Browse Our Research 

Before the last municipal election in 2014, IMFG issued a Perspectives Paper on Toronto’s Fiscal Health (Is Toronto Fiscally Healthy? A Check-up on the City’s Finances by Enid Slack and André Côté). In that paper, we undertook an assessment of the state of the City’s finances in four areas: spending and services; taxes and revenues; debt and savings; and infrastructure.
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Elections are a time to assess what has happened in our community since the last election and ask questions – often uncomfortable questions – about the places we live and the environment we are creating for those who live here. In the lead-up to the 2018 Ontario municipal election, the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance has commissioned a series of short pre-election papers to add to the dialogue and tap into the ideas of some of the GTHA’s most respected leaders. As you read these short papers, you will see that we have covered a wide range of themes – transportation, housing, homelessness, youth, neighbourhoods, Indigenous peoples, mental health, decent work, policing, universities, arts and culture, and regional and local governance.
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In 1998, Metropolitan Toronto and its six lower-tier municipalities – Toronto, Etobicoke, Scarborough, North York, East York, and York – were amalgamated to form the new City of Toronto. The decision to amalgamate was controversial. Proponents argued that streamlining service delivery would yield major cost savings for the city and its residents. Opponents claimed that eliminating Metro’s lower-tier municipalities would diminish the quality of democratic representation.
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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?
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Joe Berridge, Partner, Urban Strategies; Professor- Geography and Planning, University of Toronto, presented as part of the event Toronto: The Accidental Metropolis on June 20, 2018.
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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?
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Constantino Cronemberger Mendes, Country Director (Brazil), Forum of Federations, presented “Municipal Cooperation in Brazil: Challenges and Opportunities“ as part of the event Is Municipal Cooperation a Silver Bullet? Experience from Australia, Brazil, and Canada on June 14, 2018.
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Graham Sansom, Visiting Scholar, Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance, presented “Is Municipal Cooperation a Silver Bullet? An Australian Perspective” as part of the event Is Municipal Cooperation a Silver Bullet? Experience from Australia, Brazil, and Canada on June 14, 2018.
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