Council asked city staff to work with Saanich to write an identical referendum question for next year’s municipal election
Victoria council is moving forward with putting the question of amalgamation on the 2026 municipal ballot.
Council asked city staff on Thursday to work with Saanich to write an identical referendum question for the 2026 municipal election, after receiving a report from the Victoria-Saanich Citizens’ Assembly.
Mayor Marianne Alto proposed the move, which passed unanimously.
Alto said council was given a mandate from voters to pursue a concrete answer on amalgamation, and it’s important to maintain that commitment.
Victoria and Saanich residents voted in 2018 in favour of establishing the citizens’ assembly to study amalgamation. Following eight months of deliberation, 39 of 46 members of the assembly came out in support of amalgamation. Seven wanted to keep the two municipalities separate while pursuing deeper integration of services.
Saanich council received the same assembly report on Monday, but opted to wait for a staff report before taking action.
Victoria Coun. Jeremy Caradonna, who says he is neutral on amalgamation, said it was a “mistake” for the citizens’ assembly to take a pro-amalgamation stance, arguing the question should ultimately be decided by voters.
Caradonna said he wants to hear what CUPE, which represents unionized city employees, has to say on amalgamation, as around 1,000 people are employed by the City of Victoria and their jobs would be affected by a merger.
Coun. Dave Thompson said processes like the assembly often create a much more informed view of the issues.
Thompson, who is in favour of seeing Victoria and Saanich’s police and fire departments integrate, said he wants to see the costs of potential amalgamation, as the report didn’t provide enough specifics.
Coun. Matt Dell said he’s concerned about what amalgamation would do for Victoria’s commitment to urban living and community infrastructure, noting that Saanich has recently seen vocal opposition to bus lanes. The electorate also shot down a district borrowing initiative for a new operations centre at McKenzie Avenue and Borden.
Dell noted that Victoria has a municipal financial reserve while Saanich — which prefers to borrow for its projects — does not, which could mean that a merger would leave Victoria voters financially worse off.
Coun. Susan Kim said amalgamation is bound to become an election issue next year, with every candidate putting their own slant on the topic.
Coun. Stephen Hammond said that if the referendum passes, the next council will have its hands full figuring out how to proceed with amalgamation for the next four years.
“I’m not looking forward to the process if I run and if I get elected … maybe I should skip over [the election] or something,” he quipped.
The next municipal election is scheduled for Oct. 17, 2026.
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