The Province’s complete community guide suggests that complete communities offer and support a variety of lifestyle choices, providing opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to live, work, shop, learn and play close to one another. A complete community enables residents to access day-to-day needs in their neighbourhood. Complete communities provide choices for housing options (single-detached houses, duplexes, townhomes, apartments), ways to get around (car, bike, walk, transit), services, and opportunities for work, school and recreation nearby.

The Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee recognizes that the definition above doesn’t necessarily fit the context of a rural island like ours, so part of this project will be to understand what a “complete community” would look like to the people that live here.

The results of the Salt Spring Island Complete Community Assessment may be used to inform the Official Community Plan/Land Use Bylaw Update process. The assessment will collect and analyze data to help the Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee refine land use change scenarios that will be presented to the public in Phase 3 of the assessment project.  This will result in an action plan to address gaps as they relate to housing, infrastructure, and amenities and service provision. This action plan could, in part, guide the development of OCP policy and implementation.