Alain (Al) Joseph Boire (1957–) is an author, founding member and first president of the Maillardville Residents’ Association (MRA), and an active and passionate advocate for the Maillardville community.

Boire was born in Maillardville on October 15, 1957. He was raised in a French Canadian family and spent his formative years in the Maillardville community. He attended Notre Dame de Lourdes school, St. Thomas More Collegiate, École Montgomery Middle School, and Centennial School. Boire became a professional home inspector, and resided in Maillardville for most of his life.

Boire has been active in the Maillardville community in many ways. In 1981–1985, he was the Director of Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church, and during 2000–2005, Boire served as the director of Village Credit Union. Concerned with the developments in the community, Boire and a group of neighbours joined and founded the MRA in 2005, where Boire became the first president. The MRA was very active between the years of 2005 and 2011 and Boire was instrumental in starting long-standing community initiatives, such as its “Clean Up Maillardville” days, an Adopt-a-Street program, a Forum on Crime and a community website and directory. Boire was a founding member of the Maillardville Commercial and Cultural Revitalization task force committee on the MRA. Additionally, Boire joined the board of Place Maillardville Community in 2006, where he was Executive Director from 2011 to 2013.

In 2009, on behalf of the MRA, Boire completed research into the history of Maillardville for the community’s centenary. On their website they published ten short biographies each month on a specific decade in Maillardville’s history. Over the next seven years Boire intermittently returned to the project. In honour of Coquitlam’s 125th anniversary in 2016, Boire completed his research and published his book, "With Hearts and Minds: Maillardville, 100 Years of History on the West Coast of BC."

Boire was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award in 2012. In 2018, Boire and his family moved to Smiths Falls, Ontario.

ArtsConnect Tri-Cities Arts Council is a non-profit society and regional arts council. It was originally formed in 1969 as the Coquitlam Fine Arts Council (CFAC), to promote arts and cultural activities in Coquitlam. During 1983–1991 it changed its name to the Coquitlam Area Fine Arts Council (CAFAC) when it expanded its services to Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore, and Belcarra. From 1992–2002 the organization was known as the ARC Arts Council, to reflect the Council’s role as an Arts Resource Centre. In 2003, the board changed the organization’s name to ArtsConnect.

ArtsConnect is dedicated to “connecting people through the arts.” They act as an arts resource, providing information about arts and cultural events and opportunities to the community at large. They achieve this by providing forums, workshops, professional development, and events that reflect the community’s diversity of culture, ages, and interests. Additionally, ArtsConnect fosters opportunities for artists to showcase their work at events, exhibitions and performances. ArtsConnect’s goal is to create and expand awareness of the beneficial aspects of arts and culture on the well-being of its community and advocate for arts and cultural development in the region. Throughout its history, it received funding from the Government of British Columbia, municipal grants, fundraising, membership, and donations.

Governance of ArtsConnect is overseen by a Board of Directors, responsible for the management of a Council for the purposes of achieving its objectives. The Council consists of a President, Vice-President, and a Secretary/Treasurer. The Council itself has three types of committees: an Executive Committee, Standing Committees, and Special Committees.

ArtsConnect has undertaken and sponsored many arts and cultural initiatives, including an arts resource centre and library, arts facility and program development, their Youth Matters! initiative, and provided scholarships and grants for students, individuals, and projects contributing to the literary, visual, and performing arts in the community. It held annual events, such as Works in 3D, Vernissage, Faces of the World Arts and Culture Festival and many other exhibitions and events, workshops, and educational programs. Additionally, it maintained a partnership with Tri-Cities Community TV and aired an eponymous television program that ran on the local Shaw TV channel 4.

E.A. Atkins served on Council from the date of Coquitlam's incorporation in 1891 until he was elected Reeve of the Corporation of the District of Coquitlam in 1897. He held the position of Reeve until 1903. He was an original settler of the area, having been issued a Crown Land Grant for District Lot 382 in the New Westminster District on June 6th, 1883.

The Audio-Visual Department at Essondale was officially established in 1947. Essondale Hospital had a single silent 35 mm film projector and sound and film projector during the 1920s and 1930s, and held weekly dances on an amplified phonograph as early as 1938. In 1940, two 35 mm sound on film projectors were installed on ward A2 in West Lawn. During this period, audio-visual equipment was largely used for patient enjoyment.

In 1946, audio-visual equipment for educational, clinical, and recreational purposes was organized at Essondale under Guy H. Walker, the head of the audio-visual department. At this time, they acquired 16mm films to show on wards for patients who could not attend films in ward A2. They also managed still projectors for slides and transparencies. In 1947, the department had three staff members and held regular picture schedules. They began collecting a 16mm library of both educational and recreational videos. Additionally, they had a phonograph record library and wired sound equipment into patient dining rooms, the lawns, and airing courts.

In 1948, the department acquired a still camera and fully-equipped darkroom for producing slides and prints. The audio-visual department began documenting all aspects of the hospital through their photography program and printed photographs in-house.

In 1953, the department moved to Pennington Hall where, for the first time, they had the advantages of an adequate auditorium for screening films. They countined programming wired music and radio across buildings and on the lawns and even extended their range out to the Riverside Unit at Colony Farm.

In 1966, the department became incorporated into the Industrial Therapy Department in order to consolidate their resources in one location. It was then known as the Audio-Visual Division.

Alexander Windram was born on February 21, 1881 in Eyemouth, Scotland. He immigrated to Canada in 1910 with his wife, Mary and young son, John, and began working as a steamfitter at Fraser Mills. While building their lives in the growing mill town, the family welcomed another son, Andrew, and a daughter, Elsie. The family had not long settled when the First World War broke out.

Windram enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on February 22, 1916. According to his Attestation Papers, Windram was five foot seven and a half inches tall, with blue eyes and brown hair and with tattoos on both forearms. He arrived in Liverpool on November 11, 1916 and was taken on strength into the 7th Battalion in January, 1917.

He fought at the Battle of Vimy Ridge and was killed on the first day of the Battle, April 9, 1917.

The Burquitlam Community Association (BCA) was established in 1997 to advocate for the residents of Burquitlam and foster a strong sense of community in the area. It grew out of an effort by citizens to stop a proposed Sky Train route through the Miller Park area because of concerns over potential ecological damage to the forest and bird habitat. The BCA was instrumental in lobbying the City of Coquitlam and the RCMP to provide a satellite police station in the Burquitlam area, which was established in the Burquitlam Plaza. The group successfully advocated for the conversion of a city-owned lot at 515 Ebert Avenue into a community garden, which is now managed by the Burquitlam Community Organic Garden Society. The BCA was active in the consultation process with developers and contractors for the Millennium Line SkyTrain extension through Burquitlam. The BCA regularly organized all candidates meetings during elections to ensure the interests of Burquitlam residents were taken into account.

In 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other outstanding issues, the Board of Directors determined that the time had come to dissolve the Association. In accordance with the Societies Act, a Special General Meeting was held on May 27, 2021 and a motion was approved to officially dissolve the Association. All funds were returned to major donors and distributed to local non-profit organizations.

The British Columbia School of Psychiatric Nursing was established at East Lawn, Riverview Hospital (then the Female Chronic Unit and Essondale Hospital, respectively) in 1930. It was the first training school of its kind in B.C. When the unit opened in 1930, there was an immediate need for trained psychiatric nurses. Firstly, a six-month post-graduate course was offered to train registered nurses quickly, whereupon they became supervisors for new nurses enrolled in the course. In 1931, a nursing instructor, Miss C. A. Hicks, was appointed and the School expanded from a single course to a two-year psychiatric nursing program. The first graduates from the School received their diploma in 1932. That year, the program was extended to a three-year term which continued until 1951 when it again became a two-year program.

Because of the historical gendered beliefs held by the medical profession at the time, psychiatric nurses and students were female. With roots in Victorian viewpoints on gender, women were considered to be best equipped for nursing because they were considered to possess a moral capacity and natural compassion suited to patient care. Men were initially only considered mental hospital attendants. However in 1937 the School opened its enrollment to male psychiatric nurses.

Prior to 1951, psychiatric nursing was not a regulated profession in British Columbia and students enrolled in the program were employed as civil servants. With the establishment of the Psychiatric Nurses Act (1951) graduates were bound by standards of practice and education and were not considered civil servants until the successful completion of the program.

Riverview Hospital remained the home of the School of Psychiatric Nursing until 1972. But due to a decline in patient population, the School moved to the British Columbia Institute of Technology in and was renamed the Psychiatric Nursing program. The last class from the Riverview Hospital program graduated in 1973.

Due to Provincial budget cuts in 1984, the Psychiatric Nursing program was reduced to a one-year program and moved to Douglas College, where it remains today.

Long serving employee of the City of Coquitlam. Director of Planning (ca. 1969 to ca.1987). He served as the Acting Municipal Manager starting in 1988 and then Acting City Manager (when Coquitlam became a City in 1992) until ca. 1997. Buchanan Square at City Hall is named in his honour.

Burquitlam Elementary School was founded in 1970 and was located at 550 Thompson Ave, Coquitlam, British Columbia. It was responsible for providing public education from preschool to Grade 7 to members of the neighbourhood of Burquitlam and also offered a daycare program and programs and services to children with special needs. Throughout its history, Burquitlam Elementary School was faced with three probable school closures (in 1979, 1984, 1987) and finally closed in 2003 due to budget cuts in the School District. Currently, the Mediated Learning Academy is housed in the old Burquitlam Elementary School building.

Jack Ballard was elected Mayor in the election held in December 1969, following the death of L.J. Christmas in July. Ballard served as Mayor for a two-year term between 1970 and 1971.

The Burquitlam Lions Club was established in 1960. The Club was a part of Multiple District 19, Zone H-5 of Lions Clubs International. Like all Lions Clubs worldwide, the mission of the Burquitlam Lions Club was to create and foster a spirit of understanding among all people for humanitarian needs by providing voluntary services through community involvement and international cooperation.

Every individual Lions Club establishes its own service priorities in addition to programs supported and recognized by Lions International (typically programs focusing on Sight, Hearing, Diabetes Awareness, Youth Outreach and International Understanding). But Burquitlam Lions Club also supported local initiatives, notably organizing and collecting Christmas hampers for the needy, conducting social programs for the elderly, providing music bursaries (Mary Olfield), organizing Easter egg hunts and serving food at community events, and helping local families in need with projects such as wheelchairs, ramps, lifts, educational tools, and equipment. Additionally, at the Multiple District level, they aided in supporting Camp Squamish and Camp Horizon for disabled individuals.

The Burquitlam Lions Club was also responsible for funding two care centres: the Burquitlam Lions Intermediate Care Centre (1981-2016) and L.J. Christmas Manor Seniors Home.

During its existence, the Burquitlam Lions Club met the first and third Wednesday of every month at the L.J. Christmas Manor. However, due to decreasing membership numbers, the Club dissolved on July 1, 2018.

Peter Barth was the Accountant for the Canadian Western Lumber Company. He stood in the election for Reeve of Corporation of the District of Coquitlam following the secession of the City of Port Coquitlam in March, 1913. He defeated L. E. Marmont by a margin of 144 to 121 votes in the election held on March 29th, 1913. His victory was due to significant support in the Maillardville community. The Coquitlam Star reported that "Mr Barth is known to be a man of excellent business training and the result showed that Mr. Barth convinced the electors as to his ability." (Coquitlam Star, April 2nd, 1913) Barth served only one partial term as Reeve of the municipality.

Richard Broadbridge was a prominent Edwardian photographer who operated in Vancouver and photographed areas of British Columbia before he relocated to Australia. In 1908-1909 he operated in partnership as the Broadbridge-Bullen Photo Co. and in 1910-1911 under the name Broadbridge Commercial Photo Co. In 1912, his offices were located at 330 Homer Street in Vancouver and photographs from this time are stamped with "Broadbridge Photos."

Ralph Booth was one of the original landowners in Coquitlam. He and Brehaut owned District Lot 47 and he also owned District Lot 61, which was eventually incorporated into the District of Fraser Mills in 1913. The Booth Farm house is thought to be one of the original houses in Coquitlam and was purchased by the City of Coquitlam in 2013. Booth was a dairy farmer and his farm hosted many picnics for the local residents. He served as Reeve from 1904 to 1908.

Barb Wood was born in Halifax in 1953. She studied architecture and fine arts at the University of Waterloo from 1972 to 1976, graduating with an honours Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. After graduation she moved to Vancouver with her husband: the architect Don Hazelden.

In 1980, she set up Barb Wood Graphics Ltd. Corporate clients included the Bank of Nova Scotia, BMO, RBC, BC Sugar, Dairyland, Neptune Terminals, BC Ferries, and several municipalities including the City of Coquitlam. She also became a partner in the successful printmaking co-op and gallery Six of One on Granville Island.

The history of the Columbian newspaper can be traced back to 1859. The New Westminster Times, the predecessor of the newspaper, was published on Sept. 17th, 1859 by Leonard McClure. In 1861, Leonard McClure sold the Times to a group of New Westminster citizens who renamed the paper, the British Columbian whose first issued appeared on February 13, 1861. John Robson, a future premier of the province, was appointed as its editor. The newspapers office was located at the south side of Columbia Street in Lytton Square. In March 1862, the office moved several doors east along Columbia. After the consolidation of the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia in 1868, the local economic conditions worsened and Robson moved the newspaper to Victoria in 1869 where it was eventually bought by a competing newspaper, the Daily British Colonist.;Robson returned to New Westminster in 1880 and purchased a local paper, the Dominion Pacific Herald in 1880. In August, 1881, his brother, David Robson, joined John Robson. Robson with the help of his brother published the first issue of the new British Columbian in January 1882. However, in 1883, John Robson again returned to Victoria to pursue his political ambitions and left the newspaper in the hands of his brother to manage until 1888, when the newspaper changed ownership. In this year, the newspaper was purchased by the five Kennedy brothers: George was the editor, Robert, the business manager, with the remaining three brothers being responsible for other duties. Throughout its early years the newspaper was published several times a week, but it was not until 1886, when the newspaper became a daily paper and was renamed the Daily Columbian. After the great New Westminster fire of 1898, the newspaper ceased publication for one month. The newspapers offices were destroyed and all its records lost. Forced to publish in Vancouver for the next year, on Oct. 8, 1898 the daily issues recommenced after the fire. The newspaper returned to New Westminster the following year. On Sept. 9, 1899 the newspaper moved into a building at Victoria Gardens, on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Clarkson. In 1900, a group of local citizens with the help of Richard McBride, another future premier, purchased the paper. Ownership of the paper was transferred from the five Kennedy brothers to the following new shareholders: G. E. Corbould, Fred Buscombe, Charles Wilson, T. S. Annandale, W. J. Mathers, J. W. Johnston and George V. Fraser. The new owners were shareholders in the Columbian Company Limited which was incorporated on May 17, 1900. The Kennedy brothers continued on the staff. In 1900, James Davis JD Taylor, a future MP and senator, was appointed as its managing editor (E). In 1902, JD Taylor became a shareholder. In April, 1906, J. D. Taylor became a director of the company. Subsequently, Taylor bought out the rest of the original shareholders. The Taylor family maintained ownership of the paper throughout the remainder of its history. For a time, the Columbian owned several other newspapers. In 1907, the company bought the Chilliwack Progress and operated until 1923. The Columbian also operated the Delta Times from 1909 to 1922.;C. Davis Taylor, J. D. Taylors only son, joined the paper in 1921. In 1924, he became a shareholder. In 1927, he became a director. At the time of his early death in 1940, he was the managing editor. In May, 1941, J. D. Taylor died at age 77. Subsequently, ownership of the Columbian Company was passed to his two daughters Miss Dorothy Taylor and Miss Mary L. Babe (Mrs. M. L. Emes), his daughter-in-law, Mrs. C. D. Taylor (Mrs. Walter Goodwin) and grandson, Richard D. Rikk Taylor. During WWII, there was only little or no growth as necessity and equipments were impossible; however, during the post WWII boom, the Columbian Company was able to expand its operations. Although during its early years, the newspaper was a political newspaper with several owners also being politician, the newspaper took a more independent line during its later period. The three successive editors were first, R. A. Mac McLellan, who retired in 1948. The next editor, Dorothy G. Taylor, daughter of Sen. J. D. Taylor, as also editor of the popular weekly edition of The Columbian that served the Fraser Valley until 1950. She resigned her position in 1954 and retired. I. E. Bill Hambly was editor from 1954. In 1972, the newspaper moved its operations to North Road in Coquitlam. In 1980, more than 200 staff member were working under the direction of R. D. Rikk Taylor. It was one of Canadas few remaining independent family-owned newspapers. In the early days, the circulation of the newspaper was only a few hundred copies. By 1941, daily circulation was 3,000. In the 1940s, the Columbian had reached 5,000 circulation and served only New Westminster. However, by 1964, the paper reached 22,000 circulation and served not just new Westminster, but neighbouring communities as well with five separate weekly editions: the Burnaby Columbian, the Coquitlam Columbian, the New Westminster Columbian and the Surrey Columbian, and Fraser Valley Columbian. In 1971, daily circulation was 36,000. In 1980, the daily press reached a high of 39,000. Including the affiliated Columbian weeklies, circulation reached 120,000. There were also community newspapers published under the name of Today from 1979 to 1983 for Burnaby, Coquitlam, Fraser Valley, New Westminster, and Surrey/North Delta. The Company also operated a commercial printing division, Craftsmen Printers. Circulation of the newspaper began to decline in the late seventies and burdened by increasing debt, the newspaper laboured to stay in business. A final attempt of the owners to raise more capital by selling a portion of their equity in the paper failed. Forced into bankruptcy, a receiver was appointed on October 11, 1983 to wind up the affairs of the business. The last issue of the newspaper was published on November 15, 1983. The Columbian Company was dissolved on November 10, 1988.

Colonial settlement of the area between New Westminster and Pitt River along the Fraser began in the 1920s in the pursuit of trapping, fishing, and logging. Industry and more intensive colonial settlement began with the opening of the Fraser Mills sawmill on the north bank of the Fraser in the last years of the 19th century.

Coquitlam comprised an area of approximately sixty-five square miles that had been surveyed by Royal Engineer A.L. Breakenridge in 1863. In the late 1880s, the landowners and pre-emptors living in the area petitioned the province to incorporate as a Municipal District.

The area was incorporated by letters patent dated July 25, 1891 as the Corporation of the District of Coquitlam. The letters patent called for the nomination of five councillors and a reeve and the first meeting of a municipal council were assembled in Kelly’s Hall on August 22nd, 1891 at Westminster Junction, now within the City of Port Coquitlam. The first reeve was R.B. Kelly and the first councillors were E.A. Aitkins, James Fox, S.W. Lehman, James Morrison, and J. Shennan. The first City Clerk was R.D. Irvine.

In 1894, a portion of the Maple Ridge Municipality between the newly formed Corporation of the District of Coquitlam and the Pitt River was added to the Coquitlam municipality, following a petition by the landowners to the province.

In 1913, the land owners in the area known as Westminster Junction wished to limit their tax liability for the development of the rapidly growing district and to establish their own tax base. A petition was sent to the province and the area seceded from the Corporation of the District of Coquitlam, forming the City of Port Coquitlam.

In the same year, The Canadian Western Lumber Company decided to incorporate the area surrounding Fraser Mills and the Corporation of the District of Fraser Mills was incorporated by letters patent in 1913. The Corporation of the District of Coquitlam and the Corporation of the District of Fraser Mills amalgamated in November 1971, when both districts revoked their letters patent and new letters patent was issued incorporating the area as the District of Coquitlam. Supplementary letters patent were issued in 1973 and 1986 to reflect changes in municipal boundaries.

Effective December 1, 1992, the District of Coquitlam’s status was changed by new letters patent to that of a city municipality and it became known as the City of Coquitlam. Today, it is bordered by the municipalities of Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Burnaby, and New Westminster as well as the Fraser River to the south, the Pitt River to the east, and the Coastal Mountains to the north. It includes the community of Maillardville, a region near Fraser Mills settled by French Canadians in the early part of the 20th century.

History of the municipality’s bylaws indicates both the perceived remoteness of the region and its rapid urbanization. Road taxation began in 1897, the sale of liquor was first regulated in 1909, and municipal health regulations were first passed in 1912. Coquitlam had electricity by 1911, and plans for running water began in 1916. The building of a separate fire hall in 1946 and expansion of water service in the mid-1950s indicate a particularly vigorous period of population growth. The municipality assumed responsibility for paved roads and sidewalks by 1961. Zoning changes in the 1970s and 1980s reflect a change in land use from agricultural to single-family suburban residential and low-density apartment housing. An average of two development permits was issued every month by the early 1980s.

The town centre, developed in the 1980s and 1990s, provides cultural and recreational facilities and includes the Coquitlam Centre Mall, the Evergreen Cultural Centre, the Public Safety building, City Hall, the Pinetree Community Centre, the City Centre Aquatic Complex, the Coquitlam Public Library, the City Archives, and Douglas College. The population of Coquitlam has more than doubled from the 1970s to the present day.

City Clerks, District and City of Coquitlam
R.D. Irvine 1891-1899
John Smith 1899-1913
A. Haliburton 1913-1917
Robert Newman 1918-1927
Alan M. Shaw 1928
William Russell 1928-1947
F.L. Pobst 1947-1972
R.A. Leclair, acting clerk, 1965, 1966 1967
H.F. Hockey, acting clerk, 1967
Ted Klassen, acting clerk, 1967
Ted Klassen, 1972-1991
Sandra Aikenhead, 1991-1994
Warren Jones, 1994-2000
Trevor Wingrove, 2000-2002
Sonia Santarossa, 2002-2008
Jay Gilbert, 2008-present

Reeves and Mayors, District and City of Coquitlam
R.B. Kelly 1891-1896
E.A. Atkins 1897-1903
Ralph Booth 1904-1908
D.E. Welcher 1909-1910
James Mars 1911-1913
L.E. Marmont 1918-1922
George H. Proulx 1923
R.C. MacDonald 1924-1941
J.W. Oliver 1942-1944
L.J. Christmas 1945-1969
J.L. Ballard 1970-1971
James L. Tonn 1972-1983
Louis Sekora 1984-1998
Jon Kingsbury 1998-2005
Maxine Wilson 2005-2007
Richard Stewart 2008-present

The position of the City Clerk was established at the first meeting of the District of Coquitlam Council on August 22, 1891 and R.D. Irvine was engaged at the salary of “not more than $50.00 for the balance of year”. Originally the treasurer, assessor and records manager for the District, the City Clerk eventually became Municipal Council liaison with a separately appointed Treasurer. The Clerk’s chief function is to be secretary to Council, Council Select and Special Committees, to the court of property tax revision and secretary to the Board of Variance and Family Court Committee. The Clerk is responsible for Council correspondence and for civic public relations. The Clerk is also the Returning Officer for elections to Council and the School Board and is the custodian of the municipality’s bylaws. Since the Clerk’s Office has responsibility for record keeping, its records serve as one of the more diverse sources documenting Coquitlam’s development as a municipality.

The area between New Westminster and Pitt River along the Fraser River in British Columbia became settled in the pursuit of trapping, fishing and logging beginning in the
1820’s. Industry and significant settlement began with the opening of Fraser Mills sawmill on the north bank of the Fraser in the last years of the 19th century. Coquitlam comprised an area of approximately sixty-five square miles that had been surveyed by Royal Engineer A.L. Breakenridge in 1863. By the late 1880s, it became evident that the area should be incorporated into a Municipal District, and to this end, a petition was made by a majority of the landowners and pre-emptors living in the area. By letters patent dated 25 July 1891,
the area was incorporated as the Corporation of the District of Coquitlam. The letters patent called for the nomination of five councillors and a reeve and the first meeting of a municipal council were assembled in Kelly’s Hall in 1891 at Westminster Junction, now within the City of Port Coquitlam. The first reeve was R.B. Kelly and the first councillors were E.A. Aitkins, James Fox, S.W. Selman, James Morrison and J. Shennan. The first City Clerk was R.D. Irvine.

In 1893, that portion of the Maple Ridge Municipality between the newly formed District of Coquitlam and the Pitt River was added to Coquitlam municipality. The City of Port Coquitlam and the District of Fraser Mills both ceded from the District of Coquitlam in 1913 in order to limit their tax liability for the development of the rapidly growing Coquitlam District and to establish their own tax base, taking just over a almost 7000 acres of land away from the Coquitlam District. Fraser Mills rejoined the District on 1 November 1971, when both districts revoked their letters patent and a new letters patent was proclaimed incorporating the area as the District of Coquitlam. Supplementary letters patent were issued in 1973 and 1986 to reflect changes in municipal boundaries. Effective 1 December 1992, the District of Coquitlam’s status was changed by new letters patent to that of a city municipality and it became known as the City of Coquitlam. Today, it is bordered by the municipalities of Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Burnaby and New Westminster as well as the Fraser River to the south, Pitt River to the east and the Coastal Mountains to the north. It includes the community of Maillardville, a region near Fraser Mills settled by French Canadians in the early years.

History of the municipality’s bylaws indicates both the remoteness of the region and its rapid urbanization. Road taxation began in 1897, the sale of liquor was first regulated in 1909 and municipal health regulations were first passed in 1912. Coquitlam had electricity by 1911, and plans for running water began in 1916. The building of a separate fire hall in 1946 and expansion of water service in the mid-1950s indicate a particularly vigorous period of population growth. The municipality assumed responsibility for paved roads and sidewalks by 1961. Zoning changes in the 1970s and 1980s reflect a change in land use from agricultural to single-family suburban residential and low-density apartment housing. An average of two development permits was issued every month by the early eighties.

The town centre, developed in the mid 1970s, provides cultural and recreational facilities and includes a public safety building, a new City Hall, community centre, a high school and college. The population of Coquitlam has doubled from the 1970s to the present day. A dyking project began in the 1990s has eliminated the Coquitlam River flooding and bridge washouts that sometimes occurred in the last century.

City Clerks, District and City of Coquitlam
R.D. Irvine 1891-1892
W. Alexander Philip 1892-
John Smith 1899-1913
A. Haliburton 1913-1917
Robert Newman 1918-1927
Alan M. Shaw 1928
William Russell 1928-1947
F.L. Pobst 1947-1972
R.A. Leclair, acting clerk, 1965, 1966 1967
H.F. Hockey, acting clerk, 1967
Ted Klassen, acting clerk, 1967
Ted Klassen, 1972-1991
Sandra Aikenhead, 1991-1994
Warren Jones, 1994-2000
Trevor Wingrove, 2000-2002
Sonia Santarossa, 2002-2008
Jay Gilbert, 2008-present

Reeves and Mayors, District and City of Coquitlam
R.B. Kelly 1891-1896
E.A. Atkins 1897-1903
Ralph Booth 1904-1908
D.E. Welcher 1909-1910
James Mars 1911-1913
L.E. Marmont 1918-1922
George H. Proulx 1923
R.C. MacDonald 1924-1941
J.W. Oliver 1942-1944
L.J. Christmas 1945-1969
J.L. Ballard 1970-1971
James L. Tonn 1972-1983
Louis Sekora 1984-1998
Jon Kingsbury 1998-2005
Maxine Wilson 2005-2007
Richard Stewart 2008-present