City of Victoria and the District of Saanich voters will be asked this month whether the two municipalities should become one, in a non-binding plebiscite on Oct. 17, 2026.
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Voters in the City of Victoria and the District of Saanich will be asked during the civic election on Oct. 17, 2026 whether their municipalities should become one, though the results would not automatically lead to a merger.
Both municipal governments are placing the same non-binding plebiscite question before voters: “Do you support Saanich and Victoria becoming one municipality?” Because the vote is non-binding, even a majority in favour in each community would still require further studies and provincial involvement before a legally binding referendum could be considered.
Under Saanich’s description of the process, a majority voting yes in both municipalities would indicate clear public support after the civic election for their newly elected councils to pursue additional work on amalgamation. If voters reject the proposal in either community, further work on amalgamation would stop.
If amalgamation were pursued, it would bring the two municipalities’ local governments and operations under a single, larger municipal government. The provincial statistics bureau figures cited for context show the two jurisdictions combined had a population of 230,000 residents in 2025—126,000 in Saanich and 104,000 in Victoria—comparable to the City of Burnaby.
The evidence also includes population projections to 2046, when their combined population is expected to grow to 257,000, including 135,000 in Saanich and 122,000 in Victoria.
Geographic figures provided in the materials show the City of Victoria covers 19.5 square kilometres, while the District of Saanich spans 104 square kilometres. Saanich is described as the largest and most populous of the 13 municipalities that make up the Capital Regional District.
The text notes that the amalgamation plebiscites follow a longer process that began with initial public backing in the 2018 civic election, when voters in both communities supported spending to create a Citizens’ Assembly to examine possible amalgamation. After pandemic-related delays, the assembly carried out its work in 2024 and 2025, including public consultation, and presented its final report to the two councils in July 2025.
In the assembly’s recommendation, it stated: “Having considered the costs, benefits, and disadvantages to the best of our abilities and with the information available to us, we recommend the amalgamation of Victoria and Saanich.” The recommendation added that the assembly concluded the administrative border was “invisible,” that residents’ lives are intertwined, and that “it’s time for the governance structure to reflect this reality,” while also saying it found “no significant barriers to amalgamation in the materials presented to us.”
The materials further state that the assembly did not recommend a specific name for the potential unified city, saying a name or naming process was outside its mandate. It suggested amalgamation could create an opportunity for a renaming process in partnership with First Nations, though no decision is described.
The District of Saanich’s response, as set out in the evidence, says the assembly’s report did not provide a comprehensive estimate of merger costs or potential impacts for property tax rates.
According to the timeline provided, the mayors of Victoria and Saanich formally asked the provincial government in October 2025 to permit a legally binding referendum during the Oct. 2026 civic election, but the provincial government rejected that request, saying more work was necessary before a binding public vote.
In an April 2026 letter, B.C. minister of housing and municipal affairs Christine Boyle said the provincial government needed more detailed information about financial consequences, the transition to a merged municipality, governance changes and impacts on municipal services, and she required consultation with First Nations that would be affected. The letter also says both municipal governments could hold a non-binding vote during the Oct. 2026 civic election without provincial approval to gauge public opinion.
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