Is Port Coquitlam a good place to live?

Will you continue to build your home in the hometown of Canada’s National Hero after knowing these numbers?

Photo: Joanna Szypulska/IG

Have you read about the inspiring life of Terry Fox, Canada’s national hero who is known for conducting a marathon campaign to fund cancer awareness research?

Fox finished 5,373 kilometers (3,339 mi) and raised $24M despite having cancer and getting one leg amputated during his last years. Fox is known for being a dedicated person who does everything in full commitment during his early years. That has probably helped Fox accomplish his campaign well. But do you know where did that dedication originate?

Based on sources, Fox’s mom, known for being overly protective of her children, inspired him to be fully committed in everything that he did. 

Fox’s mom represented thousands of moms from Port Coquitlam. Colloquially known as “PoCo,” Port Coquitlam is a small, thriving city located 27 km east of Vancouver and is celebrated for its “small-town charm.” PoCo is a dream place for someone who values downtown living and a family-friendly community while getting access to the perks of living in Vancouver. 

Do you want to live in PoCo? 

Well, here are some statistics that you need to know before entirely making your decision and moving to Port Coquitlam. 

We categorized them into three: 

• Statistics for your physical well-being, 
• Statistics for your economic well-being, and
• Statistics for your mental well-being.  

Let’s begin by discussing the first category: 

Statistics for your Physical Well-being

Covid-19 updates 

There is very little data about the specifics of covid cases in Port Coquitlam. So for this particular statistic, we will try to look at its current condition by looking at Tri-Cities’ data which can be a good representation of PoCo’s covid-19 updates since the city comprises that particular Metro Vancouver region.

Based on an October 25 report of Tricity news, the Tri-Cities have seen a significant decrease in the level of covid-cases. In addition to this, the BC Centre for Disease Control has revealed that the average daily rate of covid cases per 100k population ranges only from 0-5 in November this year. Note that the drop in covid cases plus the report of the very low covid case could indicate that the city is doing well in fighting the spread of Covid-19. 

Meanwhile, the overall health index* in Port Coquitlam is 63.89, which is considered high. Health care, in general, has been rated well. According to the survey, people in PoCo find that getting access to health care facilities is highly convenient. 

From these data, we can infer that Port Coquitlam can be considered a safe destination for those who want to travel there and, most importantly, for those looking forward to moving to this charming little town in Metro Vancouver. 

Pollution 

If you have done some research about Port Coquitlam before discovering this blog, you have probably learned that PoCo has been hailed as the “city of rivers and mountains.” That helped Port Coquitlam achieve a very high level of air quality (or very low levels of air pollution at 11.36). 

The drinking water and accessibility to it is also worth noting because it has been rated high by Numbeo’s respondents.**

**Please note that these data are only based on the site’s report, which depends on the respondents’ experiences who took part in their survey. It may or may not represent the case in other parts of Port Coquitlam.

Statistics for your Economic Well-being

In this section, allow us to share Port Coquitlam’s current economic situation and other statistics that could influence your economic well-being while living in the city. 

Population

According to the reports, Port Coquitlam’s population is not that big compared to Burnaby and Coquitlam. Based on the 2016 report (latest) by Statistics Canada, PoCo’s population is 58,612, almost 50% down from Burnaby and Coquitlam but take note that over twenty years, this tri-city has been growing on an average of 5.9% since 2001.   

Average Household Income 

The 2016 survey by Statistics Canada revealed that the average household income in Port Coquitlam is $95,644, 5.9 percent higher than the average income in British Columbia. From the Canadian Community Health Survey conducted in the same year, reports revealed that the high level of income earned by the average household has a solid connection to the citizen’s “self-rated very good or excellent health.”

Employment Rate

Port Coquitlam’s unemployment rate is 4.7%, 2% lower than BC’s level of unemployment. 

Investment Income 

Based on CivicInfo BC, Port Coquitlam’s investment income was $3,939,061 in 2019. Before the pandemic, it had an increasing trend and slightly decreased by 5.3% in 2020, which is acceptable due to covid-19 restrictions. However, despite the drop in the level of investment income, the overall revenue of Port Coquitlam still went up beyond $3M, which is a good indication that the city is doing well even at the height of the pandemic.  

With these data, we can conclude that Port Coquitlam is doing well economically. In fact, in a recent video uploaded by the City of Port Coquitlam on their youtube channel, they revealed that they have allotted $52M for their 2021 - 2022 Capital plan. It was by far the largest one-time investment upgrade to local infrastructure in Port Coquitlam. These will definitely benefit everyone who lives and will live in Port Coquitlam in the near future.

Now, let’s move on to our last category.

Statistics for your Mental Well-being

Statistics that could show how well safe and protected you are in Port Coquitlam is definitely one of the important statistics you need to consider for your mental health. 

Safety and Protection 

Under this particular category, we would like to emphasize the following indices*, which has low to very low levels which could indicate how safe your life could be in PoCo in terms of the following: 

• Level of crime: 30.41 (Low)
• Being mugged or robbed: 12.16 (Very Low)
• Being subject to a physical attack because of your skin color, ethnic origin, gender, or religion: 14.86 (Very Low)
• Corruption and bribery: 18.92 (Very low)

We would also want you to note how safe it is to walk alone in PoCo, whether it is during the day or night: 

• Walking alone during daylight: 90.54 (Very High)
• Walking alone during the night: 62.84 (High)
• Safety index: 63.89 (High)

*source: Numbeo

Number of Travel Destinations 

With the current state of the pandemic, when travel restrictions between borders are implemented from time to time, this is another statistic that you need to consider. 
As we mentioned a while ago, Port Coquitlam is known as the “city of rivers and mountains.” Let's look at the gallery below and see how true that is about Port Coquitlam. Here’s a gallery of some fantastic places that you can visit in this Metro Vancouver area:

Final Thoughts 

In 2020, the campaign that Terry Fox began 40 years ago already raised $800M. You could still be part of his legacy. But the thing is, are you still moving to Port Coquitlam after learning about the statistics listed above? The answer could be..

Why not?

All figures indicate how amazing your future life in Port Coquitlam could be! 

This article was last updated on May 27, 2023