Municipal Act, 2001 Explained

The Municipal Act of the Canadian province of Ontario^[1] is the main statute governing the creation, administration and government of municipalities in Ontario, other than the City of Toronto. After being passed in 2001, it came into force on 1 January 2003, replacing the previous Municipal Act, 1990.^[2] It has since been amended. Previous versions of the Municipal Act date back to the 19th century.^[3]

This act and others before as Municipal (Corporation) Act are linked back to Baldwin Act, 1849 of Upper Canada, which replaced the ineffective District Council Act by the establishment of responsible (elected) government.

Functions

There are complex rules as to which municipalities have authority to act on any given subject, which are summarized as follows in Section 11:

TABLE

Sphere of jurisdiction	Part of sphere assigned	Upper-tier municipality(ies) to which part of sphere assigned	Exclusive or non-exclusive assignment
Highways, including parking and traffic on highways	Whole sphere	All upper-tier municipalities	Non-exclusive
Transportation systems, other than on highways	Airports	All upper-tier municipalities	Non-exclusive
	Ferries	All upper-tier municipalities	Non-exclusive
	Disabled passenger transport systems	Peel, Halton	Non-exclusive
	Whole sphere, except airports and ferries	Waterloo, York	Exclusive
Waste management	Whole sphere, except waste collection	Durham, Halton, Lambton, Oxford, Peel, Waterloo, York	Exclusive
Public utilities	Sewage treatment	All counties, Niagara, Waterloo, York	Non-exclusive
		Durham, Halton, Muskoka, Oxford, Peel	Exclusive
	Collection of sanitary sewage	All counties, Niagara, Waterloo, York	Non-exclusive
		Durham, Halton, Muskoka, Oxford, Peel	Exclusive
	Collection of storm water and other drainage from land	All upper-tier municipalities	Non-exclusive
	Water production, treatment and storage	All upper-tier municipalities except counties	Exclusive
	Water distribution	Niagara, Waterloo, York	Non-exclusive
		Oxford, Durham, Halton, Muskoka, Peel	Exclusive
Culture, parks, recreation and heritage	Whole sphere	All upper-tier municipalities	Non-exclusive
Drainage and flood control, except storm sewers	Whole sphere	All upper-tier municipalities	Non-exclusive
Structures, including fences and signs	Whole sphere, except fences and signs	Oxford	Non-exclusive
Parking, except on highways	Municipal parking lots and structures	All upper-tier municipalities	Non-exclusive
Animals	None	None
Economic development services	Promotion of the municipality for any purpose by the collection and dissemination of information	Durham	Exclusive
		All counties, Halton, Muskoka, Niagara, Oxford, Peel, Waterloo, York	Non-exclusive
	Acquisition, development and disposal of sites for industrial, commercial and institutional uses	Durham	Exclusive
		Halton, Lambton, Oxford	Non-exclusive
Business licensing	Owners and drivers of taxicabs, tow trucks, buses and vehicles (other than motor vehicles) used for hire; Taxicab brokers; Salvage business; Second-hand goods business	Niagara, Waterloo	Exclusive
	Drainage business, plumbing business	York	Exclusive
	Lodging houses, septic tank business	York	Non-exclusive

See also

• Metropolitan Toronto Act
• Revised Statutes of Ontario

External links

• Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Municipal Act e-guide

Notes and References

1. http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_01m25_e.htm Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25
2. http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/repealedstatutes/english/elaws_rep_statutes_90m45_e.htm Municipal Act, 1990 R.S.O. 1990, c. M.45
3. Book: archive.org . Internet Archive . The Municipal act, 1887, and the Act respecting the establishment of municipal institutions in the districts of Algoma, Muskoka, Parry Sound, Nipissing, Thunder Bay, and Rainy River [microform] : together with the Municipal amendment act, 1888 : with index ]. 1888 . 978-0-665-61134-6 .