The Institute on Municipal Finance & Governance (IMFG) has released a paper analyzing the similarities and variations in municipal law across Canada’s provinces.

Authors Zack Taylor and Alec Dobson identify how the provincial-municipal relationship is articulated, municipal powers and jurisdiction, the organization of municipal institutions, and financial powers.

The paper, Power and Purpose: Canadian Municipal Law in Transition, found five trends from its analysis:

• Provinces increasingly recognize municipalities as accountable, democratic governments;

• Municipal grants of authority are becoming more expansive and permissive;

• The courts have increasingly demonstrated a generous interpretation of municipal authority;

• Big cities operate more and more under bespoke legal arrangements, but their long-term impact remains unclear; and

• Fiscal empowerment lags legal empowerment.

To read the paper in its entirety, please click here.