Municipalities are responsible for maintaining and delivering most of the infrastructure and services that support Canadians in their daily lives, including roads, water, public transit and essential community services.
However, in light of the historic population growth our country is experiencing, municipalities are struggling to fund these services under a 19th century revenue framework that was never designed for the realities of the 21st century.
To ensure that Canada’s growth is successful, FCM is urging the federal government to bring together all orders of government to discuss and develop a Municipal Growth Framework: a new, more equitable way to fund local governments.
Drawing on input from municipalities, provincial and territorial municipal associations (PTAs) and public finance experts, this paper comprehensively outlines the fiscal context that municipalities are currently operating within and highlights how this structure is limiting Canada’s progress.
It concludes by offering concrete recommendations for a renewed partnership between orders of government that would enable Canada’s long-term growth and work towards ending chronic homelessness.