Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the sixth-largest city in the province, with an estimated population of 174,248 in 2024,[4] and one of the 21 municipalities comprising Metro Vancouver.

[11][failed verification] Over the next two years, several contingents of French Canadian mill workers arrived from Quebec, and Maillardville was born.

Named for Father Edmond Maillard, a young Oblate 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 programs, French-language Girl Guides and scouts, and celebrations such as Festival du Bois.

[9][12] Following World War II, Coquitlam and the rest of the Lower Mainland experienced substantial population growth that continues today.

[18][19] Coquitlam's geographic shape can be thought of as a tilted hourglass, 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.

[22] 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".

This relatively mild climate, by Canadian standards, is caused by the warm Alaska Current offshore and the many mountain ranges preventing the cold arctic air from the rest of Canada from reaching the southwest corner of British Columbia.

[51] The Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce has over 900 members including businesses, professionals, residents and other community groups, governed by a 14-person volunteer Board of Directors.

[52] 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.

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.

Place des Arts offers four faculty concerts throughout the year, as well as numerous recitals and presentations by students on an ongoing basis.

[104] In the 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.

[105] Coquitlam Lake provides residents with a mountain-fed water source, while the city maintains its own sewage management system.

There is regular 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.

For motorists, the Trans-Canada Highway provides freeway access to Burnaby, Vancouver, Surrey, and other municipalities in the Lower Mainland.

Barnet Highway begins at the Coquitlam Centre area and heads directly east through Port Moody and on to Burnaby and downtown Vancouver.

Vancouver International Airport, located on Sea Island in the city of Richmond to the west, is the second busiest in Canada and provides most of the air access to the region.

She received an $18 million rehabilitation in November 2002, and currently operates as a secondary vessel on the Departure Bay-Horseshoe Bay route.

The hospital also offers public education clinics for asthma, diabetes, rehabilitation services and programs for cardiology, children's grief recovery, youth crisis response and early psychosis prevention.

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.

[125][126] 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 British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in neighbouring Burnaby provides polytechnic education and grants degrees in several fields.

[129] In addition to the other 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.

[131] 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, both New Moon and Eclipse from the Twilight series, The X-Files, Juno, Smallville, Psych, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Dark Angel, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Romeo Must Die, Stargate SG1, Riverdale, and Watchmen.

[137] Actor Taylor Kitsch graduated from Gleneagle Secondary in 1999,[138] and went on to star in movies such as John Carter and Battleship and Lone Survivor as well as the television series Friday Night Lights' Former FA Premier League goalkeeper Craig Forrest is from Coquitlam and attended Centennial Secondary.

[143] American political analyst and former Fox News co-host Rachel Marsden was raised in Northeast Coquitlam's Burke Mountain area.

[150] 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.