Regionalism, Municipal Organization, and Interlocal Cooperation in Canada

Zachary Spicer

Canadian Public Policy, 2015, vol. 41, issue 2, 137-150

Abstract: The challenge of governing multi-municipal areas is a long-standing policy problem for those who study local government. While changes to government structures are often suggested as a solution to the coordination and servicing dilemmas inherent within metropolitan areas, more recent research has demonstrated that decentralized, voluntary means of interlocal cooperation show promise in providing for service and policy continuity within these regions. Very little research has been conducted on the state of voluntary cooperation in Canadian metropolitan areas. This article seeks to correct this by studying interlocal agreements within six Canadian metropolitan areas, while introducing new measures for examining the intensity of these relationships. Overall, this article finds that municipalities within these areas are using interlocal agreements sparingly, and those with arrangements are mostly signing low-value, low-risk agreements that do not integrate governance mechanisms or service responsibility.

Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2014-078 (text/html)
access restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpp:issued:v:41:y:2015:i:2:p:137-150

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.utpjournals.com/loi/cpp/

Access Statistics for this article

Canadian Public Policy is currently edited by Prof. Mike Veall

More articles in Canadian Public Policy from University of Toronto Press University of Toronto Press Journals Division 5201 Dufferin Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3H 5T8.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Iver Chong ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).