Municipal government responsibilities in Ontario

There are 3 levels of government in Canada:

Federal government (Government of Canada)
Provincial government (eg. Government of Ontario)
Municipal government (eg. City of Toronto)

Municipal governments (municipalities) are responsible for providing local services to their residents and businesses.

Municipal governments have not been given any powers by the Constitution. Their powers are determined solely by their provincial government.

Airports
Ambulance
Animal Control
By-laws
Arts and Culture
Building Permits
Child Care
Economic Development
Fire Services
Garbage Collection and Recycling
Electric Utilities
Library Services
Long Term Care and Senior Housing
Local Road Maintenance
Museums
Parks and Recreation
Public Transit
Planning New Community Developments and Enhancing Existing Neighbourhoods
Police Services
Property Taxes/Assessments
Provincial Offences Administration
Public Health
Sidewalks
Street Trees
Snow Removal
Social Services
Social Housing
Storm Sewers
Tax Collection
Water and Waste Water (Sewage)

Municipalities are established by the provincial government, which delegates (or “downloads”) some of their powers and responsibilities to municipal governments. Their responsibilities, powers, structure and funding mechanisms are determined by provincial legislation (eg. the Municipal Act in Ontario).

Municipalities are entirely creatures of provincial statutes. Accordingly, they can only exercise those powers which are explicitly conferred upon them by a provincial statute.
Supreme Court of Canada – R. v. Greenbaum (1993), 14 M.P.L.R. (2d) 1 [at para. 20]

Section 92(8) of the Constitution Act, 1867 assigns to provinces exclusive legislative authority regarding “Municipal Institutions in the Province”. Municipalities incorporated under this authority therefore hold delegated provincial powers; like school boards or other creatures of provincial statute, they do not have independent constitutional status (Public School Boards’ Assn. of Alberta v. Alberta (Attorney General), 2000 SCC 45, [2000] 2 S.C.R. 409, at paras. 33‑34). The province has “absolute and unfettered legal power to do with them as it wills”
Supreme Court of Canada – Toronto (City) v. Ontario (Attorney General) (2021) 20 M.P.L.R (6th) 1

Cost-sharing of responsibilities in Ontario

The following services are cost-shared between the federal, provincial and municipal governments in Ontario.

Cost-sharing is largest for health and social services, making the lines of accountability more opaque and questions about local input and autonomy most pronounced.