Email this pageMunicipal Government and Finance

Legislation and Regulations 

Municipal Act 2001

• Key Dates to Remember: Important submission or action dates for municipalities related to the Municipal Act.
• Link to information on the Municipal Act, 2001 and associated regulations, and
• A plain language e-guide on the Act that compares the former Act with the current Act, and provides practical implementation examples/tips.

Line Fences Act

• A guide to the Line Fences Act, 2006
• Reference: The Line Fences Act and Abandoned Rail Right of Ways by Wayne Caldwell 

Heritage Property Tax Relief

The Municipal Act, 2001 gives municipalities the option of establishing a tax relief program for owners of eligible heritage properties. The newly released Heritage Property Tax Relief: A guide for Municipalities provides a 10-step process for establishing a heritage tax relief program.

Municipal Conflict of Interest Act

The Municipal Conflict of Interest Act sets out a framework for when it is appropriate for members of municipal council and local boards to participate in decision-making, keeping in mind the overall goal of protecting the public interest. 

Municipal Elections Act

Find answers to your questions on municipal elections and the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 here. 

E-Laws

Access all other Provincial legislation and regulations on e-laws.

Programs and Projects

Municipal Performance Measurement Program

• The Municipal Performance Measurement Program (MPMP) is an initiative designed to provide taxpayers with useful information on service delivery and municipalities with a tool to improve those services over time.
• To find your municipal group in the MPMP Summary of 2005 Results.

Municipal Restructuring

The Municipal Act, 2001 defines three types of municipalities:  upper-tier municipalities and lower-tier municipalities within a two-tier municipal system, and single-tier municipalities that are not part of a two-tier system. Since the mid-1990s, as some counties and regional municipalities merged with their constituent local municipalities, the number of municipalities was reduced from 815 to 445. Detailed information is found on the MAH Municipal Restructuring web page.

Restructuring Maps of Ontario

Tools and Resources

List of Western Municipalities

by alphabetical order

by area  

listing of municipalities in the province

Service Delivery Review Guides

Service Delivery Review Guides  - The guides were prepared to help municipalities in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the services they deliver, and to assist councils in both meeting their fiscal challenges and finding better ways to manage public expenditures.  List of Southwestern Municipalities

Property Assessment and Taxation

• Property Assessment and Taxation System
• Online Property Tax Analysis tool developed by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing provides a business application to help municipalities make decisions required under the new assessment and property tax system.
• Municipal Property Assessment Corporation
• Key Dates to Remember: Important submission or action dates for municipalities related to the Assessment Acts.

Procurement Guide for Municipalities

The Municipal Act, 2001 requires municipalities and local boards to develop policies by bylaw, or in the case of local boards by resolution, that will be used to guide the procurement of goods and services.  To learn more about considerations/processes in the development of procurement policies review the Procurement Guide for Municipalities.

For more information on public procurement visit:

• The Ontario Public Buyers' Association
• The Purchasing Management Association of Canada
• The National Institute of Government Purchasing

Municipal Business and Financial Tools

Economic Development / Finance - access to a variety guides, handbooks and reference material for municipalities to use in their daily business.

Innovative Service Delivery

Innovative Service Delivery - approaches and practices in the public sector.

Ontario Municipal CAO's Benchmarking Initiative (OMBI)

OMBI is a municipal partnership project assisting Ontario municipalities to analyze service delivery performance, encouraging service excellence in municipal government.

Accessibility Ontario Sites

Access up-to date information on accessibility issues relating to the Ontarians with Disabilities Act and answers to most frequently asked questions.  

Tools for Municipalities - guides, how-to’s and best practices for municipalities to use in developing their Accessibility Plans.

Rural Community and Organizational Development Resources

Online fact sheets on community and organization development, strategic and program planning for organizations, as well as many other topics at Rural Development Information, Resources and Fact Sheets.

 

Municipal Associations/ Organizations/ Academic Institutions

• Association of Municipalities of Ontario
  • AMO - Ontario Small  Urban Municipalities
  • ROMA – Rural Ontario Municipal Association
• Municipal Finance Officers’ Association of Ontario
• The Ontario Trillium Foundation 
• Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario
• AMCTO Zone 1
• AMCTO Zone 2
• AMCTO Zone 3
• Ontario Municipal Management Institute
• Association of Local Public Health Agencies
• Federation of Canadian Municipalities
• Association of Municipal Tax Collectors of Ontario
• Municipal Information Systems Association 
• Municipal Engineers Association
• Ontario Good Roads Association
• Municipal World
• Rural Ontario Council
• Ontario Centre for Municipal Best Practices
  The Ontario Centre for Municipal Best Practices is a partnership, formed in 2002, between the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the  Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
• University of Waterloo, Research and Technology Park
  The Park ensures continued support for pure and applied research and innovation throughout Canada
• University of Western Ontario, Richard Ivey School of Business
• University of Western Ontario, Local Government Program (LGP) 
  Offers opportunities for studying the rapidly changing fields of local government and local government administration
• Urban Nexus
  Urban Nexus, a new initiative of the Family Network of the Canadian Policy Research Networks, provides a monthly e-bulletin of policy research, news and events on cities and communities that starts with the premise that "place matters"
• Canadian Public Administration Programs
• Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention (C2P2) Sarnia, Ontario

• Key Municipal Submission Dates