The relationship of 5 Canadian cities and their provinces
Report prepared by the Chief Administrative Officer, City of Toronto September 5, 2000 (updated October 2001)

Background
Comments
Conclusions

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Background:

On July 4-6, 2000, Toronto City Council considered Policy and Finance Committee Report 9 (1), entitled "Towards a New Relationship with Ontario and Canada." The Report recommended that the City seek changes in its relationships with the provincial and federal governments including its request to be established as a Charter City.

During its discussion of the Report, City Council requested the CAO "to submit a report to the October 2000 meeting of Council, through the Policy and Finance Committee, on the current relationship between the following municipalities and provinces:

• Vancouver and British Columbia;
• Winnigeg and Manitoba;
• Montreal and Quebec; and
• St. John's and Newfoundland,

Comments:

(a) General Findings:

• Vancouver, Winnipeg, Montreal and St. John are all Charter Cities. In each case, the genesis for the Charter was the recognition of the particular needs of an urban area.

• Each Charter is different, reflecting the different needs of each City.

• As a result, none of the current Charters is appropriate as a model for Toronto. Instead, the Charter is better viewed as a mechanism to package the powers and responsibilities needed by a particular city to meet its particular circumstances.

• The relationship between the Charter and the municipal legislation of general application in the Province concerned varies. Some Charter Cities are governed exclusively by their Charter; others are governed by their Charter and selected provisions of the generally-applicable municipal legislation.

• In some cases, the Charter had been developed many years ago when the Province concerned was largely rural. Since then, the municipal legislation of general application in the Province concerned has been modernized to incorporate concepts such as "natural person powers" In such cases, the Charter City is either seeking to re-write its Charter to incorporate the modern concepts of the generally-applicable municipal legislation or is considering becoming exclusively governed by the modern generally-applicable legislation.

• When reviewing Canadian municipal legislation of general application, what is particularly striking is the trend across Canada of Provinces giving greater empowerment to municipalities and a greatly expanded capacity to respond to their environment. This trend is so marked as to now be accurately described as mainstream.

• New municipal legislation in many provinces across Canada is distinguished from predecessor legislation by adopting such concepts as "natural person powers", broad spheres of jurisdiction, consultation, sometimes mandatory, between the province and municipalities, and the formal recognition of municipalities as an order of government. Such concepts are in contrast to the "old style" legislation, which contained a "laundry-list" of powers. If a power was not listed or necessarily implied, the municipality did not have power. Therefore, when new social demands emerged, the municipality had to ask its province for special legislation before it could act. This process was slow and cumbersome.

• By embedding such concepts into new municipal acts, the provinces concerned have begun to build mutually responsible and co-operative provincial-municipal relationships that enable municipalities to be more responsive to the needs of their citizens and better equipped to face changing realities.

• New municipal legislation containing some or all of these concepts has been enacted (or is in the process of being enacted) by the Provinces of Alberta (1994), British Columbia (1996), Manitoba (1996), Newfoundland (1999), Nova Scotia (1998) and the Yukon Territory (1998).

• The Ontario government has made a number of statements in which it has recognized that the current municipal legislation is outdated and that the provincial-municipal relationship needs to be changed. A new Municipal Act is expected to be introduced into the Legislature in October 2001.

(b) Summary of the Relationship between Selected Cities and their Provinces:

Vancouver and British Columbia

• The general impetus behind Vancouver's Charter was recognition of the need to respond to the particular needs of an urban area.

• Vancouver is almost exclusively governed by its Charter, together with a few selected provisions from the generally-applicable municipal legislation.

• The Charter recognizes the particular needs of Vancouver by, for example, giving it control over development and ownership of public areas within its boundaries. (In all other B.C. municipalities, public areas belong to the Province.)

• The Charter also gives Vancouver City Council the power to provide and pay for the promotion or opposition of any proposed federal or provincial legislation affecting the city.

• The Charter dates back to 1886, when Vancouver was almost the only urban area in British Columbia. British Columbia enacted a new municipal act of general application in 1996, which recognizes local government as an independent, responsible and accountable order of government. The Act's stated purpose is to provide local governments with the flexibility to respond to different and changing circumstances. The new government in British Columbia has announced its intention to enact "Community Charter" legislation which will bestow broad natural person powers on municipal governments. The new legislation is likely to be more modern and flexible than Vancouver's Charter.

• Vancouver has been involved in the development of the new "cities act" and is reserving the right either to opt-in to the new legislation or maintain its stand-alone Charter but amending it to incorporate many of the modern concepts of the new act.

• There is a trilateral agreement between Vancouver, British Columbia and the federal government which is designed to work with residents in neighbourhoods in and around the downtown eastside to develop a healthy and sustainable community.

Winnipeg and Manitoba

• Winnipeg's Charter was developed to respond to the needs of a large urban centre.

• Winnipeg is almost exclusively governed by its Charter, together with a few provisions from a generally-applicable municipal statute which was repealed for every other municipality in 1996.

• Winnipeg's Charter recognizes the City's particular needs by, for example, giving Winnipeg power in respect of remedial health and sanitary measures, an independent property assessment system and a separate planning administration.

• The current Charter dates back to the City's amalgamation in 1972, when Winnipeg was the only large city in Manitoba. The Province enacted a new municipal act of general application in 1996, which gives municipal councils broad authority and respects their right to govern a municipality in the way they consider appropriate within spheres of jurisdiction.

• In view of the new, more flexible municipal legislation, Winnipeg is working towards revising its Charter to incorporate many of the modern concepts contained in the new legislation.

• There is a trilateral agreement between Winnipeg, the Province of Manitoba and the federal government which is designed to work with community and businesses to support long-term sustainable economic development in Winnipeg.

Montreal and the Province of Quebec

• Montreal's Charter was developed to respond to the particular requirements of a large urban area. Other urban areas, such as Quebec City, also have their own Charter.

• Montreal is governed by its Charter in addition to other municipal legislation of general application.

• Montreal's Charter recognizes the particular needs of that city by giving it unique powers, including, for example, the following: (i) the ability to obtain special legislation to invest in private enterprises and to incorporate non-profit corporations and provide them with financial incentives; (ii) the power to accept, take, purchase, hold, alienate and convey any movable and immovable property; and (iii) the power to annex any territory within the island of Montreal (with the agreement of the annexed territory).

• Montreal's Charter dates back to the 1890's, with its most recent comprehensive review in 1959. The current municipal legislation of general application is of the traditional "laundry list" style. The Province of Quebec is considering moving towards a more modern "natural person powers" style of municipal legislation of general application.

• The government of Quebec has also enacted legislation which "fuses" the City of Montreal with surrounding municipalities on the Island of Montreal.

St John's and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador

• St. John's, in common with the other Newfoundland cities, is exclusively governed by a consolidated "city act".

• The St. John's legislation was enacted many years ago. It was developed to respond to the particular needs of that urban centre. The legislation is in the traditional "laundry list" style and, apparently, badly needs updating.

• In 1999, Newfoundland enacted a new Municipalities Act, which increases municipal autonomy in administration and financial management, expands taxation and collection capacities, and expands and provides new authorities for service delivery and municipal controls.

Saint John and the Province of New Brunswick

• St. John is a Charter City. The general impetus behind the City's Charter was the recognition of its particular needs as an urban area.

• The Saint John Charter is a Royal Charter, dating back to 1785, and is unique in Canada.

• The Charter is exclusive of generally-applicable municipal legislation, provided there is no conflict with provincial statutes, in which case the provincial provision govern.

• The Saint John Charter establishes the City as a "common law corporation" with "natural person powers". This means that Saint John possesses very broad powers, subject to expressly-imposed limitations in provincial legislation. This gives Saint John great flexibility in all areas, including financing.

• The generally-applicable municipal legislation in New Brunswick is of the old-style "laundry-list" type, where municipalities are characterized as creatures of the province, heavily regulated and supervised, and restricted to only those powers and activities expressly permitted.

• Although the Province has the power to restrict the broad powers enjoyed by Saint John under its Charter, it has rarely done so.

(c) Implications for Toronto:

The research into city-provincial relationships in other parts of Canada has revealed exciting and creative options for the City of Toronto in its relationship with the Province of Ontario. Three potential routes to a new relationship are suggested by the experiences elsewhere:

Toronto Charter
Council's recommended approach, a Charter for the City of Toronto, is an attractive option. It would provide a fresh opportunity to create a modern Charter that incorporates such concepts as natural person powers, broad spheres of jurisdiction, consultation between levels of government and the formal recognition of the City as an order of government. These concepts are consistent with "principles of local government" that have been adopted by the International Union of Local Authorities and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. If the Charter were to incorporate concepts such as these, it could be a document that would not grow old and heavy in the ensuing years, but one that would be flexible and responsive to future challenges. This new Charter would provide Toronto with the power and flexibility it seeks within the context of current provincial legislation.

Ontario Cities Act
Another viable option is to pursue the enactment of a "Cities Act", applicable to the urban municipalities of Ontario. Adopting the principles of local government, this legislation would provide added power and flexibility for all Ontario cities. Furthermore, the pursuit of this new regime could be a joint effort with Toronto's sister cities.

A New Municipal Act
The third option is a new municipal act in Ontario that embraces the principles of local government. The Alberta style legislation is a good example. This generally-applicable municipal legislation would confer new power and flexibility on all Ontario municipalities.

Conclusions:

This report has reviewed the relationships between five Canadian Cities and their respective Provinces. The research findings reinforce the value of a City Charter for Toronto as a mechanism to package a set of "custom-built" powers and responsibilities that match the City's particular situation and needs. The research shows that there is a trend in Canada towards modernizing the relationship between cities and their provinces. The tendency is towards greater empowerment of cities and recognition of them as an order of government.

The Charters in the cities reviewed in this report reflect the thinking and conditions of the periods in which they were enacted. The cities are seeking renewal of their Charters and the incorporation of modern principles of local government, which are also helping to shape municipal legislation of more general application. There is much for Toronto to learn from the experiences of cities and provinces across Canada, and much to contribute to new ways of thinking about the role of cities in the twenty-first century.

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