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CBC Calgary: Enid Slack on How Canadian Municipalities Face Similar Fiscal Strains

Global Radio: Enid Slack on the Challenges Facing Municipalities

Toronto Star: 13th Annual Toronto City Manager’s Address

IMFG Events

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  • Housing Access & Urban Governance: Lessons from Mexico’s Recent Experience

    Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, Room 208N 1 Devonshire Place, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Changes to federal housing policy in Mexico in the 1990s helped finance the largest housing boom in the country’s history. During the 2000s, millions of Mexicans acquired mortgages to buy homes in the fringes of cities throughout the country. At the same time, decentralization efforts were under way to increase the capacity of local governments to, among other things, manage urban growth. Yet, even large municipalities have been ill equipped to provide adequate infrastructure and services to the new remote housing locations that have popped up in the last two decades. Furthermore, an increasing number of Mexican households have struggled to keep up with their mortgage payments with the result that some new developments have alarmingly high housing vacancy rates, all while about a third of Mexicans live in poor housing conditions.

  • Behind the City Beat: A Pre-Election Media Panel

    Campbell Conference Facility Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, 1 Devonshire Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    In the lead up to Ontario’s upcoming municipal election, the Institute of Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG) will bring together a panel of journalists who will address how they cover municipal elections; which policy issues matter most; and how they adapt and stay relevant in the changing media landscape.

  • Mind the Funding Gap: Transit Financing in Los Angeles County and Metro Vancouver

    Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Room 208N 1 Devonshire Place, North House, Room 208N, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Across North American cities, the demand for better public transit is pervasive, yet many local governments lack the sufficient revenue tools to finance the construction of new infrastructure. To resolve this dilemma, some localities have turned to citizens directly, proposing temporary earmarked sales tax increases as a way to finance capital-intensive projects. Why have some communities been more receptive to this funding model than others?

  • Toronto: The Accidental Metropolis

    Campbell Conference Facility Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, 1 Devonshire Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Toronto is evolving with a style and character unique in the world, widely recognized for its livability. Now its economic power and its critical and largely successful function as a crucible of immigrant settlement is becoming more and more evident. Remarkably, the emergence of Canada’s cities on the world stage, and Toronto’s rise to the top dozen in global status, has been largely accidental. How did this happen?

  • Is Municipal Cooperation a Silver Bullet? Experience from Australia, Brazil, and Canada

    Municipal cooperation on planning and service delivery is often advanced as a means to strengthen local government and address fragmented governance in metropolitan and other regions. If municipalities could work together, we could improve efficiency, lower service delivery costs, achieve better outcomes, and provide an alternative to municipal mergers. But, is municipal cooperation a panacea, or is it just a convenient solution to address some immediate problems?

  • The reality of sub-national taxation in conflict-affected states: The incidence and implications of informal taxation

    Taxation is at the centre of the relationship between state and society. In conflict-affected countries, it can be especially critical to rebuilding infrastructure and ensuring sustainable peace and development. When policymakers and international donors approach the task of rebuilding fiscal systems, they often do so with a narrow conception of tax reform in mind – one that is often based on the experience of developed countries.

  • Are You Serious? The Governance of Metropolitan Sydney

    Sydney is Australia’s largest metropolis with 5 million people, growing towards 7-8 million by mid-century. It faces serious challenges of infrastructure and service provision, environmental management, and spatial inequality.

  • Legacies of the Megacity: Toronto’s Amalgamation 20 Years Later

    Campbell Conference Facility Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, 1 Devonshire Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    In 1998, Metropolitan Toronto and its six lower tier municipalities were amalgamated to form the City of Toronto. The decision to amalgamate was controversial then, and continues to be contentious to some today. Two decades later, what can we say about the megacity merger? Did it achieve its goals? Are Torontonians better served by one large government than the previous two-tier model? Looking forward, what lies ahead for regional governance in the GTHA?

  • Promise and Peril in the Smart City: Local Government in the Age of Digital Urbanism

    Campbell Conference Facility Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, 1 Devonshire Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    The recent swell of interest in smart cities draws attention to the way the city of the future will be designed, built, and run. Increased use of technology in municipal servicing and governance holds tremendous promise to increase community engagement, create efficiencies in service production, better manage scarce resources and increase sustainability. At the same […]