Municipal government in Canada

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.[6]

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.[6]

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.[6]

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.[6]

Municipal governments are subdivisions of their province. While the municipality has autonomy on most decisions, all by-laws passed by that municipal government are subject to change by the provincial government at any time.

An example of a typical municipal government structure can be found in New Brunswick, which played host to the first municipal government in Canada in 1785 at Saint John.[7]

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:

• 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 GDP is spent on municipal government services,[9] and when the government is not funded by the provincial government, taxes need to be imposed.
• 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.[4][10][11]

Municipal government funding sources, 2005

Most local governments are formed by a charter or act granted by the province or territory. Local governments are not mentioned in the Canadian Constitution other than to say they are the responsibility of the provinces. Consequently, municipalities can be created, amalgamated, or disbanded at the whim of the provincial government which controls them. They are also limited in the amount of interaction they have with the federal government because this would infringe upon an area of provincial jurisdiction. The federal government does fund quite a few projects in many cities, like major transit and roads. These funds come from a variety of federal programs like P3 Canada,[12] where a private company/consortia does a percentage of a project, construction, operations, maintenance, financing and designing, the Building Canada Fund,[13] where major projects can receive federal funds for a project. Unlike many US projects and cities, most projects only get approximately a quarter of their funds from the federal government, and they are not obligated[14] to have a certain amount of the work done by Canadians or Canadian companies.

Since each province is responsible for creating local governments in its own territory, the names, functions, and powers of local bodies vary widely across the country. Local governments generally have limited powers, namely creating local by-laws and taxation (property tax).

Typically, a municipal government is made up of one mayor (occasionally reeve or warden) and a set number of councillors (occasionally alderman). There are usually 10−20 councillors in one council; however, an exception to this is Montreal, with over 50 councillors. The councillors may represent districts called wards.[6][15]

In Canada, 83% of the municipal government revenue is raised through their own sources, and legally their accounts cannot go into deficit, safeguarding the provinces from unintentionally guaranteeing their municipal governments' debts. The majority of funding for Canadian municipal governments comes from property taxes. Additional funding sources include the sale of goods and services, fines and tax transfers from the provincial government.[16]

Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unlike most provincial elections, municipal elections are usually held on a fixed date.

• Administrative divisions of Canada
• 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
  • List of towns in Canada
• Provinces and territories of Canada

• Local Government in Canada: Organization & Basic Institutions | Mapleleafweb.com
• Local government history in British Columbia