Local government in Canada

Local government in Canada can be defined as all elected local authorities which are legally empowered to make decisions on behalf of its electors, excluding the federal government, provincial and territorial governments, and First Nations, Métis and Inuit governments. This can include municipalities, school boards, health authorities, and so on.^[1]^[2]

The most prominent form of local government in Canada is municipal government, which is a local council authority which provides local services, facilities, safety and infrastructure for communities.^[3]^[4] Municipal governments are local general-purpose authorities which provide services to all residents within a defined geographic area called a municipality.

Canada has three orders of government, federal, provincial/territorial and Indigenous. Municipalities are subordinate (delegated) governance entities existing at the pleasure of provinces and territories. According to Section 92(8) of the Constitution Act, 1867, "In each Province the Legislature may exclusively make Laws in relation to... Municipal Institutions in the Province."^[5] Local governments are therefore frequently referred to as "creatures of the provinces". There were about 3,700 municipal governments in Canada c. 2002.

Municipal government[edit]

In Canada, municipal government is a type of local council authority that provides local services, facilities, safety and infrastructure for communities.^[7]^[8] Canada has three orders of government: federal, provincial and municipal. According to Section 92(8) of the Constitution Act, 1867, "In each Province the Legislature may exclusively make Laws in relation to … Municipal Institutions in the Province."^[5] There are about 3,700 municipal governments in Canada.^[6] Municipal governments are established under provincial/territorial authority.^[9]

Management of the local policing and firefighting stations. Whilst this comes under the jurisdiction of the provincial government in some areas, it is not uncommon to see municipal police and fire stations.

Transportation. Whilst municipal governments may not be responsible for large highways, small roads and tracks usually come under their control. Additionally, municipal governments may operate bus and train services.

Education management or funding school boards. In many municipalities, the school board is voted indirectly by the people and funded by the municipal government itself from the taxes it collects.

Planning and development. In order to build an extension on to a house, for example, a municipal government permit or certificate of approval may be required. They are also responsible for administering industrial, residential and commercial zones.

Finance and collecting municipality taxes. Most municipalities (with the exception of some rural ones) have the power to collect taxes in order to provide the services mentioned in this list. Almost 10% of the national is spent on municipal government services,^[12] and when the government is not funded by the provincial government, taxes need to be imposed.

GDP

Public utilities and other services. Usually, parks are taken care of by the municipal government and occasionally sewerage, water, etc.

In Quebec, Ontario and Alberta the range of local government services is broadened to include electricity, telephone and gas services.^[13]^[14]

[6]

While many municipal governments have different functions to others (urban vs. rural, etc.), and vary from province to province, most of the services and functions they perform are effectively the same. Functions of municipal governments can include:

History[edit]

Like many Canadian political institutions, the municipal government has its roots in the medieval system of government in England. Famously, the city of Winchester was given its charter in 1185, and the granting of freedoms became endorsed in Magna Carta, which was signed in 1215. The first formal municipality in Canada was the city of Saint John in New Brunswick, which received royal approval in 1785. For municipal government, this began an almost 50-year hiatus of receiving approval from the government, ending in the 1830s when the issue was placed on the agenda once again. In 1835, the British parliament passed the Municipal Corporations Act, which specified how municipalities were to function and be elected. The ideas from this law were transferred to Canada by Lord Durham, who submitted a report to then-Governor General, Lord Sydenham. In late 1840 to early 1841, the governments of what was Canada at the time enacted various acts which established municipal government in all areas of the country.^[18]

In 1849, the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada approved a Canadian version of the Municipal Corporations Act, often referred to as the Baldwin Act in honour of its creator, Robert Baldwin. It delegated authority to the municipal governments so they could raise taxes and enact by-laws. It also established a hierarchy of types of municipal governments, starting at the top with cities and continued down past towns, villages and finally townships. Changes to the boundaries of these new governments could be made by petitioning the provincial Municipal Board or by requesting a change through the legislature.^[18]

By the early 20th century, Canada was deeply involved in a period of municipal reform. An attempt to distinguish municipal government from the provincial legislature occurred, and the municipal governments were compared with a board of directors – this form of government was not for advancing a certain political party's view, it was for sitting down and running it 'like a business'. As such, the idea that a larger municipality should have more councillors was the same as having a large board of directors for a larger company, i.e., not functionally possible.^[18]

Between the 1920s and the 1960s, the municipalities received increased funding from their provincial government parents. This was partly due to the Great Depression, but further discussion about reform reared its head in the 1970s. In many cities, the system of having a few very large wards encompassing many different walks of life was replaced with one ward for every area with different demographics; this was to ensure that councillors would not have conflicting interests between the well-off and those not so. The arguments over municipal government reform continue, seen in the recent City of Toronto Act 1997 dispute.^[18]

Government of Canada

History of cities in Canada

List of governments in Canada by annual expenditures

List of municipalities in Canada

List of cities in Canada

Provinces and territories of Canada

Graham, Katherine A.; Phillips, Susan D.; Masiove, Allan M. (1998). . Toronto: Fort Worth : Harcourt Brace Canada. ISBN 978-0-7747-3392-2.

Urban governance in Canada : representation, resources, and restructuring

Sancton, Andrew (2011). . Don Mills, Ont.: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-542756-1.

Canadian local government: an urban perspective

Sancton, Andrew; Young, Robert, eds. (2009). . Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4426-9724-9.

Foundations of governance : municipal government in Canada's provinces

Tindal, C. Richard; Tindal, Susan Nobes (2009). . Toronto: Nelson Education. ISBN 978-0-17-610394-1.