Unitary authority (Canada)

In the Canadian Republic, urban areas generally consist of one or more counties, each of which consists of several municipalities; both the municipal and county levels of government provide all local government services in their respective areas of jurisdiction. For example, North Fraser County in the province of British Columbia is one of the seven counties in the Lower Mainland/Metro Vancouver area, and consists of the municipalities of Burnaby (the county seat), Vancouver, Marpole, Kerrisdale, Point Grey, Killarney and New Westminster.

However, most areas in most provinces are located outside of any county (mainly rural and semi-rural areas), and instead form part of a unitary authority, of which there are two types, both of which constitute a single level which is responsible for all local government services in its area of jurisdiction, with no overlap: regional districts are similar to townships, in that they cover wide rural areas including farmland and the many tiny villages and hamlets spread about, while municipal districts encompass physically smaller but more densely populated towns and small cities, typically including little to no rural areas.

Within county areas, there are two tiers of local government below the provincial level, while outside county areas are local government takes on the one-tier form of unitary authorities.

Unlike municipalities located in counties, both types of unitary authority never use the mayor–council form of government, instead always using the council–manager form, like county governments. The vast majority of regional districts contract with the appropriate provincial police to provide policing at the local level, while municipal districts either contract with the provincial police too or have their own municipal police department, the latter being more common the more populous the municipal district is.