Langley continues to grow faster than Fraser Valley neighbours

Langley continues to be one of the fastest-growing communities in all of Canada.

Both Langley City and Langley Township rank among Canada’s ten fastest-growing cities since 2020, according to The Current’s analysis of new population estimates from Statistics Canada.

The population of both municipalities has grown by nearly 20% since 2020. That is nearly double the provincial growth rate. Further east in the valley, growth has been relatively modest despite the seemingly rapid pace of change.

Since 2020, Abbotsford’s population has increased by 10%—roughly in line with the BC average. Chilliwack and Mission have lagged behind, trailing all but a handful of municipalities with more than 30,000 people over the last four years.

Statistics Canada’s newly released data include estimates for 2024 and revisions to the previous year’s figures. Those revisions reveal that last year Statistics Canada significantly overestimated population growth in Chilliwack while undercounting new arrivals in Abbotsford. Population growth in Mission was also lower than expected. In Langley, meanwhile, the stats agency confirmed its previous estimates, and determined that more people had moved to the community than it had previously estimated.

Langley

Langley continues to grow at a rapid rate. In fact, it’s growing even faster than previously thought.

The latest figures confirm that Langley’s population has exploded since 2020, with growth only outpaced by the Victoria suburb of Langford.

Between 2023 and 2024, Langley added nearly 10,000 residents, according to Statistics Canada figures that estimate populations as of July 1 each year. Both the City of Langley and the township grew at comparable rates. The pace of growth has slowed marginally, as it has across the entire country. But with a 5% increase in its population just last year, Langley City was still BC’s second-fastest growing municipality with more than 30,000 residents, according to the StatsCan estimates and The Current’s analysis. The Township grew at the fifth-fastest rate.

Langley City’s growth is particularly noteworthy because, unlike the township, it has very few so-called “greenfield” sites, where homes can be built on previously vacant land. Langley City’s growth has mostly occurred through the rapid densification of previously occupied properties, with townhouses replacing houses and large condo buildings replacing old apartment complexes. That’s not entirely unheard of in the Lower Mainland, but BC’s other fastest-growing communities have included significant greenfield developments. Most of Langley City’s growth has occurred between the city’s commercial core and the Nicomekl River. The impending arrival of SkyTrain, coupled with new rules permitting up to four housing units on single-family properties, likely makes future growth inevitable.

Abbotsford

Abbotsford is also growing faster than previously thought—and its pace of change is accelerating—but still nowhere near the rate of the two Langleys.

Last year’s data had suggested Abbotsford was growing slower than the provincial average and its regional peers. Those estimates seemed to correspond to slowing home construction, which lagged behind building rates in Chilliwack and Langley. But the new data puts Abbotsford’s recent growth above both Chilliwack and the provincial average.

The fact that Statistics Canada previously misjudged its Abbotsford estimates should prompt some caution when considering the newest figures—if the agency guessed wrong last time, it might do so again.

But the new figures suggest the pace of growth and change in Abbotsford is increasing, with more people moving to the city each of the last three years. The numbers don’t fully align with home-building figures, but the figures could suggest that—whether out of choice or economic necessity—an increasing share of residents are living with roommates, their parents, or their grown children.

The city also passed a milestone in 2023, with its 175,000th resident arriving (either via moving truck or mother) that July.

Mission

Across the Fraser, Mission will hit its own major population landmark before the end of the decade, despite Statistics Canada declaring it is not growing as fast as it previously thought. The city will likely pass the 50,000-resident mark in either 2027 or 2028. It will become the 24th British Columbia municipality to do so. (Vernon and West Vancouver are on pace to pass the 50k mark either this year or the next.)

StatsCan has modestly revised its previous population estimate for Mission, suggesting it has not grown quite as fast as previously thought. The data suggests it has been growing slower than the provincial and national averages. Nevertheless, townhouse complexes and subdivisions of narrow homes continue to fill up formerly rural properties on the north end of town.

Chilliwack

Chilliwack added its 100,000th resident in 2023, but like in Mission, growth has not been as rapid as StatsCan previously estimated.

While development has continued at a rapid pace, and new families continue to arrive in town, the city’s population has only grown by 7% since 2020. That’s one of the lowest rates of growth among BC larger cities. If that seems at odds with conventional wisdom, it may be because neighbourhoods immediately outside of Chilliwack’s city limits have boomed, with both Popkum and the Skowkale and Tzeachten reserves adding large numbers of new residents.

Chilliwack’s year-to-year population can also be heavily impacted by movement among its younger residents. As The Current has previously reported, the city tends to see an exodus of young people in their late teens and early 20s. Many newcomers, meanwhile, are in their late 20s and early 30s and looking to start families.

Outlying areas

In the Fraser Valley’s rural communities and larger First Nation reserves, the most rapid growth, by far, has occurred in Electoral Area D, which encompasses the Popkum and Bridal Falls area immediately east of Chilliwack. The population of that area has ballooned by more than 16% since 2024. Many of the new residents live in new homes surrounding the Highway 11/Old Yale Road roundabout. The area includes a new subdivision on the site of the former Minter Gardens. Seabird Bird Island, Skowkale, and Tzeachten’s main reserves have also seen significant growth. Of the valley’s three small municipalities, Harrison Hot Springs has grown at the quickest pace, while Hope’s population has only edged upwards.