Finance and Governance Solutions for Stronger Cities
IMFG focuses on the fiscal health and governance challenges facing large cities and city-regions. The Institute’s mandate is to conduct independent research, spark and inform public debate, and to engage the academic and policy communities around important issues of municipal finance and governance.
In Canada and abroad, cities are central to the economic prosperity and social vitality of countries. To create the conditions for economic competitiveness and offer a high quality of life that will attract and retain residents and businesses, cities need to build and maintain infrastructure, and deliver a wide range of services. As the size and scope of responsibility for cities have expanded to accommodate rapid urbanization and growth across metropolitan areas, ensuring that city-regions have the appropriate financial and governance arrangements has become increasingly critical.
IMFG is the only organization of its kind in Canada focused on municipal finance and governance issues. It undertakes a range of research and programming activities:
- Conducting original, independent, academic research on a range of finance and governance issues;
- Promoting and sharing our research and publications, including the IMFG Papers, Perspectives, and Forum publications, and webcasts and presentations;
- Convening high-level roundtables and public events to engage discussion among Canada’s government, academic, corporate, and community leaders; and
- Supporting graduate and post-graduate students to build Canada’s cadre of municipal finance and governance experts, and hosting visiting scholars to share perspectives from other cities.
Funding
The Institute’s start-up was made possible by the generous support of Avana Capital Corporation. IMFG is generously supported by the City of Toronto, the Regional Municipality of York, the Regional Municipality of Halton, the Regional Municipality of Durham, the Regional Municipality of Peel, Maytree, and Avana Capital Corporation.