Duncan, British Columbia

Duncan is the roughly one-square-mile city at the heart of the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, on the traditional territory of the Quw'utsun people of Cowichan Tribes, surrounded by the Municipality of North Cowichan and inside the Cowichan Valley Regional District. The City runs City Hall at 200 Craig Street, property taxes, metered water from four deep wells near the Cowichan River with staged watering restrictions, the sewer collection system, automated three-cart curbside collection with glass pickup, roads, boulevards and snow clearing, downtown parking lots and tickets, bylaw enforcement, the paid-on-call Duncan Fire Department, eight city parks and the Totem Tour, tree and toilet rebates, building and development permits, business licences and grants. The Cowichan Valley Regional District runs the Bings Creek Recycling Centre, Emergency Management Cowichan and Cowichan Alert, Cowichan Valley Regional Transit with BC Transit, the Cowichan Community Centre and regional parks; Coastal Animal Control Services handles dog licences and animal complaints under contract; the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment polices the city; the Cowichan Aquatic Centre belongs to North Cowichan; the Cowichan branch of the Vancouver Island Regional Library serves readers; health care is Island Health's Cowichan District Hospital; and marriage licences, health cards and driver's licences are provincial.