The population of Grand Forks was 3,985 in 2011. The mayor of Grand Forks is Frank Konrad. The city started in the late 19th century when copper mining was popular in both the Boundary and Kootenay regions of British Columbia. It officially became a city on April 15, 1897. In both 1908 and 1911, fires destroyed the downtown core because of the large number of wood frame buildings and stores. Grand Forks has an ice hockey team, the Grand Forks Border Bruins which play in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.