Unitary authority (Canada)

In the Canadian Republic, a unitary authority is any jurisdiction in which only a single level of local government exists, as opposed to the two levels of local government which exist in Canada's county areas.

The vast majority of unitary authorities are the municipal districts and regional districts which make up the country's district areas. However, there are a few more: Toronto, officially the Toronto Metropolis, is not part of any county nor is it considered a county, or a municipal or regional district, but nonetheless consists of a single jurisdictional entity governed by a single level of local government, namely the Toronto Metropolitan Council; the Toronto Metropolis is nonetheless a ceremonial county by presidential executive order.

Another example is Halifax, Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia is made up entirely of 17 counties, each of which has a handful of lower-tier municipalities. However, the former 18th County, namely Halifax County, was abolished, and the three municipalities of Halifax, Dartmouth and Bedford, as well as all unincorporated communities of the county, were amalgamated into a single municipality which kept the name of the largest, Halifax; this newly created municipality which consisted of the entirety of Halifax County was then merged into a single level of government, making the City of Halifax a unitary authority. Around the same time, the Deputy President of Nova Scotia named Halifax a ceremonial county, to this date the only one in the province.

The federal capital of Ottawa is also a unitary authority which is neither a county nor a regional/municipal district, as it is located outside any province or territory and is entirely under the jurisdiction of a single municipal government, namely the Ottawa City Council, which has devolved authority from the Canadian federal government which sits in Ottawa.