Communication and engagement

Start: Spring 2023

End: Early 2025

Last Updated: June 18, 2025

Project Description:

The City of Courtenay is prioritizing meaningful communication and engagement with our community, through updated guidelines and tools intended to streamline processes, improve consistency and increase efficiency. 

Communication Strategy

The Communication Strategy aims to effectively reach diverse audiences across ages, origins, abilities and location, through a range of communication channels. 

The project included consultation with community organizations that serve equity-deserving populations to better understand the barriers to communication their members may face, and how the City could improve communication with them. The Communication Strategy, adopted in early 2024, prioritizes equity, transparency and intentional engagement with all audiences to meaningfully and effectively inform residents. 

The Communication Strategy was adopted by Council in January 2024.  

Engagement Framework

Courtenay's Engagement Framework aims to enhance resident participation in City decision-making by removing barriers, improving engagement practices, and providing opportunities for involvement that truly resonate with our community, ensuring all voices are heard and represented. 

Project background

The City gathered feedback from the community in fall 2024 to identify the barriers that are holding people back from participating in engagement opportunities, like inconvenient event scheduling, lack of awareness, transportation and childcare needs, or simply a lack of trust in the process. A public survey asked 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 Engagement Framework was adopted by Council in April 2025. 

Council reports and presentations

Recommendations through the Communication Strategy and Engagement Framework will be implemented over time as resources allow.

Project Status:

Current