Electoral Boundary Review

Boundary Reviews occur every eight years and Victoria County is due for a review in 2022. The purpose is to ensure the fairness of the size, style and governance structure of council and the distribution of polling districts and boundaries. It’s an opportunity to review the changes that occurred in the municipality in the past eight years and assess whether the current model is effective, efficient and fair or if changes or adjustments need to be made to meet fairness guidelines as directed by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (NSUARB). Any changes from this review will not come into effect until the 2024 Municipal Election. 

Municipal staff will be conducing the review and preparing recommendations for Council. The review will include public consultation sessions. An application will be submitted to the NSUARB and they will hold a public hearing and accept comments in person or in writing on the matter before making a decision on the application.

Timeline

  • Public Consultation – May and June 2022
  • Online survey – May 24 – June 24, 2022
  • Recommendations to Council – September 2022
  • Submission of application to the NSUARB – November 2022
  • NSUARB Public Hearing – TBD following application submission
  • NSUARB Decision – Q2 2023


Public Participation
Residents were able to participate in the review by attending one of eight open house sessions which were held in each district from May 24 to June 7, 2022.

Open House Schedule


Online Survey
For residents who were unable to attend an open house and wanted to submit feedback to Victoria County about the 2022 Electoral Boundary Review an online survey was an option. The online survey closed at 5 p.m. on June 24.


Review Process
In conducting this report, staff are following the two-step process recommended by the NSUARB.

  • Step 1: Council first determines the desired number of councillors (i.e., the size of council) and whether leadership should continue with a Warden or switch to a Mayoral system.

  • Step 2: The distribution of polling districts and their boundaries should be addressed in the second stage. Several factors must be addressed when determining boundaries of polling districts, including the number of electors, relative parity of voting power, population density, community of interest and geographic size.

The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board has determined that in municipal boundary review applications the target variance for relative parity of voting power must be ±10% from the average number of electors per polling district or ward. Any variance in excess of ±10% must be justified in writing. The larger the proposed variance, the greater the burden on the municipality to justify the higher variance.

Resources