• Politics

Victoria and Saanich voters to face non-binding amalgamation question Oct. 17

When Victoria and Saanich residents cast their municipal election ballots on Oct. 17, they will also answer an identical question about the future shape of the capital region: "Do you support Saanich and Victoria becoming one municipality?" ¹

The question will appear on both cities' ballots alongside the usual races for mayor, council, CRD directors and school trustees ². It is the first time residents of either municipality have ever been asked directly whether they want the two communities to merge. Earlier votes, in 2014 and 2018, asked only about studying the idea, not doing it ³

Why it's non-binding, not the referendum councils wanted

Both councils had originally committed to something stronger. After the Victoria-Saanich Citizens' Assembly, a 48-member body created following a 2018 referendum, spent more than eight months studying amalgamation and recommended in spring 2025 that the two municipalities merge, Victoria and Saanich's mayors jointly asked the province in October 2025 to authorize a binding referendum for the 2026 election ¹

The province said no. In April 2026, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Christine Boyle told both cities a binding vote would only be considered after more detailed analysis of the financial, transition and service impacts of amalgamation, and after consultation with area First Nations ¹. Boyle noted the Citizens' Assembly's final report, while covering governance, service delivery, transportation, climate resilience, housing and public safety, did not include a comprehensive analysis of the cost of amalgamation or its effect on property tax rates ²

Boyle suggested a non-binding opinion question instead. Saanich council voted 7-2 on June 22 to add it to the ballot, with Couns. Karen Harper and Teale Phelps Bondaroff opposed ⁴. Victoria council followed on June 25 with a closer 5-4 vote, with Mayor Marianne Alto and Couns. Chris Coleman, Matt Dell, Krista Loughton and Susan Kim in favour, and Couns. Jeremy Caradonna, Marg Gardiner, Stephen Hammond and Dave Thompson opposed ⁵

Being non-binding means the results carry no legal or statutory weight and cannot, by themselves, create an amalgamated municipality ²

The council debate

Council was not unanimous about whether to bother. Alto argued the city owed it to voters and to the Citizens' Assembly to keep the question alive. "The depth of the analysis, research, conversation, debate that led to the recommendation is remarkable, and I think it needs to be respected," she said, adding that if the province wants further study done, it should pay for it ⁵. She said a "no" result would likely see the issue dropped "for a generation," while a "yes" would send a message that residents want the province to act ⁵

Gardiner called the process "a farce" and accused the province of using its demand for more information as "a tactic to kill" amalgamation, saying "10-plus years of conversation" should have been enough ⁵. Caradonna called the non-binding question a pointless "temperature check," since a "yes" would only lead to a second referendum. "What is the point of holding two referenda, especially if the citizens' assembly has committed or recommended that we hold a binding one?" he said. He tried to refer the whole matter back to the province for further study, but that amendment was defeated 5-4 ⁵. Hammond said a non-binding question "may sound democratic, but settles nothing," warning it risked "another round of process, another round of interpretation, and another result that everyone can argue about afterwards" ⁵

In Saanich, Coun. Colin Plant called the province's stance "a showing of disrespect," and Coun. Susan Brice said it "disrespects our public," though she voted to put the question forward anyway, calling it worth asking "as wimpy as a non-binding arbitration question is" ⁷. Premier David Eby, asked about the frustration, said the province would take the vote's results seriously, but that working through amalgamation in stages "ensures everyone goes in eyes open to the implications ultimately of where we end up." ⁶

What happens next

Per Saanich's official explanation, if a majority of voters in both Saanich and Victoria vote yes, that would give the newly elected councils support to pursue further technical and financial analysis with the province, a step toward a possible future binding referendum, but not that referendum itself ². If voters in either municipality vote no, "there is not enough public support to continue pursuing amalgamation, and no further work would take place." ²

A volunteer advocacy group, the Capital Region Amalgamation Society, is campaigning for a "yes" vote through a website called saanichvictoria.ca, arguing that the roughly $1 million already spent on the citizens' assembly and related democratic exercises should be honoured with a "yes." The group's own site states its view that the earliest a binding referendum could now be held is 2030, a projection that is the group's own assessment and has not been confirmed by either city or the province ⁸

There has been no independent, scientific polling published on how Victoria or Saanich voters are likely to answer the question, so the outcome remains an open question heading into the Oct. 17 vote.