Local government in Canada

"[4] Therefore, while municipalities do not have independent constitutional status, they are considered a separate level of government.

[citation needed] Within the three regional municipalities, designations such as "city" and "town" exist only as informal signifiers for historically chartered towns and cities that used to exist prior to the establishment of the regional municipality.

[citation needed] In Canada, the types of municipal government vary between provinces, although they all perform the same functions.

The general hierarchy was established in 1849 with the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act in United Canada.

Smaller governments are commonly called towns, villages, parishes, rural municipalities, townships or hamlets.

The term "borough" was previously used in Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, to denote suburban municipalities.

The Borough of East York was the last municipality to hold this status, relinquishing it upon becoming part of the City of Toronto on January 1, 1998.

In Quebec, the term borough is generally used as the English translation of arrondissement, referring to an administrative division of a municipality.

Mayors frequently interact with their federal and provincial counterparts over areas of shared responsibility.

Additional funding sources include the sale of goods and services, fines and tax transfers from the provincial government.

Famously, the city of Winchester was given its charter in 1185, and the granting of freedoms became endorsed in Magna Carta, which was signed in 1215.

The first formal municipality in Canada was the city of Saint John in New Brunswick, which received royal approval in 1785.

It also established a hierarchy of types of municipal governments, starting at the top with cities and continued down past towns, villages and finally townships.

The arguments over municipal government reform continue, seen in the recent City of Toronto Act 1997 dispute.