City installing new water, sewer service

while upgrading Albert/Fourth Street

Project funded in part from Canada Community-Building Fund, BC Active Transportation Infrastructure Grants Program

230327 - With help from federal and provincial governments, the City of Nanaimo is starting work to upgrade Albert/Fourth Street. The City will replace aging water mains, provide a new fish-friendly culvert for Cat Stream, improve sanitary sewer mains, and undertake safety and roadway improvements on Albert Street between Pine and Milton Streets.

"This project will improve City infrastructure - critical water and storm drainage pipes - and help us reach our goals for a resilient and sustainable future. Albert between Pine and Milton will see improved passage for all road users along a somewhat difficult section of roadway. Funding from the two senior levels of government through the Canada Community-Building Fund and the Active Transportation Grant will offset some of the costs for surface improvements, enabling completion of a key transportation route," said Mayor Leonard Krog.

Water main improvements include replacing an aging steel watermain and adding a new watermain on Pine Street to improve water quality and available flow for firefighting and reduce the risk of future failures. The Cat Stream culvert under Albert Street will be increased in size to handle larger storms due to climate change and to improve fish passage.

Infrastructure upgrades provide an opportunity to improve safety and comfort of all roadway users including those who walk, bike, take transit, and drive along this corridor.

With contributions of $846,000 from the Government of Canada’s Canada Community-Building Fund and $500,000 from the B.C. Active Transportation Infrastructure Grants Program, Nanaimo will include cycling facilities, concrete sidewalks, street lighting, improved transit stops, and a retaining wall to provide additional road width along the S-curve on Albert Street between Pine and Kennedy Streets.

The total project construction costs are expected to be $4.4 million. These costs include $2.2 million for underground utilities, $1.3 million for roadworks, street lighting and retaining wall, and $0.9 million for sidewalks and cycling lanes.

Albert Street between Pine Street and Kennedy Street will be closed to traffic during much of the construction. Access will be available for pedestrians, bicycles, buses, garbage and recycling vehicles, and emergency vehicles only.

Construction work is expected to be completed in fall 2023. For the latest project information, please visit the project webpage at: www.nanaimo.ca/goto/AlbertFourth2

Key Points

• Traffic delays and detours can be expected at all times during construction.
• Infrastructure upgrades will improve water quality and available flow for firefighting, replace aging infrastructure, prepare for climate change, enhance fish habitat and improve the roadway for all users.
• The active transportation component of the project is partially funded through a Canada Community-Building Fund grant ($846,000 value) and an Active Transportation Grant ($500,000 value). The Canada Community-Building Fund is administered in British Columbia by the Union of B.C. Municipalities.

Quotes

“The Canada Community-Building Fund delivers flexible funding to municipalities so that they can prioritize projects centered around what their communities need the most. The Government of Canada will continue supporting these targeted investments in local infrastructure that help build greener and more resilient communities.”

The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan,
Minister of International Development and
Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic
Development Agency of Canada, on behalf of
the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc,
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs,
Infrastructure and Communities

“Building more benefits into infrastructure projects for the people who will use and rely on them makes communities more affordable and more livable for everyone. Combining active transportation projects with important public works addresses multiple needs at once and is a great way for local governments to maximize the value of their investment.”

Doug Routley, MLA for Nanaimo-North Cowichan

Applications open for Advisory Committee

on Accessibility and Inclusiveness

Deadline to apply is April 21

230322 – The City of Nanaimo is now accepting applications for eleven volunteer at-large members for the Advisory Committee on Accessibility and Inclusiveness (ACAI).

The purpose of the ACAI is to promote social and political equity within existing and proposed City plans, policies, bylaws and infrastructure and make recommendations to ensure that the City is inclusive and accommodating to citizens of all ages, abilities and walks of life. The term for this committee will end October 2026.

Those interested in joining the committee are encouraged to visit the City website to review the terms of reference before submitting an application. Residents of Nanaimo who have experience related to matters of accessibility and inclusiveness and wish to make a difference in their community are encouraged to apply.

Application forms can be submitted online, downloaded from www.nanaimo.ca/goto/committees, or picked up from Legislative Services in City Hall (455 Wallace Street). Applications will be accepted until 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 21.

Link to Strategic Plan: The Advisory Committee on Accessibility and Inclusiveness supports City Plan's Empowered Nanaimo goals.

Key Points

• The City of Nanaimo is accepting applications for eleven Advisory Committee on Accessibility and Inclusiveness positions.
• Advisory Committee on Accessibility and Inclusiveness meetings will be held once every two months.
• Applications will be accepted between March 22 and April 21, 2023.
  
  

Quotes

"We are very excited to see this committee starting up again, and look forward to seeing a diverse group of citizens volunteer to put their names forward. If you care about your community, and have a passion for helping to ensure our City is accessible and inclusive to all, we invite you to apply."

Leonard Krog

Mayor

City of Nanaimo

Quick Facts

• In September 2022 updates were made to the Accessible British Columbia Act, requiring public sector organizations to establish an accessibility committee.
• The ACAI was first established in December 2019. Membership requirements were recently updated to reflect changes directed under the Accessible BC Act.
• Under the new legislation, at least half of the members must be persons with disabilities or persons representing a disability-serving organization. Indigenous representation must also be included.

Links

• Advisory Committee on Accessibility and Inclusiveness Web Page
• ACAI Online Application Form

Nanaimo Parkway/Highway 19 to close March 26 to 30

Traffic must detour nightly from 7 pm to 7 am

The City of Nanaimo’s Midtown Water Supply Project is well under way. From March 26 to March 30, the Nanaimo Parkway (Hwy 19) will be closed between the Jingle Pot/Third Street intersection and the College Drive/Fifth Street intersection to install a water pipeline crossing. Over the four-day period, the closures will be in effect from 7 pm to 7 am.

Northbound traffic will be detoured via the truck route down Fifth Street to Wakesiah Avenue and up Third Street/Jingle Pot Road. Southbound traffic will be diverted down Jingle Pot Road/Third Street to Wakesiah Avenue and back up Fifth Street. Drivers are reminded to drive carefully and pay close attention to signage.

Commuters and commercial traffic are encouraged use the Old Island Highway (Hwy 19A) as an alternate route.

In addition, Nanaimo residents who have registered for alerts through the City's Voyent Alert! system, will receive an informational alert as a reminder of the overnight closure. To receive alerts, please visit www.nanaimo.ca/goto/alerts for instructions on how to sign up.

For more information, visit the Midtown Water Supply Project page at www.nanaimo.ca/goto/MidtownWater.

Link to Strategic Plan: The Midtown Water Supply Project supports a resilient community by ensuring a safe water supply to a growing Nanaimo.

"Thank you to all drivers for their understanding and cooperation during this detour. It will enable an important highway crossing to be installed quickly and safely. This water supply backbone is one of the City's most significant infrastructure projects to date, improving resilience, reliable access to safe clean potable water and fire protection in our community."

Bill Sims
General Manager, Engineering & Public Works

City of Nanaimo

Culture and Heritage Recipients are announced

The City has celebrated local excellence in arts and culturethrough its annual Culture Awards event since 1998. The awards honourextraordinary achievement and raise awareness and pride for the calibre of artsand culture activity in Nanaimo, as well as the dynamic impact of the sector onour community’s economic, social and cultural well-being.

Mayor LeonardKrog congratulated the 2023 Culture Award winners – Joel Good and MargotHolmes. “Their talent, imagination, long hours of dedicated effort andleadership contribute to the beauty and richness of our arts and culturecommunity and benefit all of us," said the Mayor.

The public is invited to a celebration of award recipientsat a free community event at the Port Theatre on April 25.

The 2023 Culture Heritage Award recipients are:

Excellence in Culture, Joel Good

Joel Good won the Excellence in Culture Award for hisachievements in visual art. He is a traditional Coast Salish artist fromSnuneymuxw First Nation, well-known for several inspiring local public artinstallations. Good's designs are informed by Snuneymuxw oral history, taughtto him by his father, as well as research into traditional Coast Salish artforms. He adeptly fuses Snuneymuxw teachings and classical painting inspired bythe work of his mother, artist and painter Sandra Moorhouse-Good, to form hisown traditional style.

Good and his father, master carver and historian Dr.William Good collaborated on two Coast Salish house post totem poles inst’lilup (Departure Bay). Together, they also created a pole in honour ofMissing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, for Tillicum Lelum AboriginalFriendship Centre in Nanaimo.

Using Snuneymuxw techniques, Good also creates steam-bentboxes. A video showing this process is available on the Nanaimo LadysmithPublic Schools YouTube channel.

A selection of Good’s other prominent commissions includethe Spindle Whorl and Dancing Eagle panel for the City of Nanaimo, along withart for the Nanaimo Art Gallery, Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre, Snuneymuxw FirstNation, Leadership Vancouver Island, BC Hydro and the Canadian Museum for HumanRights.

Good’s art has received both national and internationalattention featured on garments created by Ay Lelum - The Good House of Design,run by his sisters Aunalee Boyd-Good and Sophia Seward Good. Joel’s designs on AyLelum couture and ready-to-wear garments have been on the runways of VancouverFashion Week and New York Fashion Week, and have graced the pages of numerouspublications like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

Honour in Culture, Margot Holmes

Margot Holmes won an Honour in Culture Award for herlong-time career as the Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver IslandSymphony, promoting Canadian culture and championing the performing artscommunity for over three decades. Holmes continues to develop community partnershipsand find new ways of connecting the arts to audiences and sponsors.

Caline Artists International, owned by Holmes for the past32 years, has played an integral role in developing the careers of hundreds ofCanadian musicians. As an agent and manager for professional musicians, she’stoured artists, including the British Columbia Boys Choir, around the globe ascultural ambassadors for Nanaimo and Canada while assisting them to buildsuccessful long-term careers.

She has worked with a variety of non-profit artsorganizations presenting hundreds of arts events both large and small. In 2015,she spearheaded the creation of Festival Nanaimo, coordinating an annualmonth-long festival each March. During the pandemic she kept Nanaimo culturealive by instigating Vancouver Island Symphony summer pop-up concerts, theNanaimo Big Band Festival, the Chapters series of four multi-genre events atthe Port Theatre and the Music from Edges of Canada series - 11 double billconcerts live streamed from theatres coast to coast.

Holmes is a dynamic supporter of veteran and emergingartists in our city and constantly creates opportunities for them to connect,grow and thrive. She has a long list of awards including the 2007 Arts andCulture Advocate of the year, the 2008 Agent of the Year, the 2014 CulturalChampion Award for Arts Leadership awarded by Business for Arts Canada, the2014 City of Nanaimo Award of Distinction for her contribution to the Arts, andthe 2015 Agent of the Year awarded by Canadian Arts Presenters.

"On behalf of City Council and the community, I call upon the federal and provincial governments to recognize their responsibility to our residents and to step up and take meaningful action now. Our City is not able to fix the underlying issues that have led to the problems we are facing and the kind of situation that unfolded here on Sunday.

"When government is no longer able to protect people and their property, we are in a dangerous place.

"Despite our efforts to increase public safety and clean up the downtown - at significant cost to taxpayers - we continue to struggle with the effects of senior government policies that have failed to curb violence from known offenders or help the most vulnerable among us. As a result, some people feel they have no option but to take matters into their own hands," Krog said.

Since 2018, Nanaimo has taken a multi-pronged approach to public safety, homelessness and the housing crisis. Among those actions, the City created and is implementing a Health and Housing Action Plan, including the newly-launched Systems Planning Organization.

The City is leading a Situation Table where vulnerable people can be identified and helped, and approved the Downtown Safety Action Plan. The safety plan includes 12 Community Safety Officers to proactively identify and prevent conflict, and enhanced cleaning of parkades and other downtown areas. With CSOs in place, Bylaw officers and police can focus on enforcement throughout the City.

This year, taxpayers will see the full cost of CSOs and the two full-time, seven-day-a week Clean Teams in the City budget.

City Council also approved hiring an additional 20 firefighters this year and 20 in 2025, plus six civilian RCMP members this year and nine civilian and sworn members in the coming five years. The new police staff will relieve officers of administrative work and allow police more time to focus on protecting the public.

Nanaimo was part of the 13-member Union of BC Municipalities Urban Mayors' Caucus. At the urging of those 13 mayors, the Province is adding new funding for police under the Safer Communities Plan, and has committed to strengthening enforcement and enhancing service delivery.

At $410 million, the construction value of building permits in the City of Nanaimo last year was second only to 2019, with residential units leading the way. Building permits were issued for a total of 1,370 residential units with 1,065 of those in multi-unit developments.

"Our population is growing and our housing options are growing with it,” says Mayor Leonard Krog. “With more and more housing concentrated in areas where people can easily access shopping, services and employment, we are becoming a more vibrant urban centre. By growing up, rather than out, Nanaimo is protecting green spaces and natural areas and providing housing options that more people can afford."

Private developers are responding to public demand for more housing in urban centres, including downtown, with projects throughout the city. Some highlights include an 87-unit multi-family building at 550 Brechin Road, a mixed-use development with 98 residential units at 4831 Cedar Ridge Place and a 160-unit seniors care residence at 4979 Wills Road. In addition, the popularity of secondary suites and carriage houses in single-family homes continued with 152 building permits granted.

The City's long-term vision of more complete neighbourhoods with convenient access to services that can be linked by transportation corridors, including bus service, was confirmed through the REIMAGINE Nanaimo public consultation process. For more information on development growth in Nanaimo, visit www.nanaimo.ca/whatsbuilding.

Link to Strategic Plan: Multi-family housing in urban centres, including downtown, supports the goals of City Plan:Nanaimo ReImagined.

Key Points

• The value of building permits issued by the City of Nanaimo in 2022 was $410 million, second only to 2019 when building permit values topped $445 million.
• The resurgence in construction activity shows that Nanaimo has a strong economy and demand for housing remains high.
• The long term vision of more complete neighbourhoods near town centres and downtown was confirmed through public consultation and is embedded in City Plan: Nanaimo ReImagined. Building permits issued in 2022 show that vision is becoming a reality through the construction of multi-unit buildings near transportation corridors and urban amenities.
• The 2022 building permit results show that developers are delivering the housing types that people want.

23/02/28

The City of Nanaimo's Midtown Gateway Project and the Midtown Water Supply Project will be teaming up to install critical underground infrastructure across Bowen Road and into Beban Park in March. This approach is efficient but will restrict access and delay traffic.

From March 1 to 31, the southern Bowen Road access to Beban Park will be closed all day and night to all vehicle traffic, cyclists and pedestrians. All other park access points are open and accessible.

Pedestrians using the Bowen Road sidewalk along Beban Park must follow sidewalk detour signage and use the sidewalk on the opposite side of Bowen Road. All main parking lots, facilities and park amenities within Beban Park are open during construction. For the public's safety, some areas of the park are fenced-off and restricted for all non-construction personnel. Please exercise caution, obey all signage and follow the directions of any flag persons on duty.

From March 11 to 26, there will be alternating lane closures on Bowen Road 24 hours per day. One vehicle lane per direction will be available, however, drivers are encouraged to use an alternate route if possible to avoid delays. Rosstown Road at the intersection of Bowen Road will be closed to vehicle access 24 hours per day.

Drivers are asked to detour around using Pheasant Terrace and Labieux Road. There will also be no transit service along Rosstown Road or Pheasant Terrace during this time. Transit users are asked to use existing bus stops on Labieux Road and to check out the latest information at www.bctransit.com/nanaimo/schedules-and-maps/alerts.

Construction work will typically take place Mondays through Fridays, from 7 am to 7 pm; however, it will expand to 24 hours per day from March 11 to March 26 in order to complete the works across Bowen Road as quickly as possible and to minimize disruption.

All businesses will remain open and accessible during construction.

Please note there will be other significant traffic disruptions required for these projects in the coming months. More details will be provided soon.

The City thanks residents for their on-going patience during these important construction projects. Please follow the City's Facebook or Twitter accounts (@cityofnanaimo) and visit the project webpage at www.nanaimo.ca/goto/MidtownGateway for the most current information.

Link to Strategic Plan: These projects support a livable Nanaimo.

Key Points

• March 1 to 31: The southern Bowen Road access to Beban Park will be closed 24 hours per day to all vehicle traffic, cyclists and pedestrians. Please use alternate park access.
• March 11-26: Alternating lane closures on Bowen Road will be in affect 24 hours per day. One lane in each direction will be available. Drivers are encouraged to use an alternate route if possible to avoid delays.
• March 11 to 26: Rosstown Road at the intersection of Bowen Road will be closed to vehicle access 24 hours per day. Drivers are asked to detour around using Pheasant Terrace and Labieux Road.
• March 11 to 26: There will be no transit service along Rosstown Road or Pheasant Terrace. Transit users are asked to use existing bus stops on Labieux Road, and check out the latest information at www.bctransit.com/nanaimo/schedules-and-maps/alerts.

"It is incredibly important for our infrastructure to keep up with our growth, and the coordination of these two major midtown projects to bring as little disruption on Bowen Rd as possible is more than just good timing, it's great planning."

Mayor Leonard Krog

• Midtown Gateway Project page

  
  

• Midtown Water Supply Project page

  
  

• BC Transit Customer Advisories Webpage

  
  

City provides funding for cold weather sheltering

23/02/22

With temperatures dropping due to arctic outflow beginning Wednesday, Feb. 22, the City of Nanaimo is assisting people in need of warming services. The City will again provide funds for existing organizations to extend their hours of service.

"Without housing, staying warm on a cold and often wet night in Nanaimo is a terrible challenge," says Mayor Leonard Krog. "By providing extra services, the City of Nanaimo and service providers are helping to ensure the unhoused are cared for during the extreme cold."

Service hours within the community are as follows:

7-10 Club Society (at St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Chapel Street) will be open an additional three hours per day, from 7 am to 7 pm on Thursday, Feb. 23 through Friday, Feb. 24, and can assist 30 to 40 people at one time. Typical 7-10 Club Society hours are Monday to Friday, 10 am to 7 pm.

Unitarian Shelter offers 27 overnight shelter beds and during extreme cold, offers daytime warming centre services to their shelter guests only.

Risebridge, in response to the cold, will provide overnight services by adding additional warming relief hours between 7:30 pm and 7:30 am on Wednesday, Feb. 22 through Friday, Feb. 24. Regular warming hours are 8:30 am to 12:30 pm and 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm every day.

The City of Nanaimo provides funding to 7-10 Club and Risebridge for daytime warming centres for people experiencing homelessness, and to the Nanaimo Unitarian Shelter to assist overnight guests with daytime services as needed. Funding comes from a Union of BC Municipalities ‘Strengthening Communities’ Services program grant to the City to support daytime cold and hot extreme weather service, and the City applies for funding for additional hours of service for extreme weather events through the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness.

The following services are also available:

Salvation Army has 35 overnight shelter beds and daytime access only for existing shelter guests. Samaritan Place has added five additional beds during extreme cold in addition to its existing 14 beds. St Peter’s Winter Shelter now has 35 beds open 8 pm to 7:30 am.

Visit www.nanaimo.ca/goto/supports for a full list of drop-in and indoor meal services.

Link to Strategic Plan: Providing warming opportunities contributes to a livable community for all.

Key Points

• With temperatures dipping due to arctic outflow beginning Wednesday, the City of Nanaimo will provide funds for existing organizations to extend their hours of service.
• Risebridge, in response to the cold, will provide overnight services by adding additional warming relief hours between 7:30 pm and 7:30 am on Wednesday, Feb. 22 through Friday, Feb. 24. Regular warming hours are 8:30 am to 12:30 pm and 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm every day.
• 7-10 Club Society (at St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Chapel Street) will be open from 7 am to 7 pm during extreme cold on Wednesday, Feb. 22 through Friday, Feb. 24, and can assist 30 to 40 people at one time. Open Monday to Friday. Regular warming hours are 10 am to 7 pm.
• The City applies for funding for additional hours of service for extreme weather events through the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness.

• Services and Supports page on www.nanaimo.ca

Recycle BC now accepting new materials

23/02/21 – Recycle BC’s residential packaging and paper recycling program has been accepting new items, as of Jan. 1. Newly added items will be accepted either in Blue Carts for curbside collection or at depots, depending on the item. These changes resulted from an amendment to the Province of BC’s Recycling Regulation.

Some of these items were previously accepted in the program if the item was indistinguishable from packaging (e.g., foil pie plates, kraft paper bags). Here is a comprehensive list of the new official items you can refer to as a reference.

Newly accepted Blue Cart items include:

Plastics:

• plastic plates, bowls and cups
• plastic cutlery, straws, stir-sticks, and sample sticks
• non-durable plastic food containers
• rigid plastic gift bags or boxes
• plastic plant pots and saucers
• plastic tape dispensers (empty)
• plastic dental floss containers (empty)
• plastic clothing hangers
  
•  

Paper:

• compressed paper clothing hangers
• coated paper plates, bowls and cups
• single-use paper party décor
• paper bags, gift bags, boxes
• corrugated cardboard

Metal:

• aluminum foil
• aluminum-foil baking dishes and pie plates
• metal storage tins (thin gauge)
  
  

Examples of flexible plastics now accepted at depots only:

• single-use foam party decor
• plastic vacuum, sandwich, and freezer bags
• plastic shrink wrap
• soft plastic gift bag or box
• flexible plastic drop sheets and covering
• flexible plastic bubble wrap (no bubble wrap-lined paper)
• flexible plastic recycling bags (blue, clear bags, or yellow or blue bags used for curb-side collection)
• flexible plastic carry-out shopping bags (reusable, plastic only no PVC or vinyl).

All items have been added to the What Goes Where Waste Wizard tool on the Nanaimo Recycles App. Please visit www.nanaimo.ca/goto/WhatGoesWhere to access this search tool or download the App from the App store or Google Play.

Link to Strategic Plan: Supports waste diversion through improved reuse and recycling services for a diversity of materials

Key Points

Depots are now able to accept crinkly and stretchy plastics in one stream so residents will no longer need to separate them in order to take them to the Depot. They do not go into your blue cart.

The Nanaimo Recycles App has a handy What Goes Where Waste Wizard tool that allows you to enter an item to recycle and see which cart to use for curbside pick up or where you can take that item to be recycle at a depot.

Mayor Leonard Krog says the addition of new items by Recycle BC allows progress towards our desired outcome of zero waste throughout the full life cycle of production, consumption, recycling, and disposal to achieve local and regional waste management goals.

Photo Library of Accepted and Unaccepted Material

Amendment to Province of BC's Recycling Regulation

Nanaimo Recycling What Goes Where Waste Wizard Tool

City extends cold weather sheltering and supports

With temperatures dropping due to arctic outflow beginning Saturday night, the City of Nanaimo is assisting people in need of warming services. The City will provide funds for existing organizations to extend their hours of service. City staff and RCMP members will be on the street increasing coverage of wellness checks and providing warming supplies.

Additional service hours are as follows: 7-10 Club Society (at St. Paul’s Anglican Church on Chapel Street) will be open from 7 am to 7 pm during cold on Monday, Jan. 30 and Tuesday, Jan. 31, and can assist 30 to 40 people at one time. Open Monday to Friday. Regular warming hours are 10 am to 7 pm.

Unitarian Shelter offers 27 overnight shelter beds and during extreme cold, offers daytime warming centre services to their shelter guests only.

Risebridge, in response to the cold, will operate from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm on Sunday, Jan. 29 and Monday, Jan. 30. Regular warming hours are 8:30 am to 12:30 pm and 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm every day.

The City of Nanaimo provides funding to 7-10 Club and Risebridge for daytime warming centres for people experiencing homelessness, and to the Nanaimo Unitarian Shelter to assist overnight guests with daytime service as needed. Funding comes from a Union of BC Municipalities ‘Strengthening Communities’ Services program grant to the City to support daytime cold and hot extreme weather service.

The following services are also available:

Salvation Army has 35 overnight shelter beds and daytime access only for existing shelter guests. Samaritan Place has added five additional beds during extreme cold in addition to its existing 14 beds. St Peter’s Winter Shelter now has 34 beds open 8 pm to 7:30 am.

In addition, the City’s Community Safety Officers (CSO) will be working extended hours. A team of CSOs will be on and performing wellness checks until 2:30 am, with the next shift starting at 4 am. CSOs have been handing out warming supplies, cold weather clothing and hot drinks as needed. RCMP members are also performing wellness checks, offering assistance and coordinating response with CSOs.

Visit www.nanaimo.ca/goto/supports for a full list of drop-in and indoor meal services.

Link to Strategic Plan: Providing warming opportunities contributes to a livable community for all.

23/01/15

Nanaimo City Council is pleased to honour Craig Evans with a Patron of the City award to recognize his exceptional service to the community for more than three decades. A resident of Nanaimo since the 1970s,  Evans has been a passionate advocate for community food systems, the environment and local organic farms.

With enthusiastic dedication to local, sustainable food production, Mr. Evans is credited as the founder of the Nanaimo Community Gardens in 1987, the Nanaimo Foodshare Society in 1997 and the VIU Farmers Market in 2013. He also co-founded the Growing Opportunities Farm Community Co-op in 2009 and the Farmship Growers Cooperative in 2013.

Over the years, Mr. Evans has been a strong advocate on a number of environmental initiatives. In 1978, he founded the Nanaimo Recycling Society and is credited for starting and organizing curbside pickups for the entire city. At the time, this recycling operation was Canada’s largest recycling operation west of Kitchener, Ontario. In 1999, he was awarded the Environmental Achievement Award from the City of Nanaimo for his work in promoting recycling and community gardening.

His advocacy efforts halted plans for a proposed ferrochromium plant at Jack Point and a BRINI waste incinerator in 1991. From 2013-2015, Mr. Evans was a Director for the Colliery Dams Preservation Society which successfully sought to protect and preserve Colliery Dam Park.

In 2000, Mr. Evans began working at Vancouver Island University as a Worksite Trainer for the Employment and Life Skills Training Program. He currently works in the Work Essential Skills Training (WEST) Program, mentoring students with diverse abilities and securing them work training sites.

The service that Mr. Evans has provided his community for more than three decades has inspired many and will have a lasting impact for years to come. The City is grateful for his dedication to the environment and the people of Nanaimo and is pleased to bestow him with the honour of Patron of the City.

Link to Strategic Plan: Environmental Responsibility and Livability: Craig Evans has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to protecting our environment and ensuring a livable future for future generations.

Key Points

• The Patron of the City award recognizes outstanding achievement and selfless volunteerism.
• A certificate was presented to Mr. Evans during a private ceremony on Jan. 4, 2023.
• Mr. Evans will be honoured at a special ceremony during a future Council meeting.
  
  

"I have known Craig for nearly 40 years. He is modest, kind and compassionate and is indeed a worthy recipient for this award and an outstanding example of what real citizenship is about." said Mayor Leonard Krog. "We are at our best when we are “doing for others” and he has done that his whole life. Our City is a better place because of all he has done, particularly for those who have faced real challenges."

• Patron/Companion of the City Policy

  
  

• Previous recipients of the Patron/Companion of the City award