The Regional District of Nanaimo is considering a change to its voting formula, which determines the number of directors and the weight of their votes, as they consider population growth in the near and distant future. (Image Credit: File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

fair representation

Changes recommended for RDN board voting formula, in place since 1982

Mar 14, 2026 | 5:53 AM

NANAIMO — The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) is considering a change in how they determine the number of board members and their voting power, with future population growth in mind.

During the March 3 RDM Committee of the Whole meeting, senior local government consultant Melany Helmer said they need a voting formula which allows for scalability, limits service impacts, and maintains accurate representation as the local population grows.

“We want to address the challenge that is inevitable here with Nanaimo, but at the same time try to be sensitive to whatever values you consider important for the regional district overall.”

The current formula uses a voting unit of 2,500, with a divisor of five.

The recommended formula, unanimously approved by the board at the Tuesday, March 10 regular meeting, would change the voting unit to 2,600 with a divisor of 6.7, and was submitted to the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs for final approval.

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The voting divisor determines how many directors each community appoints to the board based on the number of votes received.

Voting strength is calculated as population divided by the voting unit, with the number of directors decided by dividing the voting strength by the divisor.

The current, provincially legislated voting formula is used in other jurisdictions, with about 20,000 people represented per City of Nanaimo board member at this time.

They said the last time the voting unit was changed was in 1982, when it increased from 1,500 to 2,500.

RDN’s current voting formula and predicted outcomes. (Image Credit: RDN)

The RDN Board currently has 19 voting members: eight representing the City of Nanaimo, two for Parksville, one each for Qualicum Beach and Lantzville, and one member per the seven Electoral Areas.

Nanaimo’s mayor and the seven councillors with the most votes become RDN board members, while the elected councillor with the lowest vote total is named as an alternative.

Using the current model, Nanaimo would need 10 directors by 2027.

This scenario would also leave Nanaimo without an alternative director, something the Province deemed not viable.

“The objective here being, to bring it as close as possible to status quo for everywhere except Nanaimo, where we were aiming to solve the issue of needing to appoint too many directors,” said Helmer. “In this scenario, it would result in seven directors based on the projected census estimate that’s coming out for 2026 that will be applied in 2027, and none of the other jurisdictions are affected in terms of this shift.”

Other factors included the potential addition of around 800 new Nanaimo voters, if the joint application between the City and Snuneymuxw First Nation (SFN) to extend municipal voting boundaries is approved.

An alternative approval process on the topic started on March 11 and runs until April 13.

This voting formula option, recommended by the RDN board, was considered the closest to the current “status quo” out of several options presented. (Image Credit: RDN)

The board provided the new voting formula recommendation information to the Qualicum, Snaw-Naw-As, and SFN.

Changes to the RDN boardroom may be required in the future to accommodate additional board members, as the mid-Island population is expected to continue to increase.

The public is invited to share their views on the voting formula, with feedback accepted starting Wednesday, March 11, until April 17, and be submitted by emailing inquiries@rdn.bc.ca, a physical letter can be mailed to the RDN at 6300 Hammond Bay Rd, Nanaimo, BC, V9T 6N2, or attend as a delegation at a board meeting, tentatively scheduled for April 28th, by going to rdn.bc.ca/appearing-as-a-delegation.

More information can be found here at getinvolved.rdn.ca/rdn-board-voting.

This voting formula option, recommended by the RDN board, was considered the closest to the current “status quo” out of several options presented, and includes SFN members if their boundary extension is approved. (Image Credit: RDN)

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