Qualicum Beach residents will be asked this fall if they want the size of their council to increase from five to seven.
If a majority vote in favour, the change would happen following the 2026 election, four years after this year’s voting.
The Community Charter allows council to ask for a community’s opinion on matters affecting the municipality.
Council agreed this week to take the question to the ballot box. Residents turned down a council expansion in 2008 and in 2014.
The Town of Qualicum Beach grew by four per cent to 9,303 in 2021, up from 8,943 in the 2016 census, Statistics Canada said.
The municipality found itself in an unusual situation in 2021 when the size of council temporarily dropped to only three.
Coun. Robert Filmer took a two-month medical leave of absence beginning in mid-December 2020. Coun. Adam Walker resigned from council after being elected to the provincial legislature in 2020.
Only Mayor Brian Wiese and councillors Scott Harrison and Teunis Westbroek were left to sit at the council table. Council returned to full size when Filmer returned and Coun. Anne Skipsey was elected to replace Walker.
