Canadian Urban Governance in Comparative Perspective

What does a comparative approach add to our understanding of Canadian municipal government, city governance, and municipal policy-making? Canadian Urban Governance in Comparative Perspective, brings together experts in the field to situate Canada within global debates about the place of municipalities in democratic constitutions and systems of (multilevel) governance.

The contributors offer a comprehensive coverage of Canadian municipal government and governance. The book explores the conceptual and institutional foundations of Canadian municipal systems by placing them in a comparative perspective, highlights seminal works by Canadian scholars to show how comparison adds to our understanding of municipal institutions and city governance, and conceptualizes the place of municipal governments in Canada’s multilevel system. It analyzes comparisons of major elements of municipal systems and examines some of the most important urban and global policy challenges of our time, including the politics of growth and development, climate change, immigrant settlement, addressing racism, municipal-Indigenous relations, and tackling poverty and social polarization.

Ultimately, the book invites readers to reflect upon and assess the extent to which Canada’s current municipal systems are up to the task of contributing to effective and equitable responses to contemporary urban challenges and to enriching democratic life in Canada.

Kristin R. Good is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and cross-appointed to the Law, Justice, and Society program at Dalhousie University.


Jen Nelles is a professor of Systems and Spatial Analysis in the Oxford Brookes Business School at Oxford Brookes University.