The coastal seaport city of Vancouver is located on the far southwest point of mainland British Columbia on the Burrard Peninsula. As the third most populous metropolitan area in Canada, the greater Metro Vancouver area covers an area of over 2,800 kilometres (1,100 square miles) and is home to over 2.3 million people. The city of Vancouver itself has a population of over 603,000 people living in almost 287,000 homes, making Vancouver the most densely populated Canadian city with over 5,000 people per square kilometre.

21 incorporated municipalities currently make up the Metro Vancouver area, including the larger cities of Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, Langely, and Delta; the smaller cities of New Westminster, Port Coquitlam, North Vancouver, Port Moody, White Rock, and Pitt Meadows; the district municipalities of Maple Ridge and West Vancouver; the island municipality of Bowen Island; and the villages of Anmore, Lions Bay, and Belcarra. The Greater Vancouver Regional District municipalities work together to administer resources and services common to the entire area.

Thanks to a brand of city planning that encourages high population density through a combination of mixed-use development and high-rise residential towers, Vancouver has regularly ranked highly as one of the world's most livable cities for more than a decade.