As a result of population growth within the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, the board composition will change slightly.
The board will increase from 19 members to 20 members and the number of weighted votes will increase from 54 to 57.
Because voting units are based on population, some board members have more than one vote. The board structure has one vote for every 1,800 people.
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In Penticton, the population increased from 33,761 in 2016 to 36,885 in 2021. This increase gives Penticton a total of 21 weighted votes, up from 19. Because no member may have more than five votes, the number of Penticton board members will increase from four to five.
In Osoyoos, the population increased from 5,050 to 5,556. While the South Okanagan community will still have one member on the board, the number of weighted votes for this member increases from three to four.
Elsewhere in the regional district, despite population changes, the number of board members and the number of votes will remain constant.
Summerland has two board members with a total of seven weighted votes between them. Princeton has one member with two weighted votes. Oliver has one member with one weighted vote and Keremeos has one member with one weighted vote.
Each of the nine electoral areas has one elected representative. In Electoral Area B, the member has one vote. In Electoral Areas A, E, F, G, H and I, the members each have two weighted votes. In Electoral Areas C and D, the members each have three weighted votes.
The federal census from 2021 shows a population of 86,315 throughout the regional district, up from 80,106 in the 2016 federal census. The British Columbia census figures for 2016 showed 83,022. The higher discrepancy between the federal and British Columbia census numbers in 2016 came because the provincial census also included people living on reserve lands and boundary extensions to Dec. 31, 2016.
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