B.C. to get 1st new municipality in 15 years as Okanagan Falls residents vote to incorporate [Video]

The residents of Okanagan Falls, B.C., have narrowly voted in favour of creating a new municipality to represent the community in the southern Interior, preliminary referendum results on Saturday show. 

Okanagan Falls, located approximately 60 kilometres south of Kelowna and 260 km east of Vancouver, dubs itself the “heart of wine country” and is home to around 2,700 residents.

Of them, 1,100 voted in the referendum, with 53 per cent in favour of incorporation, according to initial results.

The area is currently part of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS), one of 27 regional governments in B.C. that co-ordinate services like sewage and regional parks, and where elected directors represent sparsely-populated areas.

With a successful vote to incorporate, pending official confirmation on Wednesday, Okanagan Falls will eventually become B.C.’s 162nd municipality, and have an elected mayor and council to represent it.

Matt Taylor, the regional district director for Area D — which includes Okanagan Falls — was …