Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. Mainly

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

an, Coquitlam is the sixth-largest city in the province, with an estimated population of 174,248 in 2024, and one of the 21 municipalities comprising

Metro Vancouver The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and Corporation, corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as o ...

. The mayor is Richard Stewart. Simon Fraser explored the region in 1808, encountering the Indigenous

Coast Salish The Coast Salish peoples are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak on ...

peoples. Europeans started settling in the 1860s. Fraser Mills, a lumber mill on the north bank of the Fraser River was constructed in 1889, and by 1908 there were 20 houses, a store, post office, hospital, office block, barber shop, pool hall, and a Sikh temple.

History

The

people were the first to live in this area, and archaeology confirms continuous occupation of the territory for at least 9,000 years. The name '' Kwikwetlem'' is said to be derived from a Coast Salish term "kʷikʷəƛ̓əm" meaning "red fish up the river". Explorer Simon Fraser came through the region in 1808, and in the 1860s Europeans gradually started settling the area. Coquitlam began as a "place-in-between" with the construction of North Road in the mid-19th century to provide

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...

access to the year-round port facilities in

Port Moody Port Moody is a city in British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It envelops the east end of Burrard Inlet and is the smallest of the Tri-Cities, bordered by Coquitlam on the east and south ...

. The young municipality got its first boost in 1889 when Frank Ross and James McLaren opened what would become Fraser Mills, a $350,000, then state-of-the-art

lumber mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimens ...

on the north bank of the Fraser River. The Corporation of the District of Coquitlam was incorporated in 1891. In the late 1900s, a mill manager's residence was built that would later become Place des Arts. At the same time, Sikh immigrants also constructed a

gurdwara A gurdwara or gurudwara () is a place of assembly and place of worship, worship in Sikhism, but its normal meaning is "place of guru" or "home of guru". Sikhism, Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths and rel ...

. Over the next two years, several contingents of

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

mill workers arrived from

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, and Maillardville was born. Named for Father Edmond Maillard, a young

Oblate In Christianity (specifically the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist traditions), an oblate is a person associated with a Benedictine monastery or convent who is specifically dedicated to God and service. Oblates are i ...

from France, it became the largest Francophone centre west of Manitoba. Maillardville's past is recognized today in street names, the Francophone education system and

French immersion French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which students who do not speak French as a first language will receive instruction in French. In most French- immersion schools, students will learn to speak French and learn most subjects ...

programs, French-language

Girl Guides Girl Guides (or Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) are organisations within the Scout Movement originally and largely still for girls and women only. The Girl Guides began in 1910 with the formation of Girlguiding, The ...

and

scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

, and celebrations such as '' Festival du Bois''. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Coquitlam and the rest of the Lower Mainland experienced substantial population growth that continues today. The opening of Lougheed Highway in 1953 made the city more accessible and set the stage for residential growth. In 1971, Coquitlam and Fraser Mills were amalgamated, which gave the city a larger industrial base. The mill closed in 2001, and is now currently the subject of a proposed waterfront community.

Geography

Coquitlam is situated some east of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, where the

Coquitlam River The Coquitlam River (Help:IPA/English, /koʊˈkwɪtləm/ or Help:IPA/English, /kəˈkwɪtləm/) is a tributary of the Fraser River in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. The river's name comes from the wo ...

connects with the

Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...

and extends northeast along the Pitt River toward the

Coquitlam Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the List of cities in British Columbia, sixth-largest city in the province, with an estimated population of 174,248 in 2024, and one of th ...

and Pitt lakes. Coquitlam borders

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard In ...

and Port Moody to the west, New Westminster to the southwest, and

Port Coquitlam Port Coquitlam ( ) is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of 21 municipalities comprising Metro Vancouver. Located east of Vancouver, it is on the north bank of the confluence of the Fraser River and the Pitt River. Coquitlam borders ...

to the southeast. Burke Mountain, Eagle Ridge, and tall Coquitlam Mountain form the northern boundary of the city. Coquitlam's area, , is about six times larger than either Port Moody or Port Coquitlam. Coquitlam is in the

Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00 ...

(winter UTC−8, summer UTC−7), and the

Pacific Maritime Ecozone The Pacific Maritime Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a Canadian terrestrial ecozone, spanning a strip approximately 200 kilometres wide along the British Columbia Coast, then narrowing along the ...

Neighbourhoods

Coquitlam's geographic shape can be thought of as a tilted

hourglass An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, or sand clock) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) from the ...

, with two larger parcels of land with a smaller central section connecting them. Southwest Coquitlam comprises the original core of the city, with Maillardville and Fraser River industrial sector giving way to the large, elevated, flat-plateaued residential areas of Austin Heights. These older residences, with larger property dimensions, are increasingly being torn down and replaced with newer and larger homes. The Poirier Street area was the city's original recreational centre with the Coquitlam Sports Centre, Chimo Aquatic and Fitness Centre, and sports fields located there, while City Hall was previously located further south in Maillardville. The Austin Heights area contains Como Lake, a renowned urban fishing and recreation area, and headwaters for the Como watershed. The watershed represents one of the last urban watersheds in the Tri-Cities that supports wild stocks of

coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family (biology), family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon (or "silvers") and is often ...

as well as other species at risk such as

coastal cutthroat trout The coastal cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii'', sometimes referred as ''Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii''), also known as the sea-run cutthroat trout, blue-back trout or harvest trout, is one of the four speciesTrotter, Patrick; Bisson, Pete ...

(both sea-run and resident) and bird species such as the

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as far northwestern South America, the Caribbea ...

and green heron. It also contains Mundy Park, one of the largest urban parks in the Metro Vancouver area. Coquitlam Lafarge Lake

In 1984, the provincial government sold formerly attached to Riverview Hospital to Molnar Developments. Shortly afterward, this land was subdivided and became Riverview Heights, with about 250 single-family homes. The remaining of this still-active mental health facility has been the subject of much controversy amongst developers, environmentalists, and conservationists. In 2005, the city's task force on the hospital lands rejected the idea of further housing on the lands and declared that the lands and buildings should be protected and remain as a mental health facility. In May 2021, the Government of British Columbia announced that the Riverview lands had been renamed səmiq̓wəʔelə (pronounced suh-MEE-kwuh-EL-uh), meaning "The Place of the Great Blue Heron". The kʷikʷəƛ̓əm Nation and BC Housing are working on a long-term master plan for development of the site. Coquitlam Town Centre, was designated as a "Regional Town Centre" under the Metro Vancouver's Livable Region Strategic Plan. The concept of a

town centre A town centre is the commerce, commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town. Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train ...

for the area dates back to 1975, and is intended to have a high concentration of high-density housing, offices, cultural, entertainment and education facilities to serve major growth areas of the region, served by rapid transit service. It is in the town centre that many public buildings can be found, including City Hall, a branch of the Coquitlam Public Library, an R.C.M.P. station, Coquitlam's main fire hall, the David Lam Campus of

Douglas College Douglas College is the largest college in British Columbia, Canada with 7,958 full-time equivalent students in 2023-24. Douglas College offers bachelor's degrees and general university arts and science courses, as well as career programs in h ...

, the Evergreen Cultural Centre, City Centre Aquatic Complex, Town Centre Park and

Percy Perry Stadium Percy Perry Stadium is a multi-purpose, fully lit stadium in Coquitlam, British Columbia. It was built for the 1991 B.C. Summer Games, as part of the district's 100th anniversary, and has featured events with crowds of over 4,000 spectators. Pr ...

. In 1989, the provincial government sold of second-growth forested land on the south slope of Eagle Mountain, known locally as ''Eagle Ridge'', to developer Wesbild. This resulted in the closure of Westwood Motorsport Park in 1990, and the creation of Westwood Plateau, which was developed into 4,525 upscale homes, as well as two golf courses. With development on Westwood Plateau completed and the opening of the David Avenue Connector in 2006, Coquitlam's primary urban development has now shifted to Burke Mountain in the northeastern portion of the city. With new development of the

Evergreen Extension The Evergreen Extension (previously known as the Evergreen Line) is a extension of the Millennium Line of Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system. The extension runs from Lougheed Town Centre in Burnaby to Lafarge Lake–Douglas in ...

of the Millennium Line of the SkyTrain

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

system which began operation in December 2016, Coquitlam's urban development area has again shifted to Burquitlam and secondly Burke Mountain. The Burke Mountain area plan is now divided into 4 new neighbourhood plans: Lower Hyde Creek Neighbourhood, Upper Hyde Creek Neighbourhood, Partington Creek, and Smiling Creek.

Climate

Like much of Metro Vancouver, Coquitlam has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

( Köppen climate type ''Cfb''), experiencing mild temperatures and high

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

; warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. However, compared to most other cities in the area, precipitation is especially heavy in Coquitlam due to its proximity to the mountain slopes. With westward air moving off the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, the air is forced to flow up the

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains () are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the British Columbia Coast, Coast of British Columbia sout ...

causing it to cool and condense and fall as precipitation, this process is known as orographic precipitation. The orographic effect is mainly responsible for the massive annual average precipitation that Coquitlam receives each year, with most falling as rainfall in the fall and winter months, with in November; the summer is usually sunny with minimal precipitation with in July. Although the mild temperatures allow for mostly rain to fall during the winter months, occasionally

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

will fall. With a slightly higher elevation compared to the rest of Metro Vancouver, Coquitlam receives an average of of snow each year, with it rarely staying on the ground for a few days, adding to a very intermittent snow cover during the winter season. Coquitlam is also located in one of the warmest regions in Canada where average mean annual temperature is . Temperatures are warm during the summer months with an average high of , and an average low of in August. During the winter months, the average high is , and the average low is in December. This relatively mild climate, by Canadian standards, is caused by the warm

Alaska Current The Alaska Current is a southwestern shallow warm-water current alongside the west coast of the North American continent beginning at about 48-50°N. The Alaska Current produces large clockwise eddies at two sites: west of the Haida Gwaii (" Ha ...

offshore and the many mountain ranges preventing the cold arctic air from the rest of Canada from reaching the southwest corner of British Columbia. On June 28, 2021, Coquitlam reached an all-time high temperature reading of , shattering the previous record of .

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Coquitlam had a population of 148,625 living in 55,949 of its 58,683 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 139,284. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. According to the 2016 Census, 47% of

household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

s contained a married couple with children, 30% contained a married couple without children, and 22% were one-person households. Of the 40,085 reported

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

: 76% were

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

couples with an average of 3.0 persons per family, 15% were lone-parents with an average of 2.5 persons per family, and 9% were

common-law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prec ...

couples with an average of 2.6 persons per family. The median age of Coquitlam's population was 41.1 years, slightly younger than the British Columbia median of 43.0 years. Coquitlam had 85.6% of its residents 15 years of age or older, less than the provincial average of 87.5%. According to the 2016 census, about 44% of Coquitlam residents were foreign-born, much higher than the 28% foreign-born for the whole of British Columbia. The same census documented the median income in 2015 for all families was $65,020, compared to the provincial average of $61,280. 58.2% of respondents 15 years of age and older claim to have a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree, compared to 55% province-wide. Lastly, also as of the 2016 census, only 23.4% of Coquitlam residents who work outside the home work within the city of Coquitlam itself, just less than half the provincial average of 48.9% of residents who work within their own municipality, yet 22.2% of Coquitlam residents take public transit, bicycle or walk to work, close to the provincial average of 22.4%.

Ethnicity

Languages

The 2016 census found that English was spoken as the mother tongue of 50.47% of the population. The next most common mother tongue language was

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

, spoken by 9.66% of the population, followed by

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

at 6.43%. The south slope of Coquitlam, which includes Maillardville, has a pocket of French speakers.

Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Coquitlam included: *

Irreligion Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, ...

(73,945 persons or 50.1%) *

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

(55,150 persons or 37.4%) *

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

(9,315 persons or 6.3%) *

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

(3,110 persons or 2.1%) *

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

(1,955 persons or 1.3%) *

Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...

(1,855 persons or 1.3%) *

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

(405 persons or 0.3%) * Indigenous Spirituality (45 persons or <0.1%)

Economy

As a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

, the majority of Coquitlam residents commute to work in Vancouver, Burnaby, and other Metro Vancouver suburbs. Coquitlam's main industrial area lies in the southern Maillardville/Fraser Mills area near the Fraser River. Among the largest employers within Coquitlam are the City of Coquitlam with approximately 850 employees, Art in Motion with approximately 750 employees, and Hard Rock Casino with approximately 600 employees. Other major employers include

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

, and the Marine Propulsion division of

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

. In 2007, there were 610 retail businesses in Coquitlam, and these provided 8,765 jobs (27% of all jobs) within the city. Most retail businesses are concentrated around

Coquitlam Centre Coquitlam Centre is a shopping mall in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, built in 1979 and expanded in 2001. It is located at the southern edge of the Coquitlam Town Centre area, near Coquitlam Central station and several other smaller shopp ...

in the Town Centre area, and big-box retailers such as

IKEA IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...

and

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., often referred to as Home Depot, is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportat ...

in the Pacific Reach areas, with the remainder of the city's retail outlets centered around the Austin Heights and North Road sectors. The Tri-Cities

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

has over 900 members including businesses, professionals, residents and other community groups, governed by a 14-person volunteer Board of Directors.

Arts and culture

Being in close proximity to Vancouver and surrounded by the rest of the Lower Mainland, Coquitlam residents have access to virtually unlimited choice in cultural and leisure activities. Within the city itself are numerous venues that bring these choices closer to home. Coquitlam was designated as a ''Cultural Capital of Canada'' in 2009 by the

Department of Canadian Heritage The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage (), is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity and values, cultural develo ...

Arts and entertainment

The Molson Canadian Theatre, a 1,074-seat multi-purpose venue, opened as part of a $30 million expansion to Coquitlam's Hard Rock Casino in 2006, while

Cineplex Entertainment Cineplex Inc. (formerly Cineplex Entertainment and Cineplex Galaxy) is a Canadian operator of movie theater and family entertainment centers, headquartered in Toronto. It is the largest cinema chain in Canada; as of 2019, it operated 165 loc ...

operates the 4,475-seat SilverCity Coquitlam movie complex with 20 screens. A partnership of the city, the arts community, private business and senior governments, the Evergreen Cultural Centre in the Town Centre area is a venue for arts and culture, a civic facility designed to host a wide variety of community events. It features a 264-seat

black box theatre A black box theater is a performance space, typically a square or rectangular room, with black walls and a black, flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interact ...

, rehearsal hall, art studios and

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

. Evergreen serves as the home venue for the Pacific Symphonic Wind Ensemble, the Coastal Sound Music Academy, the Coquitlam Youth Orchestra, and the Stage 43 Theatrical Society. Nearby proscenium theatres include the 336-seat Terry Fox Theatre in Port Coquitlam, and the 206-seat Inlet Theatre in Port Moody. Numerous yearly

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

s are staged at various locations throughout Coquitlam, including Festival du Bois (first full weekend in March), the Water's Edge Festival (third full weekend in March), Como Lake Fishing Derby (last Sunday in May), BC Highland Games (last Saturday in June), a

Canada Day Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is the national day of Canada. A Public holidays in Canada, federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, with the passing of the B ...

Celebration at Town Centre Park, the BC Dumpling Festival (mid-August), and the Blue Mountain Music Festival (mid-July).

Attractions

Parks and community

Coquitlam has a considerable number of open green spaces, with the total area of over . There are over 80 municipal parks and natural areas, with Mundy Park located roughly in the centre of the city being the biggest, and Ridge Park located in the highlands near the city's northern edge. Pinecone Burke Provincial Park, Minnekhada Regional Park, and Pitt Addington Marsh are on the northern and eastern border of the city, while the restricted area of the Metro Vancouver's Coquitlam watershed border Coquitlam to the north. Colony Farm is a 404-hectare park that straddles the Coquitlam and

boundaries, offering walking trails rich with wildlife and gardens. Town Centre Park is a large city park located in the central area of the city, it provides city residents with many recreational activities. Como Lake Park and Glen Park are also popular with local residents. Place des Arts is a non-profit teaching arts centre in Maillardville founded in 1972, offering programs in visual arts, music, acting, and dance. It features specialized programs for school students and home learners, and presents concerts and exhibitions for the public. Studios are offered for

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

, fibre arts,

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...

and

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. Place des Arts offers four faculty concerts throughout the year, as well as numerous recitals and presentations by students on an ongoing basis. Place Maillardville is a community centre providing leisure activities for all age groups, with programs on French language, culture, as well as physical activities. Heritage Square offers visitors a wealth of historic sites, gardens, a bike path, and an outdoor amphitheatre; it is also home to the Mackin Heritage Home & Toy Museum. The city is responsible for the maintenance of numerous sports and recreation fields, including 40 grass/sand/soil sports fields, five FieldTurf fields, 35 ball diamonds, several all-weather surfaces, a

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

green, a croquet/bocce court, and a cricket pitch. The city also operates Percy Perry Stadium and the Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex. Privately owned Planet Ice features 4 additional ice rinks, and more rinks are found throughout the Tri-Cities.

Sports

There exists many opportunities for a wide variety of activities in Coquitlam: * Baseball – The Coquitlam Reds of the B.C. Premier Baseball League play their home games at Mundy Park; the Reds' most famous alumnus is former Major League Baseball, Major League All-Star and National League (baseball), National League Most valuable player, MVP Larry Walker. Coquitlam is also home to Coquitlam Little League, which has been part of Little League Baseball, Little League International since 1955; Coquitlam finished 3rd at the 1984 Little League World Series. In 2008, Coquitlam hosted the Junior League Canadian Championships. * Basketball – Coquitlam is home to the Tri-City Youth Basketball Association; formed in 1999, it serves the Tri-Cities with over 1,400 players from grades 2 to 9. The program is part of the Steve Nash Youth Basketball program administered by Basketball BC. It is open to both boys and girls, and operates out of school gyms across the Tri-Cities area. *CrossFit – The regional CanWest CrossFit games have been held in the Percy Perry Stadium since 2016. * Cricket – Coquitlam is home to the Windies Cricket Club. The club consists of over 40 members with 3 adult teams playing in the Premier, Second & Fifth Divisions. The club is affiliated with the British Columbia Mainland Cricket League and games are played at Mackin Park. A youth Kanga Cricket Program was formed with the aim of promoting and growing the game of cricket in Coquitlam. The SuperStrikers cricket team is open to boys and girls aged 6 – 16. * Canadian football, Football – Coquitlam is home to the Coquitlam Minor Football Association, which is a member of the Vancouver Mainland Football League. CMFA players range from 6 to 18 years of age, and play against teams from the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. Coquitlam was also the home of the Tri-City Bulldogs of the Canadian Junior Football League from 1991 to 2004. * Golf – In addition to courses in neighbouring communities in the Tri-Cities, Coquitlam itself is home to several golf facilities. The Vancouver Golf Club, located in southwest Coquitlam, has hosted four major LPGA tour events as well as one Champions Tour, Senior PGA Tour event. The Westwood Plateau Golf & Country Club is one of the highest rated golf courses in Canada. Both the Westwood Plateau Golf Academy and Eaglequest Golf Centre are designed as executive learning courses. * Ice hockey, Hockey – Founded in 2001, the Coquitlam Express of the British Columbia Hockey League play at the Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex. Coquitlam is also home to the Coquitlam Minor Hockey Association, a AAA club in the Greater Vancouver area in the Pacific Coast Division, with almost 1000 members from Initiation Hockey 1 to Juvenile. * Lacrosse – Coquitlam is home to the Coquitlam Adanacs of the Western Lacrosse Association, who play at the Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex, and to the Coquitlam Minor Lacrosse Association. In July 2008, Percy Perry Stadium hosted the 2008 Men's U-19 World Lacrosse Championship, 2008 ILF Under-19 World Lacrosse Championships. * Auto racing, Motorsports – Coquitlam was formerly home to Westwood Motorsport Park, Canada's first purpose-built permanent road course, located on what is now Westwood Plateau. The first race was held in 1959, and over the years hosted many different professional series including Atlantic Championship, Formula Atlantic and Trans-Am Series, Trans-Am. Notable drivers to have raced at Westwood include Formula One World Champion Keke Rosberg, Indianapolis 500 winners Bobby Rahal and Danny Sullivan, Gilles Villeneuve and Michael Andretti, and Greg Moore (racing driver), Greg Moore. The track finally closed in 1990 due to encroaching development, and racing moved to Mission Raceway Park. * Softball – Coquitlam is home to the Coquitlam Minor Softball Association. This association consists of about 300 registered players, predominantly females between the ages of 5 – 19 years of age. Most of the games are held at Mundy Park, Riverview Park, and Hillcrest Park. The CMSA is home to the Coquitlam Classics competitive rep program. * Rugby football, Rugby – The city is home to the United Rugby Club which claimed the BC Rugby Under 23 championship in 2018. The club has two senior men's team and one senior women's team, as well, the team has age grade programs from its mini's program for elementary school children to U-16 and U-19 teams. * Association football, Soccer – The city is home to two major soccer associations, including the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Soccer Club which has over 2500 players that range from Under-5 to adult teams including the Women's Premier team which plays in the Pacific Coast Soccer League, and the North Coquitlam United Soccer Club. * Swimming – City Centre Aquatic Complex is an indoor aquatic centre built in the Town Centre area at a cost of $8.2 million and opened in 1994. It features a 50m Olympic size swimming pool, wave pool, waterslide, fitness centre, and physiotherapy clinic. The Chimo Aquatic and Fitness Centre (CAFC) opened in 2008 in the Austin Heights area at a cost of $19.5 million, replacing the older Chimo Pool nearby. It features a 25m swimming pool, a 20m lap pool, leisure pool, and fitness room. Coquitlam also operates three outdoor swimming pools (Eagle Ridge, Rochester, Spani), two outdoor wading pools (Blue Mountain, Mackin), and three outdoor splash pads (Blue Mountain, Panorama, Town Centre). * Track and field – Coquitlam is home to the Coquitlam Cheetahs track and field club, who train at Percy Perry Stadium, which was named after their former coach who died in 2005. * Water polo, Water Polo – Coquitlam is home to a number of water polo clubs. In the summer the Coquitlam Sharks, members of the BCSSA, have a water polo component, and during the year, from October to April, the Coquitlam Lions, a recreational water polo club, have practices at the various pools from October to April: CCAC, Poirier and Eagle Ridge. In addition, Pacific Storm, a high performance water polo club, also holds some of its practices at CCACas well as their Tournament of Courage, held every January.

Government

Federal

Coquitlam is represented by two federal Member of Parliament (Canada), MPs in the Parliament of Canada. Bonita Zarrillo, Bonita Zarillo (New Democratic Party, NDP) represents the Port Moody—Coquitlam (federal electoral district), Port Moody—Coquitlam riding, while Ron McKinnon (politician), Ron McKinnon (Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party) represents Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam.

Provincial

Coquitlam is represented by three provincial Member of the Legislative Assembly, MLAs in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Rick Glumac (British Columbia NDP) represents the Port Moody-Coquitlam (provincial electoral district), Port Moody-Coquitlam riding, while Joan Isaacs (BC Liberals) represents Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, and Selina Robinson (BC NDP) represents Coquitlam-Maillardville.

Municipal

In the 2018 British Columbia municipal elections, 2018 civic election, Richard Stewart was reelected as mayor of Coquitlam, and Craig Hodge, Chris Wilson, Teri Towner, Bonita Zarillo, Brent Asmundson, Dennis Marsden, Trish Mandewo and Steve Kim were all elected to Coquitlam City Council. Coquitlam contracts out garbage and recycling services to International Paper Industries for city residents, but local businesses are responsible for their own garbage and recycling arrangements. Coquitlam Lake provides residents with a mountain-fed water source, while the city maintains its own sewage management system.

Judicial

The nearest Supreme Court of British Columbia venue is the New Westminster Law Courts. Provincial Court of British Columbia cases were formerly handled through the Coquitlam Provincial Court, but this was closed in 1996 and moved to the new Port Coquitlam Provincial Court.

Transportation

Coquitlam is served by TransLink (British Columbia), TransLink, which is responsible for both public transit and major roads. The city has four SkyTrain stations on the Millennium Line that are a part of the long Evergreen Extension. With a project cost of $1.4 billion, the line runs from the Coquitlam City Centre area, through Coquitlam Central station, Coquitlam Central Station and into Port Moody, re-entering Coquitlam on North Road and finally joining the existing Millennium Line at Lougheed Town Centre station, Lougheed Town Centre. There is regular transit bus, bus service on numerous lines running throughout the city and connecting it to other municipalities in Metro Vancouver, with a major exchange at Coquitlam Central Station. The West Coast Express, with a stop at Coquitlam Central Station, provides commuter rail service west to downtown Vancouver and east as far as Mission, British Columbia, Mission. WCE operates Monday to Friday only (excluding holidays), with five trains per day running to Vancouver in the morning peak hours and returning through Coquitlam in the evening peak hours. For motorists, the Trans-Canada Highway provides freeway access to Burnaby, Vancouver, Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and other municipalities in the Lower Mainland. British Columbia Highway 7, Lougheed Highway is an alternative route to the Trans-Canada, entering Coquitlam through Maillardville, past the Riverview Hospital area, up to Coquitlam Centre where it turns sharply east to Port Coquitlam. British Columbia Highway 7A, Barnet Highway begins at the Coquitlam Centre area and heads directly east through Port Moody and on to Burnaby and downtown Vancouver. Coquitlam has 60 km of bike routes, including dedicated bike lanes on Guildford Way, David Avenue, United Boulevard, Mariner Way, Chilko Drive and others, plus additional routes through city parks. Coquitlam is served by two international airports. Vancouver International Airport, located on Sea Island (British Columbia), Sea Island in the city of Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond to the west, is the second busiest in Canada and provides most of the air access to the region. Abbotsford International Airport, located to the east, is the seventeenth busiest airport in Canada. Nearby Pitt Meadows Airport provides services for smaller aircraft and there are also Boundary Bay Airport and Langley Airport for small aircraft. Residents and visitors wishing to travel to Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and other destinations along the Inside Passage may use the BC Ferries car and passenger ferry service from two terminals in the communities of Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Tsawwassen and Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia, Horseshoe Bay, south and north of Vancouver respectively. BC Ferries operates the Queen of Coquitlam, a C-class ferry capable of carrying 362 cars and 1,466 passengers, which was launched in 1976. She received an $18 million rehabilitation in November 2002, and currently operates as a secondary vessel on the Departure Bay-Horseshoe Bay route.

Infrastructure

Health care

Coquitlam is served by Fraser Health, which operates the 106-bed Eagle Ridge Hospital on the Port Moody/Coquitlam city boundary. ERH opened its doors in 1984 and operates a 24-hour emergency department, ambulatory, long-term care and acute care programs. It is a ''Centre of Excellence'' for elective surgery for urology, gynaecology, Plastic surgery, plastics and Orthopedic surgery, orthopedics. The hospital also offers public education clinics for asthma, Diabetes mellitus, diabetes, Physical medicine and rehabilitation, rehabilitation services and programs for cardiology, children's grief recovery, youth crisis response and early psychosis prevention. Fraser Health also operates the 352-bed Royal Columbian Hospital just south of Coquitlam in New Westminster. Coquitlam residents are also served by many privately owned health care clinics, while Tri-Cities Health Services operates 653 residential care beds. Coquitlam is also the home of Riverview Hospital, a large mental health facility, operating under the governance of BC Mental Health & Addiction Services. Riverview opened in 1913 and had 4,630 patients at its peak, but advances in treatment and cutbacks in funding have resulted in fewer people receiving mental health care, and much of the facility has closed over the last few decades.

Police, fire, emergency services

Coquitlam contracts out its police service to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, with the main police station adjacent to City Hall at Coquitlam Town Centre and Community policing, community police stations in the Austin Heights and Burquitlam areas. The Coquitlam RCMP detachment also serves the municipalities of Anmore, Belcarra, and

. Coquitlam has its own fire service, known as Coquitlam Fire/Rescue, with four fire halls. Coquitlam uses names, not numbers for their halls. The fire halls are Town Centre, Austin Heights, Mariner Way, near Mundy Park and Burke Mountain. Like all other municipalities in British Columbia, Coquitlam's ambulance service is run by the British Columbia Ambulance Service. Coquitlam Search and Rescue is a volunteer search and rescue team operating under the Provincial Emergency Program. Coquitlam SAR is responsible for urban and wilderness search and rescue for the area between Indian Arm and Pitt Lake, and encompasses the local communities of Coquitlam, Burnaby, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, New Westminster, Belcarra and Anmore. The SAR team is based at Town Centre Fire Hall.

Community centres

The city manages four all-age community centres (Centennial, Pinetree, Poirier, Summit), and two senior community centres (Dogwood Pavilion, Glen Pine Pavilion).

Education

Coquitlam is served by School District 43 Coquitlam, and offers four public secondary schools, seven middle schools, and dozens of elementary schools. Francophone education in the Tri-Cities is offered by Conseil Scolaire Francophone de la Colombie-Britannique. Coquitlam Town Centre is home to the 4,000-student David Lam Campus of Douglas College, which offers university transfer, career-training and academic-upgrading programs. Therapeutic Recreation, Hotel and Restaurant Management, and Animal Health Technology programs are housed in the original main campus building. The $39 million Health Sciences Centre opened in 2008, with state-of-the-art facilities for Nursing, Psychiatric Nursing and other health-career programs. There are two major universities, University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University, located in the nearby municipalities. The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in neighbouring Burnaby provides institute of technology#Canada, polytechnic education and grants Academic degree, degrees in several fields. Vancouver is also home to the Emily Carr University of Art and Design and the Vancouver Film School. The Coquitlam Public Library has two branches: City Centre and Poirier. The library has a circulation of over 1.1 million items, and an annual budget of over $5 million.

Media

In addition to the other List of Vancouver media outlets, Metro Vancouver media outlets, CKPM-FM was the first radio station dedicated to the Tri-Cities area when it took to the air in 2009. Coquitlam is served by the bi-weekly ''Tri-City News'' newspaper. A significant number of movie and television productions have been partly or completely filmed in Coquitlam in recent years, including a significant portion of 2018's Deadpool 2, 2014's Godzilla (2014 film), Godzilla, both New Moon (2009 film), New Moon and Eclipse (2010 film), Eclipse from the The Twilight Saga (film series), Twilight series, The X-Files, Juno (film), Juno, Smallville (TV series), Smallville, Psych, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (film), The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Dark Angel (2000 TV series), Dark Angel, The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film), The Day the Earth Stood Still, Romeo Must Die, Stargate SG1, Riverdale (2017 TV series), Riverdale, and Watchmen (2009 film), Watchmen. The city maintains the Coquitlam Film Office to coordinate permits, traffic and crowd control, and insurance for film and television productions.

Sister cities

Coquitlam currently has sister city relationships with the following: * Foshan, People's Republic of China * Paju, South Korea In November 2017, the city stated that they had ended sister city relationships with Laizhou, Tochigi, Tochigi, Tochigi, Ormoc and San Juan, Metro Manila, San Juan.

Notable people

Juno Award-winning rock music, rock musician Matthew Good is from Coquitlam. He graduated from Centennial Secondary School (Coquitlam), Centennial Secondary in 1989, and became lead singer for the Matthew Good Band, one of Canada's most successful alternative rock bands in the 1990s. Centennial Secondary was featured in the "Alert Status Red" video, and its cheerleading squad recorded for "Giant". The Matthew Good Band was dissolved in 2002, and Good has since pursued a solo career and established himself as a political activist, blogger, and author. Actor Taylor Kitsch graduated from Gleneagle Secondary School, Gleneagle Secondary in 1999, and went on to star in movies such as ''John Carter (film), John Carter'' and ''Battleship (film), Battleship and Lone Survivor as well as the television series ''Friday Night Lights (TV series), Friday Night Lights' Former Premier League, FA Premier League goalkeeper Craig Forrest is from Coquitlam and attended Centennial Secondary. Forrest appeared in 263 games for Ipswich Town, 30 games for West Ham United, and three games for Chelsea F.C., Chelsea. Forrest also earned 56 caps for the Canada men's national soccer team, Canadian national soccer team, the most of any goalkeeper in team history, and earned the most clean sheets in the country's history. Forrest was elected to Canada's Soccer Hall of Fame in 2007. Former Canadian national soccer team midfielder Jeff Clarke (Canadian soccer), Jeff Clarke and Canadian women's national soccer player Brittany Timko also both attended Centennial Secondary. Former National Basketball Association player Lars Hansen (basketball), Lars Hansen was raised in Coquitlam and played his high school basketball at Centennial Secondary. He was a member of the Seattle SuperSonics 1979 NBA Finals, 1979 NBA Championship team, and was elected to the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. American political analyst and former Fox News co-host Rachel Marsden was raised in Northeast Coquitlam's Burke Mountain area. Former BC Lions placekicker Lui Passaglia has resided in Coquitlam for over 20 years. Passaglia is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, and his #5 jersey is one of eight BC Lions#Retired numbers, numbers retired by the Lions. Passaglia was voted #30 of the CFL's TSN Top 50 CFL Players, Top 50 players of the modern era by Canadian sports network The Sports Network, TSN. ''Playboy'' Playboy Playmate, Playmate and actress Dorothy Stratten was raised in Coquitlam and attended Centennial Secondary School. Stratten was Playmate of the Year for 1980. She appeared in several movies, including Peter Bogdanovich's ''They All Laughed'', then she was murdered by her estranged husband. Stratten was portrayed twice in biographies of her life, by Jamie Lee Curtis in ''Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story'' and by Mariel Hemingway in ''Star 80''. spoken word, Spoken word poet Chris Tse (Canadian poet), Chris Tse was raised in Coquitlam though he is based in Ottawa. He was captain of the Ottawa spoken word team that won the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word championships and placed second overall in the Poetry Slam World Cup in Paris, France. Filipino pop and jazz singer, musician, lyricist, and songwriter Joey Albert is a Coquitlam resident. Hockey players Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders, Dante Fabbro of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Vincent Iorio of the Washington Capitals were all born and raised in Coquitlam. Science fiction novelist Dennis E. Taylor is a Coquitlam resident.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{authority control Coquitlam, Cities in British Columbia Populated places in Greater Vancouver