Our island. Our future.
Bring local choices home. Ask BC to study a town with a council we elect. Show the costs. Let residents weigh the plan.
Read and sign the study requestAt a glance
Sign the request for a town study.
A study should set out costs, services and choices.
A later vote is a separate step if the plan goes ahead.
A signature asks for a study. It does not approve a town or cast a later vote.
A council we elect. A voice that counts. A future we help shape.
Ask BC to start the study for Gabriola Island to become a town.
Start the town study. Add your name.
Signing asks for a study. Any later vote on becoming a town is a separate step.
Private project. The petition is open. Read the public records and ask BC to study a town for Gabriola Island. We want a council we elect. This private campaign does not speak for the whole island.
We, the undersigned, call on the Province of British Columbia to study incorporating Gabriola Island as its own municipality, with a council its residents elect and the ordinary powers of a BC municipality. Under current law that municipality would be an island municipality for as long as the Islands Trust area exists (Local Government Act s. 6). This petition is for a town. It is not a promise to keep the Islands Trust. Abolishing the Trust — and returning planning either to a municipality or to the regional district — is a separate petition at abolishislandstrust.org.
Petition text version 2. Read the revision history.
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The September 3 draft minutes record first reading of OCP Bylaw 325, as amended, and referral to First Nations and agencies (GB-2026-067/068). They also defer consideration of second reading of Bylaws 316 and 317 until September 30, 2027 (GB-2026-064). First reading does not replace the current community plan.
The people who keep Gabriola Island working
Pick a job. See its pay in four places. Then see what firms charge to make an island visit. We want more homes for workers and room for local firms.
Explore pay and work costs516jobs to explore
4broad pay benchmarks
Default pay uses September 2026 dollars. Original pay is one click away. Each region and source is named.
Ask BC to study a town with a council we elect. Read the exact request above. While the Trust area exists, current law calls a new town wholly within it an island municipality. That is a rule we face. It is not a promise to keep the Trust.
The separate petition asks BC to end the Trust. A town would take on planning where there is one. Elsewhere, the regional district would do it. Sign one petition, both, or neither.
4,047 parcels across 6,255 hectares, mapped and inspectable. 452 Islands Trust meetings archived since 2012.
These counts cover the land lots in our stored Gabriola Island map region. We leave out water lots. The mapped area is the sum of those lots, not a fresh survey of the island’s shore.
Statistics Canada counted 4,500 residents on Gabriola Island in the 2021 census. The 2016 count was 4,033. That is a change of +11.6% in five years. The 2021 census counted 3,062 private dwellings. Usual residents lived in 2,375. That left 22.4% without usual residents on Census Day. This is not a count of homes empty all year. The middle age in 2021 was 63.2. In that year, about 4,146 residents were adults, age 18 or over. This is an estimate. Statistics Canada does not publish that age split for this place. These figures cover Gabriola Island Trust Area, the place Statistics Canada names in its table. Source: Statistics Canada, Table 98-10-0012-01 — Population and dwelling counts: Canada and designated places (2021 Census).
Bob Andrew and Tobi Elliott were declared elected by acclamation. No ballot was held. Jacquie Hill declared Bob Andrew and Tobi Elliott elected by acclamation. The Islands Trust nomination list says Robert Andrew. No ballot was held.
Results checked on 1 November 2026 against the Trust’s October 22 confirmation release. The twelve local trust areas have confirmed elected or acclaimed trustees. Bowen’s municipal appointments remain pending until November 9. Candidate vote totals and confirmation of the winners are separate records. Trustees are scheduled to be sworn in on November 12.
Regional District of Nanaimo, declaration of election by acclamation, 21 September 2026Public-record check · 1 November 2026
The September 3 draft minutes record first reading of OCP Bylaw 325, as amended, and referral to First Nations and agencies (GB-2026-067/068). They also defer consideration of second reading of Bylaws 316 and 317 until September 30, 2027 (GB-2026-064). First reading does not replace the current community plan.
Gabriola draft minutes, September 3, pages 3 and 6
The Trust’s October 22 release confirms the elected or acclaimed trustees for the twelve local trust areas. Bowen’s municipal appointments remain pending until November 9. Trustees are scheduled to be sworn in on November 12, with inaugural Council meetings on November 13 and 14. The current term and the incoming term are distinct.
Trustee confirmation release, October 22In an October 27 letter to the Trust, the federal Transport Minister describes the existing coastal ferry subsidy agreement. The letter puts the 2026–27 grant to British Columbia at approximately $38.6 million and says the Province determines which ferry services receive assistance. It directs questions about fares and service costs to the Province. This is a response about existing arrangements, rather than an announcement of a new local ferry service or fare reduction.
Federal Transport Minister’s response, October 27, pages 1–2The RDN’s signed acclamation notice also declares Vanessa Craig elected as Electoral Area B director. That regional-district office is separate from the two Gabriola Trust seats.
RDN, signed declaration of election by acclamation, September 21
This is a dated status check, not a full re-audit of every bylaw. Read the Firestarter.
The most populous of the Northern Gulf Islands, a short ferry from Nanaimo, with one of the largest Trust caseloads.
New reports come first. Open each piece to check its sources.
BC’s records link 4 aquifers to the stored Gabriola Island parcel region; the main one is linked to 2,659 regional land parcels, with 2,621 well records across the selected aquifers in full. We group records by the lots in our stored map. This is not a count of every well inside the island’s shore. BC supplies the ratings. These well totals cover each selected aquifer in full. Full water report for Gabriola Island →
A High vulnerability rating means less natural cover protects the water from waste at the surface. It does not mean the water is dirty now. Source: Ground Water Aquifers — BC Data Catalogue (Open Government Licence — BC) and the Province's GWELLS registry.
Nanaimo Harbour–Descanso Bay (Route 19) — live sailings and vessel positions sit at the top of this page. Official schedules: www.bcferries.com/routes-fares/schedules.
Private, personal project. Gabriola Town is built and run by Tony Aly, a publisher and software builder on Denman Island. It is his private campaign. No government or local group runs or endorses it.
The linked Abolish Islands Trust campaign asks BC to change the law and end the Trust. A future island group may choose a different path.
A domain is not a local chapter.
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