Regional Government
Our mission: We shall be recognized as an essential level of government offering services in an effective, accountable and responsive manner.
The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary is one of 27 regional districts in BC and was incorporated in 1966. We are comprised of eight incorporated municipalities and five unincorporated, rural electoral areas. Our region encompasses 8,200 sq. km and serves over 31,000 residents.
We function like a federation
The RDKB, like all regional districts across BC, functions as a federation composed of municipalities and electoral areas (in some regions Treaty First Nations are included), each of which have representation on a regional district board.
“Regional districts are a unique form of regional government in Canada, as the member municipalities ‘lend’ authority to the regional-scale government, rather than being ‘under’ its authority.”
Government of BC
We provide services outside or between municipalities
Regional districts provide region-wide, inter-municipal or sub-regional services that make economic and operational sense to provide over a broader area rather than inside specific municipalities that serve population centres.
We provide government for rural people
We also act as the general local government for rural electoral areas and provide services such as waterworks, fire protection and emergency management to unincorporated communities within the electoral areas. Rural constituents vote for electoral area directors every four years during general local elections.
We serve as a financial guarantor for greater security
Regional districts also support a critical element of the local government financial system known as regional-joint-and-several-liability. This means the entire regional district guarantees the debenture debt of one municipality or regional service through our security issuing bylaws. This provides greater financial assurance regionally and across all BC regional districts and municipalities.
More information
More information about regional government is available through the Government of British Columbia.