Maple Ridge

Maple Ridge is a District Municipality in British Columbia, located in the northeastern section of Metro Vancouver. Maple Ridge has a population of approximately 73,000.

The District of Maple Ridge was incorporated September 12, 1874, it covered an area of 33,000 acres (130 km²) yet only had approximately 50 families living in the town. Maple Ridge is British Columbia’s sixth-oldest municipality (after New Westminster, Victoria, Langley, Lake Cowichan, and Chilliwack). Until the expansion of Metro Vancouver (the GVRD) it was part of the now-defunct Dewdney-Alouette Regional District with the city of Pitt Meadows and District of Mission and other north-side communities east to Chehalis.

In the past 20 years, Maple Ridge has grown very rapidly, with a 12.5% population increase between the 1996 and 2001 censuses. The construction of new residential subdivisions has threatened many sensitive wildlife habitats as well as the District’s limited agricultural land. About two-thirds of those who work outside the home commute into other suburbs or downtown Vancouver. Because of burgeoning growth connected to the expansion of the Vancouver metropolitan area, Maple Ridge joined the GVRD in 1995 (now Metro Vancouver), having historically been a member of the Dewdney-Alouette Regional District (DARD). The recently-started construction of the Golden Ears Bridge and the announced new high level Pitt River bridge span also signals growth.

Demographics
Demographics according to Statistics Canada 2006 census.

Population: 68,949

2001 to 2006 population change (%) : 9.2%

Area: 265.79 km² (102.62 sq mi).

Density: 259.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (671.8/sq mi).

Location: 49°13′12.0″N 122°35′56.1″W