Draft Comox Valley Aquatic Strategy Available For Public Review

A draft Comox Valley Aquatics Strategy commissioned by the Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) and the City of Courtenay has been presented to City Council and the Comox Valley Recreation Commission and is available to the public for review.

The Comox Valley is served by three publicly funded aquatics facilities: CVRD Sports Centre Pool, the Courtenay and District Memorial Outdoor Pool, and the CVRD Aquatics Centre.

The draft Aquatics Strategy recommends strategically investing to increase the quality, efficiency, and sustainability of existing aquatic facilities, and proposes service levels and operational requirements over 25-years.

Key Recommendations from the draft include:

• Supporting equitable access to facilities and services for all residents
• Increasing capacity and participation in water sports and activities
• Efficient and effective use of resources such as reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions
• Aligning facilities with the changing trends in pool use to provide better service

The draft aquatics strategy considers various aquatic facility options, including maintaining or reconstructing these pools at their current locations; relocating one or both facilities to the site of the Comox Valley Aquatic Centre; or relocating the outdoor pool or indoor/outdoor pools to a new location elsewhere in the Comox Valley.

The report and its analysis will inform the long-term planning process that is currently underway for the Comox Valley Recreation Commission, as well as future considerations for recreation services operated by the City of Courtenay.

Before any decision is made on specific future upgrades to aquatics services, comprehensive community consultation would occur.

The draft aquatics strategy was developed with input gathered through extensive community-wide consultation beginning early last year.

Households, organizations, and community partners contributed through surveys and conversations. Consultation in 2022 included postcards distributed to households throughout the Comox Valley with a link to an online survey.

The final version of the strategy should be ready in the spring.

You can have a look and have your say at ComoxValleyRD.ca.