INFORMATION RELEASE 

The Okanagan Falls Incorporation Study is officially underway. An Incorporation Study Committee has been formed and will serve as an objective, fact-finding body to ensure that the study and related communications are neutral and balanced. The Study Committee held its first meeting on September 11, 2023, and community members Rick Wilson and Kea Adachi were elected chair and vice-chair, respectively.

“The Incorporation Study Committee has an important role,” said Allan Neilson of Neilson Strategies, who leads the consulting team hired by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) to provide technical analysis and communications for the Incorporation Study. “The Committee has been established as a community-based, objective, and impartial body to review information on incorporation, understand what incorporation would mean to the community, and, at the end of this nearly year-and-a-half-long process, to recommend to the RDOS Board whether to pursue a referendum on incorporation.”

“At this time, there are two key things the Study Committee would like to emphasize to the community,” said chair Rick Wilson. “First, all Incorporation Study information will be posted online at https://rdosregionalconnections.ca as soon as it becomes available. Second, the Incorporation Study will take place over nearly a year-and-a-half, with the bulk of information becoming available in the spring of 2024. The Study Committee understands the community has many questions, and your patience is appreciated as we work to get the answers.”

For the remainder of 2023, the Study Committee will oversee the consultants' technical analysis to determine the implications of incorporation for the community. Throughout 2024, various community events will be held to share the findings and allow Okanagan Falls residents to ask questions. To receive email updates when new information becomes available, please click the “subscribe” button on the top right side of the Okanagan Falls Incorporation Study web page at https://rdosregionalconnections.ca.

Background
In the fall of 2022, the RDOS Board of Directors approved a recommendation from the Service and Boundary Configuration Study Committee to request support from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs for an Okanagan Falls Incorporation Study. The study's primary purpose is to provide electors within the study area with the information and understanding required to make an informed decision on incorporation. Under the guidance of the citizen-based Okanagan Falls Incorporation Study Committee, consultants hired by the RDOS will undertake a thorough, objective and technical examination of the incorporation option and its implications for governance and service delivery in the area. 

For further information, please contact Christy Malden, RDOS Manager of Legislative Services.

-30-

Contacts:

Christy Malden
RDOS Manager of Legislative Services
250-490-4146