FAQ

Regional district boards act through resolutions and bylaws, which require votes by the directors on a regional district board. Voting on regional district boards can be complex because regional districts are made up of jurisdictions of different populations and they may participate in different services.

After the 2026 Census, it’s expected that the City of Nanaimo’s population will be high enough that, under the current voting formula, the City of Nanaimo would need to appoint ten directors to the RDN Board in 2027. However, the City of Nanaimo only has nine elected officials, which makes this requirement impossible to meet.

The RDN Board is considering the following changes:

1. Increasing the Voting Unit from 2,500 people to 2,600 (this number determines how many votes each area gets); and, 
2. Changing the Voting Divisor from 5 to 6.7 (this determines how many directors each community needs to appoint to the RDN Board based on how many votes it receives).

Three options were considered:

Option 1: Changes to the voting unit

• It means the population number that is used to set the number of directors represent each area.
• The voting unit varies significantly across the province from 600 to 20,000.
• The RDN’s current voting unit is 2,500.
• If the number is increased could change the number of directors and could also change how many votes each Director has for weighted votes on things like contracts and finances and for decisions about how local services are delivered.

Option 2: Changes to the voting divisor

• The RDN’s current voting divisor is five but this number can be changed.
• There is only ever one electoral area director for each electoral area but the number of municipal directors can change depending on population and the divisor.
• Using the total population divided by the voting unit gives us 73. That gives us the 19 directors currently on the RDN Board.
• Increasing the divisor would make the number of directors on the RDN Board fit projected population and make the board more manageable.

Option 3: Changes to the voting unit and voting divisor

• Changes to the voting unit and voting divisor will involve a combination of both options 1 and 2 above.

Option 3 was the selected approach that has been submitted to the province.

The proposed change in voting formula will affect how many directors are on the RDN Board and how many votes they each have when making decisions. 

Every community gets a set number of directors based on their population. Reducing the total number of directors can shift the result of a vote. 

A change in the voting strength means that each community gets a different number of weighted votes than they have now. As voting strength reflects how many votes each community has in a decision, it can change the outcome. 

The RDN Board is considering a change where the City of Nanaimo would receive more votes to reflect its growing population but would only need to appoint seven directors. The City of Parksville is also expected to gain one vote due to population growth but keep the same number of directors. The District of Lantzville, Town of Qualicum Beach and the seven electoral areas would keep the same number of directors and votes.

Watch the March 3, 2026, RDN Committee of the Whole meeting, the March 10, 2026 RDN Board meeting and tentatively the April 28, 2026 RDN Board meeting where the RDN Board considers the options and read the staff reports. Links here: Committee of the Whole - March 03, 2026 and here: Board - March 10, 2026 

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•  Regional Districts are federations of municipalities and electoral areas

•  They act in response to expressed needs, desires and instructions of their members

•  The Board serves as a forum in which these needs, desires and instructions are expressed and explored by member communities

•  Regional Districts take action largely through services

•  Local government services in electoral areas

•  Inter-jurisdictional (sub-regional) services to combinations of municipalities and electoral areas

•  Regional services to address regional needs

•  Regional Districts evolve over time to meet the changing needs in and of each region

The Regional District is governed by a Board of 19 Directors. There are eight members on the Board representing the City of Nanaimo, two members representing the City of Parksville, one member each for the Town of Qualicum Beach and the District of Lantzville, and one for each of the RDN's seven Electoral Areas. 

Click here to visit our latest mapping tool, type in your address and determine where you live within the RDN.

Check out our annual Budget and Property Tax Summaries under Property Taxes at: rdn.bc.ca/financial-reports. The RDN Budget and Property Tax Summaries show the services you receive, where the money comes from and where it goes.

As a local government, the RDN is a regional federation of four municipalities and seven electoral areas, with an estimated population of approximately 160,000 (2017). The four municipalities are: the City of Nanaimo, the City of Parksville, the Town of Qualicum Beach, and the District of Lantzville. The electoral areas are as follows:

Electoral Area A: Cedar, South Wellington, Yellowpoint, Cassidy

Electoral Area B: Gabriola, Decourcy, Mudge Islands

Electoral Area C: Extension, Nanaimo Lakes, East Wellington, Pleasant Valley

Electoral Area E: Nanoose Bay

Electoral Area F: Coombs, Hilliers, Errington, Whiskey Creek, Meadowood

Electoral Area G: French Creek, San Pareil, Little Qualicum

Electoral Area H: Bowser, Qualicum Bay, Deep Bay