French Creek, B.C. – A Vancouver Island community calling itself Canada’s “most urbanized rural area” is ramping up efforts to become its own municipality after neighbouring towns rejected annexation proposals.
The French Creek Residents Association has been campaigning since 2018 for self-governance, arguing that residents deserve more direct control over services like road maintenance, garbage collection, and zoning.
“We want to be able to control our area directly, rather than working through one director on a board of 19,” said Robert Williams, vice-president of the association. “If we were a municipality, we’d have a mayor and council focused only on French Creek.”
The community, located between Parksville and Qualicum Beach in the Regional District of Nanaimo, has grown rapidly, with about 6,000 of Area G’s 8,000 residents now living in French Creek. Despite its density, it remains governed as part of a rural electoral area with limited infrastructure authority.
In July, Qualicum Beach councillors firmly rejected annexation. Last week, Parksville’s council deferred its decision until after updating its community plan, but Mayor Doug O’Brien made his position clear: “We don’t want to go anywhere near this.” He cited concerns about water, policing, and fire services.
Williams said that’s fine with French Creek residents: “We don’t want to be part of Qualicum or Parksville. We want our own governance.”
The provincial process to become a municipality is lengthy, involving studies, boundary assessments, and ultimately a referendum. French Creek recently completed a community issues assessment, which will help determine next steps.
For now, residents say they remain committed to their goal of incorporation, determined to move beyond what they see as the limitations of rural representation.
