FAQs

The CVRD, in consultation with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, has launched a South Cowichan Community Issues Assessment. This project will help to better understand the community’s current issues and concerns around governance and local servicing. 

The intent of this work is: 

• To provide the South Cowichan community with information about their current model of governance and servicing (e.g. water, parks, policing).
• Update and identify new issues or concerns around governance and servicing from South Cowichan residents, service providers, and First Nations communities.

The project is funded by a grant from the Provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs.

In 2023/24, due to fiscal and capacity pressures, the CVRD Board did not approve a budget for a Governance and Services Study, understanding that if provincial funding was secured there would still need to be a significant investment from the CVRD. After consultation with staff at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, it was determined that a more cost effective and strategic approach would be to conduct a Community Issues Assessment. This would provide the South Cowichan communities with information about current governance and service delivery arrangements, update and clearly identify any related concerns and issues.

No. The South Cowichan Community Issues Assessment will not provide a recommendation as to whether or not South Cowichan Communities should become a municipality or outline any changes in service delivery. However, it will help residents and the CVRD understand the current situation better, determine if service or governance gaps exist, and where to focus efforts for the South Cowichan.

This project will result in a South Cowichan Governance and Servicing Report and South Cowichan Community Issues Assessment – What we Heard Report.

This report will:

• Outline the roles, responsibilities and jurisdictions of service providers.
• Present information on existing service delivery arrangements and governance relationships and how decisions are made.
• Layout the current and emerging issues and pressures related to services, as seen by residents, property owners, improvement districts, and First Nations neighbours.

The report will not: 

• Include a review of options for governance change or an examination of municipal incorporation.
• Provide any technical or financial information on the current situation or comparison of change to the current governance. 
• Present governance options or make recommendations on changes to the existing governance model.

The South Cowichan Community Issues Assessment report will help the CVRD identify next steps and/or where to best focus efforts. The report is expected by the end of 2024. Following completion of the study, the CVRD will convey the findings to the Minister of Municipal Affairs. Depending on the results of this work and decisions by the CVRD Board, further steps towards a governance review and/or changes for CVRD Electoral Areas A, B and C, may be considered, if warranted.

For this project, servicing refers to the engineering infrastructure works and related management and planning services that are required to meet the needs of residents. For example, roads, water supply, sewer, garbage collection, parks and recreation facilities, planning, policing, etc. Note: Not all of these services are provided by the CVRD, see FAQ question – “Who takes care of what services in the South Cowichan Electoral Areas?”

A regional district is a governance model for larger areas (a region). A regional district is made up of municipalities, electoral areas, and in some cases, Treaty First Nations, each of which have representation on the Regional District Board. Regional Districts provide:

Region-wide services such as regional parks, and emergency services.

• Inter-municipal or sub-regional services, such as recreation facilities where residents of a municipality and residents in areas outside the municipality benefit from the service.
• planning and land use management services to CVRD electoral areas. 

Electoral areas are the communities located outside municipal boundaries, often referred to as rural or unincorporated areas. Each electoral area is represented by a director, who is elected directly to the regional district Board of Directors.

Municipalities can be classified as either a town, village, district or city depending on the size of their population and geographic area. The B.C. government sets out legislation that provides municipalities with the authority for things like, planning parks, community water systems, local police, roadways and parking, and flexibility to respond to the varying needs and changing circumstances of each community. The province regards municipalities as autonomous, responsible and accountable government directed by democratically elected councils.

The table summarizes some of the key differences between a regional district and municipality. 

The following table outlines key services and their respective providers in the South Cowichan Electoral Areas.

Yes. Most regional district services are optional. Generally, a regional district must adopt a service establishing bylaw to provide a new service to the community. This bylaw outlines what the service is, how it will be delivered, who will benefit, the maximum cost, and how the costs will be apportioned, or divided between service participants.