II: Canada’s Most Interesting Policy Paradox

Flashing back more than a year to my first class on urban policy during my graduate degree one phrase stands out me to more than any other: a claim by my professor that “all policy is urban policy”. Canada provides an interesting, if somewhat paradoxical, piece of evidence in support of this claim. While internationally, Canada might be recognized for its pristine wilderness, it is also the country in the OECD with the highest proportion of its population living within urban centres. Over the coming decades, Canada’s largest cities will account for the vast majority of both economic and population growth

In light of this, it is perhaps surprising to note that Canada’s municipalities are incredibly weak by international standards. While other major international cities levy separate income or sales taxes on their populations, Canadian cites rely primarily on property taxes to fund the services that they offer to citizens. While federal and provincial governments do offer additional funding to municipalities, these often come with heavy side of strings attached. This creates a challenging dilemma for urban policy makers in which advancing policy for their constituents involves a liaising with orders of government whose primary focus may not be aligned with that of municipal policymakers. An example of these conflicting agendas at work can be seen in the province of Ontario’s decision to overrule the City of Toronto’s attempts to levy tolls on users of the Gardiner expressway. In all likelihood, it is probably improbable that this inherent contradiction in the institutional arrangement of Canadian municipalities will be resolved, but if the world’s most urbanized nation would like to succeed at urban policy, it might be worth giving it some thought.