Government System in Montreal

Montréal is governed by a mayor and a council, the members of which are elected by popular vote for four-year terms.

The council is the city’s legislative body and includes 51 councilors in addition to the mayor.

The executive branch consists of an executive committee made up of the mayor and nine councilors who are chosen by the mayor and approved by majority vote of the council.

Since 1970 the regional government, the Montréal Urban Community, has had full responsibility for services such as police, property assessment, environmental protection, and regional planning.

The cities and municipalities are still responsible for the remaining powers normally held by local authorities, such as fire protection, water treatment and distribution, sewers, garbage collection, traffic, zoning, building regulations, and libraries.

The Urban Community is governed by a council, an executive committee, and a president.

The council consists of the mayor and councilors of the city of Montréal, along with the mayors of the other 28 municipalities.

The executive committee is made up of the five presidents and five vice presidents of the council’s five standing committees; five of them must come from the city and five from the suburban municipalities.

The president is selected from the council, at that body’s recommendation, and is appointed by the provincial government.

Upon appointment, the president is required to quit his or her elective position.

When the Urban Community was created, its territory housed about 70 percent of the metropolitan population.

However, due to ongoing urban sprawl, it now has only about 50 percent. This trend has given rise to much debate about whether a new form of metropolitan government is needed.