Coquitlam is a city in the GVRD (Greater Vancouver Regional District), also known as Greater Vancouver or Metro Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of the largest cities in the province, with a relatively large population. The area has been populated for at least 9,000 years, originally by the Coast Salish First Nations tribe, and then later by Europeans who began arriving around 1860. Engineers in nearby New Westminster needed a road to access what is now Port Moody, which led to the construction of North Road. In 1953, the Lougheed Highway opened and made Coquitlam more accessible to other areas of the city. The arrival of French Canadian mill workers from Quebec around 1908 to 1910 led to the creation of Maillardville, a distinctly francophone area in the midst of mostly-English speaking Coquitlam (with French street signs and more). The district of Coquitlam was incorporated in 1891.