Search Results for: Amalgamation or Decentralization
IMFG Paper | 2017
Re-imagining Community Councils in Canadian Local Government
Alexandra Flynn and Zachary Spicer
In 2015, Toronto City Council asked city staff to review community councils as part of the City’s ward boundary review process. Toronto’s ward boundary review realigned the city’s wards, so the City now needs to set new boundaries for community councils. Staff has been directed to report back to Council in 2017 on the “impacts to governance and structure changes to the authority, duties, and function of community councils.” Meanwhile, in November 2016, the Province of Ontario introduced measures to strengthen the use of community councils across Ontario. There is thus a unique opportunity available to re-imagine the authority and use of Toronto’s community councils.
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Video | 2014
Métropole du Grand Paris: Planning and Integrating the Paris Metropolitan Region
Catherine Barbé
In this video, Catherine Barbé, the Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Société du Grand Paris, shares some of her experience and strategies with the implementation of the Grand Paris project, with insights and lessons on further integrating the Paris metropolitan region.
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Perspectives Paper | 2014
Too Big, Yet Still Too Small: The Mixed Legacy of the Montréal and Toronto Amalgamations
Zachary Spicer
More than a decade since the amalgamations, two recent IMFG Papers examine the impact these reforms have had on the finances and service delivery in the country’s two biggest cities. This Perspectives paper highlights the key themes and arguments from the two papers.
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Presentation | 2014
Concepts of Decentralization and Local Governance
Enid Slack
Presentation delivered by IMFG Director Enid Slack to Inter-Regional Dialogue on Local Governance and Gender in Decentralizing and Transitioning States in Tunis on February 14, 2014.
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Presentation | 2013
Decentralization and Gender Equity
Slack, Enid
Presentation delivered by IMFG Director Enid Slack to the Inter-Regional Dialogue on Local Governance and Gender in Decentralizing and Transitioning States in Tunis on December 18, 2013.
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IMFG Paper | 2013
Decentralization and Infrastructure in Developing Countries
Roy Bahl and Richard M. Bird
The paper first sets out the theory of expenditure assignment with respect to decentralizing infrastructure expenditure, and then considers how practice around the developing world appears to differ from what that theory appears to suggest.
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IMFG Paper | 2013
Public Finance in Montréal: In Search of Equity and Efficiency
Jean-Philippe Meloche and François Vaillancourt
Following the 2002 amalgamation, half Montréal’s pre-amalgamation suburbs de-merged in 2006, leading to the creation of a smaller megacity with 19 decentralized boroughs. This paper identifies factors that affect the capacity of Montréal’s boroughs to fulfil their responsibilities.
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IMFG Paper | 2013
Merging Municipalities: Is Bigger Better?
Enid Slack and Richard M. Bird
This paper reviews different ways in which the formal governance of metropolitan areas may be restructured, such as through two-tier structures, voluntary cooperation, special districts, and municipal mergers. It includes a case study of the amalgamation in Toronto.
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Search Research Archive
Burlington Gazette: Analysis of Strong Mayor Powers
March 30, 2026
Toronto Star: Enid Slack on the Use of Reserve Funds in Toronto’s Proposed Budget
February 10, 2026
CBC New Brunswick: Aaron Moore on Unequal Assessment Freezes
February 10, 2026
