Upper-tier municipality (Canada)

In any of the 13 provinces of the Canadian Republic, an upper-tier municipality (French: municipalité de palier-supérieur) is a unit of local government subordinate to a province, which itself consists of several lower-tier municipalities. Most upper-tier municipalities are called administrative counties (to distinguish from ceremonial counties), although some are instead organised as regional municipalities, which differ in that all constituent incorporated lower-tier municipalities participate in the regional municipality's government, whereas administrative counties have completely separate and separately elected governments.