City of Courtenay Asking Community to Help Shape Public Engagement

When a local government asks you to provide feedback on a project, what helps you participate? What challenges might stand in your way? The City of Courtenay is looking at ways to enhance engagement with the community, and needs your input to shape future engagement efforts.

The City’s new engagement survey seeks to understand the potential barriers that may limit participation, and gather ideas for improvement so that all voices are heard. Find a link to the online survey at www.courtenay.ca/engage or via the link below:

Engagement Framework Survey - Engage Comox Valley

The survey will be open until November 18, 2024.  

Respondents have a chance to win one of five $100 gift certificates to a Downtown Courtenay business.

 “This survey is about ensuring all voices are heard in our community,” said Kate O’Connell, Director of Corporate Services at the City of Courtenay. “We want to understand what challenges people face in participating and find ways to overcome them. This will help us make decisions and provide services that truly reflect the needs of everyone.” 

The survey is open to everyone who lives, works, plays or learns in Courtenay. It will help the City identify barriers to participating in engagement opportunities that could potentially be impacting how people feel their opinions are valued. This could include things like inconvenient scheduling, lack of awareness, transportation and childcare needs, or simply a lack of trust in the process. The survey will also ask for input on ways the City could make engagement opportunities more accessible.

The City has also directly engaged with organizations that serve underrepresented individuals or groups who may face greater barriers to engagement, to identify challenges and potential opportunities.

The City’s engagement framework is expected to be completed in early 2025. For more information visit www.courtenay.ca/engage