People in North Cowichan overwhelmingly believe their quality of life is positive. This in the results of the municipality’s second ever Citizen Satisfaction Survey.
The survey was conducted by a third party, Forum Research Inc., who contacted 400 random homes in the municipality between this June and July.
95 per cent of residents rated their overall quality of life as positive, 89 per cent satisfied with the services provided by the municipality, and 79 per cent getting a good value for their tax dollars.
“By conducting these surveys every few years, we better understand how residents’ attitudes and priorities may be changing,” Mayor Al Siebring says. “While many of the results are positive, the results also reaffirm the areas that need more work as well as the local issues most important to residents.”
Those top issues were ranked as:
- Homelessness at 40 per cent
- Taxes at 24 per cent
- Lack of affordable housing at 19-percent
In terms of municipal services, people were most satisfied with fire protection, recreation and sports facilities, and drinking water. They were least satisfied with road maintenance, bylaw enforcement, community planning, and development and building permits.
An online version of the survey open to anyone in the municipality found a lower 86 per cent positive quality of life. 84 per cent were satisfied with the quality of services provided by the municipality, and 70 per cent thought they were getting value for their tax dollars.
The online survey had a smaller sample of 140 people.