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Citizen satisfaction survey results indicate high quality of life
August 19, 2022
North Cowichan conducted its second-ever Citizen Satisfaction Survey in June 2022, and the results are in: 95% of residents rate the overall quality of life in North Cowichan as good or very good, 89% of residents are satisfied with the overall level and quality of services provided by the municipality, and 79% of residents feel that they get good value for their tax dollars.
Forum Research Inc. randomly selected and contacted 404 households via random dialling of landlines and cell phones between June 22 and July 12, 2022. Results from this sample size are representative of North Cowichan’s residents aged 18 and older, within a margin of error of +/- 4.84%.
When asked about satisfaction with specific municipal services, fire protection, recreation and sports facilities, and drinking water scored the most satisfied. An analysis of overall satisfaction identified that road maintenance, bylaw enforcement, community planning, and development and building permits were the primary areas for improvement.
“By conducting these surveys every few years, we better understand how residents’ attitudes and priorities may be changing, and we can identify new or emerging issues facing the community,” said Mayor Al Siebring. “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. We will be able to use this information going forward when the next Council evaluates and reassesses priorities.”
When asked about local issues most important to residents, the most commonly cited challenges facing the municipality were homelessness (40%), taxes (24%), and lack of affordable/available housing (19%). When asked about their favourite thing about North Cowichan, nature was the most frequent response (31%), as was the same in 2019.
A detailed summary of the survey results can be found on our website: Summary of 2022 Citizen Satisfaction Survey Results
Please note: the statistically valid telephone survey results summarized above have been kept separate from the open-link online version of the survey, as the results of the online survey were not obtained via random sampling and may not be representative. A separate summary of the online survey results can be found here: Online Survey Results.
