Appearing Before Nanaimo City Council

Council Meetings:

Council agendas are published on the City of Nanaimo website the Wednesday before the meeting.  Your delegation request must be received prior to 11:00 a.m. the Friday before the meeting.  For further details regarding appearing as a delegation please review our webpage Appearing as a Delegation.

To see when a Council meeting will be taking place, visit the Council Key Date Calendar. 

The Hierarchy of Laws:

The hierarchy of laws applicable to municipal governments, elected officials and Staff:

• Provincial legislation such as the Community Charter, Local Government Act, Privacy Laws, Employment laws, …
• Bylaws - a form of legislation established by local government to resolve local issues.  Best practices for bylaws are high level rules supplemented by guidelines so that changes can be made without going into bylaw amendments.
• Motions/Resolutions – a record of a decision or request of Council which deals with regular administrative and management matters.
• Policies – corporate direction that is formally adopted by Council resolution, providing guidance to Staff on how to implement policies.
• Guidelines - for the interpretation of a bylaw to ensure it is consistent with the relevant clause and does not override it. 

How can I apply?

A Delegation requesting to appear before Council for a matter that is on the agenda must submit a written request, indicating the relevant agenda matter to the Corporate Officer by 11:00 am the Friday prior to the Monday meeting, or in the case of a Committee meeting, 11:00 am the day prior the scheduled meeting. Topics must be within the municipal jurisdiction and Council will not permit a delegation to address Council on topics noted in Section 19.2 of the "Council Procedure Bylaw 2018, No. 7272". Applications to Appear as a Delegation are available on our website.  You can submit your delegation request online on our Appearing as a Delegation webpage, or you can use the following link to download the PDF form:  Delegation Request Form

A Delegation requesting to appear before Council for a matter that is not on the agenda must submit a written request, including an outline on the agenda matter to the Corporate Officer by 9:00 am, on the Monday the week prior to the Monday meeting.  In the case of a Committee that meets on another day, written requests must be received seven calendar days prior to the Committee meeting.

*All speakers on any item will be given 5 minutes to speak.  A maximum of four delegations will be permitted regarding items not listed on a Council agenda.  Multiple delegations from the same organization or group, regarding the same topic will be combined and have a five minute time limitation.