The Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG) has recently released: A Seat at the Table: Municipalities and Intergovernmental Relations in Canada by Tomas Hachard exploring how Canada’s intergovernmental infrastructure could be reformed to include municipalities.

The paper lays out goals for intergovernmental relations reform in Canada: municipal inclusion in federal and provincial-territorial policymaking; collaboration on shared priorities; and improved urban, rural and regional policy.

It concludes by offering four approaches to intergovernmental reform in Canada:

• Ensure municipalities have the capacity, voice, and structures to participate effectively in intergovernmental relations
• Increase municipal involvement in provincial policymaking
• Eliminate unfunded mandates
• Strengthen trilateral relations