Welcome to The City of Delta.

It’s taken longer than expected but the municipality has finally been granted a title change from being a “corporation” to a “city”.

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CAO George Harvie said things were delayed because of the change in government but now it’s official.

In May, council agreed to formally submit a request to the province to change Delta’s title after insufficient opposition from local voters.

The idea came about earlier this year when a civic delegation to Rotterdam, Netherlands found having "corporation" in Delta's official name created a mistaken assumption the municipality was a private business. The same problem occurred during a visit to Ottawa.

The only way residents could have blocked the change was for at least 10 per cent of eligible voters to submit an elector response form registering their opposition by a spring deadline.

The number of electors in the municipality is estimated to be 69,928, so 6,993 forms registering opposition were needed. The total number of verified response forms submitted was 1,506, just over two per cent. As far as those who registered their opposition, 1,450 forms came from South Delta while just 56 came from North Delta.

The municipality had also gone through a 48-day public consultation exercise, exceeding the 30-day requirement.

Harvie noted a report will be coming to council on Monday on the title change, while the letters patent from the provincial government will be framed.

Harvie also said museum staff will prepare a storyboard with a timeline of Delta’s history, leading up to the name change, which will be on display at recreation centres and civic facilities.

A previous report to council notes the classification change will not impact Delta's agricultural identity, municipal status nor the community names of Ladner, Tsawwassen and North Delta.

"Farming and agricultural land remain vital components of not only Delta's identity, but its economy, culture and history," the report notes.