Canada's Cities Facing Fiscal Crisis

"Canadian cities are facing a fiscal crisis and their plight should be a national priority, a major study by the Conference Board of Canada concludes."

"Canada's 'cities matter -- to our people, our economy, our prosperity and our future,' says the report, titled Mission Possible: Successful Canadian Cities."

"The 121-page report makes 32 recommendations, ranging from boosting investments in transportation and affordable housing to changing how cities are governed and giving them more power to tax."

"'We are counting on cities to be the engines of our prosperity and yet we are neglecting them,' Anne Golden, the board's president and chief executive, said in an interview. 'We are starving them of investment and money. We are dis-empowering them rather than empowering them. And, therefore, we are undermining our own efforts to achieve sustainable prosperity.'"

"Right now, most [Canadian] cities have limited powers of taxation and rely primarily on property taxes. The report says cities collect less than 12 per cent of all money raised by government, yet they have been asked to take on more services and cope with rising populations."

"The report says provincial governments should give cities wider taxing powers and the ability to share in revenue generated by other taxes. It also calls on cities to better manage the money they currently raise and it urges them to work more closely with neighbouring communities."