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Two of Victoria's least accessible public washrooms now replaced. Two public washrooms in Victoria that had the lowest accessibility scores have now been replaced. The City of Victoria has opened two new public washrooms along Dallas Road, one at Holland Point Park and the other at the southeast corner of Beacon Hill Park. "You may still see crews on site as they remove the original buildings and restore the surrounding landscape," the city said in a Facebook post. "A third replacement washroom is planned for Ross Bay Cemetery later this year." The cost to replace the washrooms $650,000 each. In 2024, council approved spending up to $4.773 million in the coming years to upgrade accessibility in public washrooms. The City of Victoria says most of its 18 public park washrooms were built between 1960 and 1980, with the older facilities needing "significant renovations" to meet modern accessibility standards. The three identical public washrooms at Holland Point Park, the southeast corner of Beacon Hill Park and the Ross Bay Cemetary were among the eight washrooms with the lowest accessibility scores in a 2022 audit. The 2022 audit found that eight of Victoria's 18 parks scored a one out of three for accessibility. A score of one means extensive upgrades and renovations are required to meet accesibility. Another seven washrooms scored a two, meaning moderate to extensive upgrades or renovations are needed, while only three scored a three, which means only minor upgrades are needed. The three washrooms along Dallas Road were found to not have accessible stalls with toilet transfer space, inadquate clear space at the entrances and shared areas, and most fixtures and accessories did not meet accessibility requirements. The other washrooms that scored a one were at 240 Menzies Street, 156 Nursery Way, 1850 Richardson Street, 1700 Fairfield Road, and 1790 Ross Street. Meanwhile the washroom at 3000 Glasgow Avenue scored a 2, but its changeroom scored a 1. Editor's note: This story previously said the cost to upgrade the three washrooms was $4.7 million based on information provided by a city spokesperson. The spokesperson later clarified that the $4.7 million was to upgrade multiple washrooms. This story has been updated to reflect this. Laura has been working with CHEK since 2021 and is a graduate from Langara College's journalism program. Previously she has worked at Page One Publishing and CFAX 1070. Municipal politics, housing... More by Laura Brougham

City of Victoria adds deputy city manager position with hiring of June Ellis. Published 7:00 pm Thursday, August 6, 2026 The City of Victoria announced Tuesday the hiring of Deputy City Manager June Ellis, who will join City Manager Jesus Garza's office after more than 30 years of experience in municipal government. Ellis comes to Victoria from the City Manager's Office in Beaumont, where he previously served as an assistant city manager. The addition of the deputy city manager position comes with a restructuring of Garza's office, which has historically consisted of four positions. With Ellis joining the team, the office is now fully staffed with Ellis and Assistant City Managers Gilbert Reyna and Darryl Lesak. "It is a new position by title, but it's not a new position in terms of a person," Garza said. "My office has had four individuals practically the entire time that I've been here. We had two assistant city managers (ACMs) and a chief financial officer (CFO) all in my office. Then when our CFO became an ACM, we reclassified the CFO position to deputy city manager, so there's still four people in my office." In his new role, Ellis will work directly with Garza and oversee the city's two assistant city managers. He will also oversee public safety departments, including the Victoria Police Department and Victoria Fire Department, as well as portions of the Human Resources Department. Ellis said Victoria's potential for growth and the city's stability were among the factors that attracted him to the position. "I saw that there's a lot of political stability at the city council level, which is a plus for me," Ellis said. "The experience and the tenure of the city manager, being here for seven years, played a role. The growth of the community, I could see that when I came and interviewed, as well as through my research, that this is a growing community, and it has a lot of great potential. So I want to be part of the future growth and prosperity of the community." Polls Have you eaten at a locally owned restaurant in the past week? View Results * Polls Archive. Ellis said the position combines elements of his previous roles, allowing him to draw on both his financial background and his experience in city management. "A lot of my experience in the past has been finance and budget management," Ellis said. "I've been out of that for a number of years. I've been in city management for over five years, and what's really going to be different here is the ability to work with two experienced assistant city managers, an experienced city manager and a council that's really forward-thinking." Ellis said the pace of Victoria's growth will also provide a new challenge compared with previous communities where he has worked. "This is a fast-paced environment, and I think that's going to be different from Beaumont and other places I've worked, and I think I'll like that a lot," he said. Garza said the addition of Ellis will allow him to devote more time to economic and community development efforts, a focus of his administration. With the city manager's office fully staffed, Garza said each member can focus on their areas of expertise while benefiting from the team's combined experience. "Every city manager kind of has their niche," Garza said. "It's finance and budget for June. For me, it's always been economic and community development, and now being able to be fully staffed, I'm able to allocate a greater amount of time on those initiatives because they've been a big emphasis over the last year plus." Garza said having a diverse range of experience within the office will help the city pursue future growth initiatives. "We're able to really dedicate more attention to those efforts by being fully staffed and by also having that diversification of experience," Garza said. "With June now being part of the team, he has almost 30 years of experience in different communities. He's able to help supplement our efforts in growing our community by chiming in." Ellis said he is still becoming familiar with Victoria but believes he has the support needed to succeed in the role. "I'm going to be involved and included in a lot of the key decision-making here," Ellis said. "It feels as though the city manager will have confidence in some of my opinions, and obviously, I'm pretty sure that's what he wants. I think that's really going to encourage me to continue to be involved, continue to be authentic, and have the freedom to voice my opinions on various topics." Although Ellis will report to Garza, both said they are looking forward to working together and joked that they will try to become "clones" of one another. Ellis is a credentialed manager candidate through the International City/County Management Association. City of Victoria officials confirmed that Ellis' salary is $197,000. Lindsey Plotkin is a multimedia reporter for the Victoria Advocate. Contact her at [email protected].

Meet UVic at Ship Point this summer. August 6, 2026 By University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) invites the community to drop anchor and say hello at Ship Point, where the university has set up a colourful downtown pop-up location for the community to connect with scholars and entrepreneurs of all ages. "Learning and research at UVic is deeply rooted in our local community. Downtown Victoria and the harbour are such vibrant spaces, so Ship Point was a natural fit to celebrate local entrepreneurs and innovators whose work started on campus and now extends into the region and beyond," says Julie Potter, UVic associate director, community relations. Three days each week, programs like UVic's CanAssist and the Victoria Hand Project will be on deck to showcase how research-inspired initiatives are transforming lives and businesses in the community. On Saturday, Aug. 8, CanAssist will showcase accessible music technology such as their assistive guitar strummer. At CanAssist, University of Victoria design technology and programs alongside the people who use them, solving accessibility barriers in employment, education, and daily life. The Ship Point venue is a chance to show the community that accessibility isn't just a niche, but an opportunity to drive innovation that makes life better for all of University of Victoria." - Paul Green, CanAssist head of inclusive technology and systems. "We are excited about the opportunity to showcase our accessible music technologies, like the Foot-Operated Guitar Strummer, and welcome guests to come give it a try at our jam session ahead of the David Foster and Friends concert." Alumni who have launched business ventures are also part of the rotation, alongside young entrepreneurs. Kidovate, led by the Gustavson School of Business, will set sail at Ship Point every Wednesday from 4:30 to 7 p.m. for a micro-market offering high-quality and well-priced wares developed as part of the popular youth entrepreneurship experience. Youth involved with Kidovate are always excited to show off what they have made, and Ship Point is a great opportunity for the community to come out, enjoy the sunshine and the free live music while supporting young entrepreneurs" - Claudia Smith, Kidovate co-founder and Gustavson associate professor of entrepreneurship The exterior design for the UVic-designated container was inspired by the natural beauty of Greater Victoria: the mountains, ocean and beach scenes dotted with marine life. Kids who visit can get a fun sticker and pick up a colouring sheet that doubles as a scavenger hunt for the types of animals and plants illustrated on the container, which are studied by local researchers. UVic's programming is an addition to the City of Victoria's electric Summer at Ship Point program - featuring live music, food trucks and free activities. The pop-up is an example of a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Victoria and UVic, delivering a long history of creative partnerships to achieve common goals. UVic will be at Ship Point Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between 4:30 and 7 p.m. this summer. The University of Victoria is here for what matters - including celebrating local entrepreneurs. Explore how UVic is connecting with the South Island community. Filed under: