Welcome to Nanaimo This Week, your source of community news and local solutions. Did a friend forward this email to you? Subscribe to this newsletter.

I just wanted to take a moment and thank our readers for submitting your story ideas in our 2026 reader survey. We already have a number of great suggestions for people and organizations you think are deserving of a higher profile, as well as those that could stand some closer scrutiny. 

One of the suggestions we received was to do a review of Nanaimo’s Community Safety Officer program. We published that story last week, and the responses that I have received so far have appreciated the time and depth that we spent reporting on it from a wide range of perspectives and experiences. 

I will admit that I went into the story somewhat skeptical about the impact community safety officers are having in our city. The officers alone are not able to solve the larger social problems of homelessness and a toxic drug crisis, but what I found is that they are an alternative to police by providing a service that is somewhere between an outreach worker and the RCMP.

We are still in the planning stages for our coverage this year, so it’s not too late to fill out our 2026 reader survey and have your say on what else you think we should dive into in the coming months.

Thank you for reading,

Mick Sweetman

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Council Corner

The next regular Nanaimo city council meeting will take place on Monday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. in the Vancouver Island Conference Centre’s Shaw Auditorium. The agenda will be posted on the City of Nanaimo website later this week. 

On the Island

🌊 With a business-minded attitude and volunteer support, the Cowichan Station Area Association is carving a path forward despite a grim outlook for non-profits in B.C. Cowichan Valley Reporter Eric Richards has the story.

In other news

👉 Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation hit its fundraising target to build a senior-friendly emergency department at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. The Nanaimo News Bulletin has the story.

👉 B.C. Conservation officers are asking the public for dashcam footage or witnesses that will help with a poaching investigation in Nanoose Bay. The agency has received multiple reports of deer being shot with arrows in the Fairwinds area of Nanoose Bay. My Coast Now has the story.

👉 Rain is in the forecast with a series of storms set to strike Vancouver Island starting tonight and continuing until next week. There are currently no weather alerts for Nanaimo but the duration of wet weather could mean there is some localized flooding given that the frozen ground may not absorb as much water as usual. Nanaimo News Now has the story.

Have your say

📣 The City of Nanaimo wants to hear from residents about compensation for tenants who have to relocate if the rental apartment buildings they live in are redeveloped. 

The Rental Tenant Relocation Assistance project is looking at creating a city policy or regulation “that provides meaningful support for tenants at risk of eviction when rental buildings with four or more units are redeveloped.”

“Many residents in older apartment buildings face vulnerability during redevelopment, with limited affordable alternatives,” a City of Nanaimo press release says. “This initiative seeks to ensure future redevelopment considers renters’ needs and helps those most at risk of displacement.”

Residents can fill out an online survey between Jan. 28 and Feb. 18, 2026. The survey and additional information can be found on Get Involved Nanaimo.

Community photo

Nanaimo had fog last week that was as thick as pea-soup, coating the treetops near the coast. Photo courtesy of Colette MacAskill.

Do you have a great photo from the community? Share it with us for a chance to be featured in an upcoming newsletter. We’d love to see Nanaimo through your lens. 

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