016 to 2021: Kelowna (+14% to 222,162), Chilliwack (+12.1% to 113,767), Nanaimo (+10% to 115,459) and Kamloops (+10% to 114,142). Much of the growth of these four CMAs in British Columbia occurred because they attracted people from elsewhere in Canada and from within the province.

In British Columbia, population growth accelerated in all of its seven CMAs.

Canada also has 111 census agglomerations (CAs), which are smaller urban areas ranging from about 10,000 to 100,000 people. In 2021, Squamish, British Columbia (+21.8% to 24,232) was the fastest growing CA from 2016 to 2021.

In the spring of 2021, the most populated downtowns were Toronto (275,931 people), Vancouver (121,932 people), Montréal (109,509 people), Ottawa (67,169 people) and Edmonton (55,387 people). Vancouver (18,837 inhabitants per square kilometre) has the most densely populated downtown.

B.C.’s 10 biggest municipalities

Vancouver: 662,248

Surrey: 568,332

Burnaby: 249,125

Richmond: 209,937

Abbotsford: 153,524

Coquitlam: 148,625

Kelowna: 144,576

Langley Township: 132,603

Saanich: 117,735

Delta: 108,455