The Victoria-Saanich Citizens’ Assembly final report was released Wednesday, with the issue expected to go to Saanich and Victoria councils next week
A recommendation for amalgamation in the Victoria-Saanich Citizens’ Assembly final report released Wednesday came down to a desire for more consistent planning in the future, says the group’s chair.
“The members ultimately determined that amalgamating would allow both communities to plan in a more consistent and integrated way to meet some of the future financial costs they are likely to face,” said Peter MacLeod, chair of the 48-member Victoria-Saanich Citizens’ Assembly.
MacLeod, principal of MASS LBP, the Toronto-based firm hired by the municipalities to run the process, said in an interview Wednesday that the expectation is that amalgamation will better support residents with the services that they’ll require.
“They recognize that growth, the growth of the region, will only continue, the intensification of the urban areas in both communities will only continue, and they noted the many similarities between the two communities,” said MacLeod.
In the report, members said the administrative border between the two municipalities is invisible, the lives of Victoria and Saanich residents are intertwined, and the governance structure needs to reflect that reality.
“We found no significant barriers to amalgamation in the materials presented to us,” it said.
Thereportwill proceed to city councils for a vote next week — it will be presented to Saanich council on July 14, and Victoria council July 17. If those votes are successful, the issue could go to a referendum, likely as part of the Oct. 17, 2026, municipal elections.
If amalgamation obtains majority support in both communities, the new councils would have a mandate to implement it.
MacLeod said the citizens’ assembly has “done the homework.”
“It’s considered many different perspectives, and I hope local residents will see this as a very healthy contribution to a long-standing debate,” said MacLeod, adding he looks forward to presenting the assembly’s findings directly to Victoria and Saanich elected representatives next week.
“It’s our expectation that given the assembly reached such a high degree of consensus, that council will take its recommendations very seriously.”
Forty-six of the 48 randomly selected resident members of the assembly completed the process, and of those, 45 voted in favour.
The report addresses nine key areas, including Indigenous relationships, climate resilience, municipal planning and transportation, service levels and delivery, police and fire integration, housing affordability, agriculture and rural lands protection, governance models, and conducting a public referendum.
If Victoria and Saanich amalgamate, they would continue to benefit from regional co-operation under the Capital Regional District.
In the 2014 municipal elections, eight of the region’s 13 municipalities put amalgamation-related questions on ballots. In the end, 75 per cent of voters were in favour of examining some kind of amalgamation.
Four years later, Victoria and Saanich residents voted in favour of establishing the citizens’ assembly to study amalgamation. In Saanich, 16,852 voted in favour, while 13,274 were against. In Victoria, the Yes side won 16,847 votes, while the No side had 8,502.
The assembly was funded equally by the City of Victoria, District of Saanich, and the province of British Columbia.
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The Victoria Saanich Citizens’ Assembly reportcan be found at victoriasaanich.ca