Governance Reform from Below: Multilevel Politics and the 'New Deal' Campaign in Toronto, Canada

Since the year 2000 the City of Toronto, Canada's most populous municipality, has mounted a sustained, high-profile campaign to ensure the devolution of more powers and resources from its provincial and federal counterparts. This campaign for a 'New Deal' is unique in Canada in terms of its scope and its achievements to date, which include new sources of finance and new legislation that expands the City's powers.

The objective of this paper is to explain the origins and achievements of Toronto's campaign. Even though the Toronto area is one of Canada's most globally integrated city-regions, the paper argues that the pressures of globalization play only a supporting role in Toronto's New Deal campaign.