Courtenay residents’ views will be discussed at the city’s first council meeting of 2026.
Council will review the results of the 2025 resident satisfaction survey at its Wednesday, Jan. 12 meeting.
The survey asked residents about their experience living in the city, whether they would recommend Courtenay to a friend or colleague, and the top issues facing the community.
Thirty-five per cent of surveyed residents said homelessness is the top issue in the city, a decline of seven percentage points from the previous year.
Other top issues included the lack of affordable housing, mental health and drug-addiction issues and traffic congestion, each at seven per cent.
Eighty-one per cent of residents said they have a positive impression of the quality of life in Courtenay, a three percentage-point drop from 2024.
Despite the overall drop in positive impressions, 33 per cent of respondents said living in Courtenay was very good, up from 25 per cent a year ago.
Forty-nine per cent of residents said the quality of life in the city has stayed the same, 43 per cent said it has worsened, while eight per cent said it has improved.
The top three reasons a resident would not recommend Courtenay as a place to live were the high cost of living at 19 per cent, it being too crowded also at 19 per cent and the cost of housing at 18 per cent.
