Elections & Elector Assent

Elections for Electoral Area Directors to represent the electoral areas within the CSRD occur every four years.  The next General Local Elections will be held on Saturday, October 15, 2022.

As part of the General Local Election system in BC, Electoral Area Directors may be elected by acclamation (in the case of a single qualified candidate) or by voting (where there is more than one qualified candidate). Each Municipal Director on the Board of Directors is appointed by their respective Council from their elected members.

Assent Voting (Referendum)

For certain matters (long term borrowing, establishment of new services), regional districts are required to obtain elector approval before the project can proceed. Assent voting (or referendum) allows electors to vote on whether a proposal would move forward or not. Assent of the electors is obtained if a majority of the votes counted are in favour of the bylaw or question. Assent voting is conducted under the rules that generally apply to local elections.

Alternate Approval Process

The Local Government Act and Community Charter gives the Board of Directors an alternate option to seeking approval of the electors by referendum or the alternative approval process (AAP). It is a less costly and less time consuming way of asking the electorate’s permission to proceed with the adoption of, for example, a borrowing bylaw. If at least 10 per cent of the estimated number of electors oppose the bylaw, agreement or other matter in question, it must be taken to a formal referendum vote before it can be adopted. 

Other forms of electoral assent

Participating area approval is required for regional district service establishing and loan authorization bylaws and can also be obtained through municipal or Treaty First Nation consent or Electoral Area consent. How participating area approval may be obtained depends on the type of participant and the nature of the service.