Should the Vancouver Island cities of Victoria and Saanich amalgamate?
It’s a question that will likely be on the ballot for voters during the 2026 municipal election. That’s after a citizens’ assembly formally recommended the merger following eight months of study and dozens of hours of deliberation.
“They weighed lots of concerns, lots of different issues – but ultimately, were persuaded that the two communities could be stronger together because amalgamation would allow them to plan for the future,” said Peter MacLeod, chair of the Victoria Saanich Citizens Assembly on Municipal Amalgamation.
There are 13 municipalities in the Capital Regional District, and locals have informally debated the potential merits of merging some of them for decades.
In the case of Victoria and Saanich, that debate became a lot more serious after voters of both municipalities in a 2018 referendum gave the green light for a citizens’ assembly to truly consider the idea. Forty-eight residents were selected through an arms length process to come together, research, and deliberate the concept.
The assembly’s report will be released next month, but MacLeod said the assembly determined the merger would allow the communities to harmonize zoning bylaws and regulations and come up with a more coordinated approach to things like transportation and infrastructure planning.
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“Ultimately I think many of the members of the assembly realized that over the course of their everyday lives they moved back and forth between the communities often without even thinking about it, and if that was the case, maybe it made sense to in the future come together as one community and plan for the future together,” MacLeod said.
Victoria, with a population of about 92,000 and Saanich, with a population of about 126,000 are “peer communities,” he added, meaning it would be a merger of equals rather than one swallowing the other.
Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock said it will ultimately be up to residents to decide whether to move forward, and that he is looking forward to studying the report.
“I’ll want to know how the citizens assembly came to the recommendation and if it is ultimately in the best interests of people in Saanich and their families if this is the direction we are going to move in,” he said.
“I’m sure there will certainly be a lot of questions and answers to come over the next several months.”
Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto said she was glad that the assembly had come up with a clear recommendation.
She said council had already committed to putting the assembly’s recommendation before voters.
“I really am looking forward to reading the detail of how they reached the conclusion because it was a bit of a surprise, I have to say,” she said.
“Is this finally going to happen? I guess to a certain extent that’s up to the people of Victoria and Saanich.”
Moving forward with a merger would also require a green light from the provincial government, but Minister of Municipal Affairs Ravi Kahlon said the province would not stand in the way.
But this would all depend on Saanich and Victoria to analyze the reports and engage with their citizens about what they want to do,” Kahlon said.
“If this is something they want to do we certainly would consider it.”
While the assembly’s conclusion is a step forward towards the possibility of amalgamation, MacLeod stressed there were many steps remaining.
The earliest the idea could be put to voters would be in October 2026.
If a majority of voters in both cities gave the idea the green light, voters would then elect the first amalgamated city council in 2030.
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