Over the past few years municipal budgets have been strained. In addition to the regular costs, the pandemic has created new and unpredictable expenses, climate-related disasters are increasing in number and scale, and municipalities are on the front lines as first responders supporting their citizens.

That’s where provincial-municipal equalization payments come in. Similar in concept to federal equalization payments, they are administered by the province. But the design of the provincial-municipal equalization process needs to be revamped.

Improving this system will not be easy, and when finances are on the line transparency is key.

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This week Enid Slack joins the podcast. She and the late Richard M. Bird have outlined a way for provincial governments to work toward a better system of municipal equalization payments. Enid is director of the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

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