WHEREAS local governments in rural British Columbia are experiencing a growing number of people living adjacent to their borders which is placing additional service provision pressures on these communities; AND WHEREAS the local governments are not presently allowed to include this shadow population in their overall population count even though municipal services are utilized by them: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM request that the provincial government amend the Community Charter to allow local governments the ability to conduct municipal census similar to the Determination of Population Regulation 632001 and Amendment 102013, under Albertas Municipal Government Act.
Ministry of Community, Sport Cultural Development Government is aware of the challenges and affects shadow populations have on communities. Any change to the way population is calculated any would represent a fundamental shift in long-standing Provincial policy. While government is not considering changes to the way population is calculated at this time, if there is such a revision in the future, considerable policy research and consultation into the broader implications resulting from local government census changes would be required. Government would have to understand why do local governments want to increase their census population? If it is for unconditional grants namely Small Community Grants, increasing the population will raise grants for some municipalities under 5,000 people but will potentially decrease or eliminate grants for other municipalities over 5,000 people. Further, it is important for local governments to understand that by increasing the census population, some municipalities may have to assume responsibility for police funding, as they exceed the cut-off population of 5,000.