Strategic Plan

Council’s Vision for 2023-2026

The vision for our term is to leave Bowen Island an even better community than we found it when we came together as Mayor and Council in late 2022. We will have worked together to:

• earn the community’s trust by governing within the limits of our resources and in an open and ethical way;
• complete community work that has been started; and
• prepare for our future with an evolved Official Community Plan and initiatives that make us more inclusive and ready to withstand internal and external pressures, including climate change.

Our approach to governing

We know that strong community engagement is critical as we focus on completing existing projects and
planning for an inclusive, resilient future. We commit to:

• be accessible, whether we’re out in the community or in Council Chambers and committee rooms;
• offer a variety of ways for people to express their input, ideas and concerns;
• identify and remove barriers to community participation; and
• consider diverse perspectives in our decision-making.

Clear, regular communication from Council is also important. We commit to keeping the community informed of what we’re working on, why it matters, and what the community can expect to see over time.
Sometimes, hard or controversial decisions must be made that will have a significant impact on the community. We won’t shy away from them, and will explain our decisions as quickly and clearly as we can.

Our responsibility

Throughout our term, we will remain focused on providing fiscally-responsible stewardship to commitments we inherited, and to be prudent about adding new commitments until the existing work is complete or closer to completion.

Strategic planning continuum

The 2023-2026 Strategic Plan informs and focuses the decisions and policies of Council during our term of office. The plan is executed through the annual financial planning process, staff department work plans and committee work plans.

This plan is a living document and Council will update it as necessary to address emerging issues or changing priorities. Regular strategic check-in meetings will be scheduled to provide an opportunity for Council and staff to regularly review and analyze progress. These check-ins will also be an opportunity to review new initiatives to determine if BIM has the capacity and resources to take them on.

The Annual Report will provide an opportunity to communicate progress in achieving Council’s goals, and celebrate our successes of each year.

After a full year of our term in office, Council is realizing that the initiatives we would like to maintain and take on outweigh the capacity and resources of our staff and volunteers to carry out the work involved. The day to day operation of a Municipality takes up about 80% of staff’s time, leaving about 20% to focus on strategic initiatives. We intend to narrow our focus through our Strategic Check-Ins and reprioritize as needed, and be very careful about taking on anything new before we have completed or made substantial progress on existing initiatives.

What we plan to achieve

We have four strategic goals to help us achieve our term vision.