Canadian gov't structure - U.S. County Equivalent? (houses, suburban)

[denverian]

I'm doing some research on Mississauga, ON, and was wondering, is there a verson of the U.S. county? So if the U.S government structure is a city, located in a county, located in a state, what are Canadian cities located in? Would it be a Municipality?

[west_end_don]

Originally Posted by denverian

I'm doing some research on Mississauga, ON, and was wondering, is there a verson of the U.S. county? So if the U.S government structure is a city, located in a county, located in a state, what are Canadian cities located in? Would it be a Municipality?

The direct equivalent of a U.S. county for Mississauga would be the ‘The Regional Municipality of Peel’ aka Peel Region.

As for your second question; it depends.

Toronto for example, is a single tier-municipality. The "county" and city are the same, i.e. there is one level of municipal government, then the Provincial government (similar to the State govt') etc.

Further example;
The cities of Mississauga, Brampton and the town of Caledon are organized into a "regional municipality" aka a dual-tier municipality which functions along the same lines of a U.S. county.
Structure wise - there is the city, region (i.e. county), then the province. Many other Canadian cities and suburban type areas use this model.

Counties also exist in Canada, and for further confusion, they are sometimes called districts.

[mikeyyc]

All that being said, from a power base standpoint, there is no Canadian equivalent to a US County.

There is one criminal code in Canada. The US has 51. One for each state, and a federal one.

Policing is divided between either the RCMP, or a provincial police force, a la the OPP, and then municipalities. They generally work in isolation. Here, you could have State, County Sherriff, County Constable, City Police all involved in the same areas.

There are not County courthouses, only provincial court, and the Court of Queens bench.

[denverian]

Thanks for the information! Makes sense from what I've read about Mississauga. I've never quite understood the point of U.S. counties, other than in rural areas.