Municipal Act

Proposed amendments to the Municipal Act, 2001 were introduced on June 15, 2006 as part of the Municipal Statute Law Amendment Act, 2006 (Bill 130), see Municipal Act, 2001 Review for more information.

The Municipal Act, 2001 came into force on January 1, 2003. It represented the first comprehensive review and revision of the original Municipal Act since its passage in 1849.  

Passed by the legislature in December 2001, the Municipal Act, 2001 consolidated dozens of acts related to municipal governance or powers and shifted the Municipal Act from a prescriptive to a more permissive approach by including natural person powers and spheres of jurisdiction to allow municipalities to administer and organize their affairs and deliver services.

The Municipal Act, 2001 is the product of extensive consultation with municipal and business groups.  Beginning with the 1997 government release of a consultation paper titled A Proposed Legislative Framework, and culminating with Royal Assent of Bill 111 in December 2001, the process resulted in changes to a number of statutes, including the then-current Municipal Act, the Municipal Elections Act, the Municipal Boundary Negotiations Act, the Regional Municipalities Act (including individual acts), individual county acts, the Local Improvement Act, the Municipal Tax Sales Act, and parts of the Public Utilities Act and Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act.

The Municipal Act, 2001 recognizes the importance of ongoing consultation with municipalities on matters of mutual interest.  A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) was signed and formalized in legislation.  The MOU provides for prior consultation between the province and AMO when the province is developing a change in legislation and regulations that could have a significant impact on the current municipal budget or budget cycle.