Skip to Main Content

Urban Policy

Information on finding urban policies.

Federal/National Level of Government

Distribution of Powers

In Canada, sections 91 and 92 of the Constitution Act 1867, formerly known as the British North America Act, outline the distribution of powers between the federal and provincial levels of government.

Section 92 indicates that the Legislature of each Province can make laws pertaining to "Municipal Institutions in the Province".

Municipal Institutions are municipal governments.  A municipal government may be rural or urban. 

Each province defines what is considered a rural municipality or an urban municipality.

Levels of Government

There are 3 main levels of government in Canada:

  • Federal
  • Provincial/Territorial
  • Municipal

Municipal/Local Level

METHOD 1:  USE THE INTERNET TO FIND OFFICIAL CITY WEB SITES

Use Google to locate the official website for a city.  Here are some steps to follow:

Step 1:  In the Google search box type the city you are interested in and the word official

Step 2:  Locate the official page

 

Step 3:  Make a note of the URL


Step 4:  Use the URL, eg. www.portlandonline.com to carry out an Advanced Search (steps are found on the Finding Urban (City) Policies page in this guide).

 

METHOD 2:  USE PORTALS/GATEWAYS THAT HAVE GATHERED TOGETHER CITY WEB SITES

There are several web sites that have gathered together the web sites of municipalities.  The following is a selection:

Federation of Canadian Municipalities