Tag Archives: Cortes Island population

Energy, Food, Waste, Water

What Quadra ICAN accomplished in 2022

According to the 2021 census, 36% of Quadra Island’s population is 65 years old or older. That’s 10% higher than throughout the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) as a whole, which has a considerably higher proportion of seniors than most of the province. The only Area in the SRD with a larger percentage of seniors is Cortes Island, where that number is 38%. Some might regard that large number of retirees as a problem, Quadra ICAN’s new Coordinator, Ramona Boyle,’ describes them as an asset that was responsible for much of her organization’s accomplishments during 2022.

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Community, Opinion

Immigration lawyers caution Ottawa on new Express Entry system

Editor’s note: Roughly ½% of the people who moved to Campbell River between 2014/15 and 2018/19 were immigrants from the United States or other nations. The other  99½% came ‘from other parts of BC, and to a lesser extent, migration from other parts of Canada.”(1) The percentage of International immigrants coming to Area C was higher, roughly 2.5%, during a similar time frame.(2) The Cortes Island Profile does not give a breakdown for the number of immigrants. 27.7% of the household moves between 2011 and 2016 involved people from ‘either another province or another country.’ The vast majority were most likely Canadians. 

By Fabian Dawson, New Canadian Media, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Canada’s major overhaul of its Express Entry System to attract more economic migrants will see a dramatic increase in “invitations to apply” (ITAs) being issued by Immigration Canada (IRCC)

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Housing, Politics, Seniors

Blaney: Seniors living below the poverty line, GST rebates & carbon pricing

More than a third of the ‘housing insecure’ respondents to the survey on Quadra Island and 15% on Cortes Island were seniors. The percentage was lower throughout the Strathcona Regional District, but a significant number of residents are paying more for rent or mortgages than they can afford.  In the second half of an interview with North Island-Powell River MP Rachel Blaney, she talks about ways the government can help seniors living below the poverty line.

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Waste

Waste management centre struggles with population growth, constantly evolving recycling rules

By Greg Osoba, CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

Cortes Island’s population swells in the summer months from 1,000 year-round residents to at least 3,000 with the influx of friends, family and tourists. Every year, the sheer volume of solid waste and items for recycling overwhelms staff at the island’s waste management centre.

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Disaster

The Cortes Island Evacuation Plan 

The Cortes Island Evacuation Plan is complete.

 “I am just begging every Cortes Islander to pick up and go through the plan before all this happens, so everybody is aware,” said Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Protective Services Coordinator Shaun Koopman. “Please don’t wait till the last minute to educate yourself about evacuations and emergency support services and how you’re going to be notified and whether or not you have insurance and all those important evacuation considerations.”

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