{"id":268237,"date":"2020-05-01T10:31:57","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T14:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/municipal-leaders-happy-with-team-canada-response-to-covid\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T22:58:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T02:58:51","slug":"municipal-leaders-happy-with-team-canada-response-to-covid","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/05\/municipal-leaders-happy-with-team-canada-response-to-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Municipal leaders happy with \u201cTeam Canada\u201d response to COVID"},"content":{"rendered":"

Municipal governments are vital to a successful response to the current pandemic. Cities across Canada<\/a> have declared states of emergency, enforced physical distancing measures, prioritized essential transit and transportation systems, designed financial assistance programs for residents and businesses, and repurposed local facilities to support vulnerable populations.<\/p>\n

These efforts have required an extraordinary level of intergovernmental coordination. Climbing out of the massive financial hole<\/a> created by the pandemic may require even deeper cooperation, whether in the form of greater federal leadership<\/a>, increased provincial transfers<\/a> or a complete reimagining<\/a> of service responsibilities, particularly in the areas of public health and long-term care. Yet early reports on what COVID-19 means for Canadian federalism<\/a> pay little or no attention to the role of cities and municipalities. What are local <\/em>political leaders saying about our collective response to COVID-19?<\/p>\n

Despite exceptional challenges, mayors and councillors across Canada report that, from their perspective, all levels of government are working together remarkably well. An intergovernmental system often criticized for working against the interests of municipalities<\/a> is, at the moment, doing just the opposite. But there are also warning signs on the horizon.<\/p>\n

Over the first two weeks of April, we fielded a survey to mayors and councillors across Canada as part of the Canadian Municipal Barometer project<\/a>. More than 500 local leaders, representing more than 300 municipalities, responded with insights about how their communities have managed the pandemic response and how well intergovernmental coordination has worked amid the crisis.<\/p>\n

We found overwhelming support, from municipal political leaders across the country, for the actions of Canada\u2019s federal and provincial governments (figure 1). Nearly 80 percent of respondents approved of the federal government\u2019s handling of the coronavirus pandemic thus far; an even greater proportion, 90 percent, felt the same about the performance of their respective provincial governments.<\/p>\n