Canada Archives – Decentralization Net

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[ March 11, 2026 ] How can property taxes drive subnational development? Cities and urban development
[ March 3, 2026 ] An inflection point in South Africa’s local government reform? Africa
[ February 27, 2026 ] Rethinking the Future of Decentralization and Multilevel Governance Community
[ February 26, 2026 ] LPSA convenes in New York to shape its strategic direction Community
[ February 17, 2026 ] Reimagining democracy from the ground up Decentralization

Conditional grants and the hidden politics of fiscal decentralization

December 19, 2025 LPS Alliance

In discussions on fiscal decentralization, conditional grants are often treated as a technical detail rather than a central feature of multilevel governance. Much of the debate focuses on revenue assignments, own-source taxation, or unconditional transfers, […]

Financing green futures: Eco-fiscal tools in Canadian cities

September 14, 2025 Marina Jandrevska

As the impacts of climate change grow more severe, governments at all levels are facing a dual challenge: how to fund the transition to sustainable communities while managing increasing fiscal pressures. In this context, municipalities […]

Municipal Finance in Canada: Reflections and Thoughts for the Future

February 3, 2025 Limabenla Jamir

“Budget bailout needed once again” could be a headline in a Toronto newspaper today. It is actually from the Toronto Star, December 8, 2004, around the time IMFG was founded. The story notes that Toronto’s budget […]

Water federalism in Canada: working across government levels to support essential water infrastructure

July 20, 2021 LPS Initiative

The governments of Canada and Quebec are taking decisive action to meet the essential water infrastructure needs of local communities by working together across different government levels. The federal government, provincial government and municipal government […]

Intergovernmental Transfers in Federations

November 2, 2020 LPS Alliance

In a multi-level government system, the assignment of roles and responsibilities and institutional legacies between the federal and the subnational governments often create imbalances. A common challenges is a primary vertical fiscal imbalance, which is […]

Local governments in Canada: Building better lives together

January 12, 2020 LPS Alliance

Canada has three levels of government; federal, provincial and municipal. According to Section 92(8) of the Constitution Act, 1867, “In each Province the Legislature may exclusively make Laws in relation to… Municipal Institutions in the […]