Top 10 feature stories for 2024
There was a wide range of pressing topics to cover for local governments in 2024. Municipal World’s top 10 online feature stories for the year provide insights and angles on some of these issues (and a glimpse into what your colleagues were reading). We hope you enjoy.
1. Small towns are feeling the cost of Canada’s housing crisis
Much of the news around Canada’s affordable housing shortage tends to centre around big cities like Toronto and Vancouver. But increasingly, small communities across the country are seeing eyewatering prices. Read more…
2. Mayor Amanda McDougall-Merrill: Putting family ahead of city hall
Amanda McDougall-Merrill was the first woman elected as the mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) in 2020. That distinction is one she celebrates as something nobody can ever take away from her. Read more…
3. Social housing waitlists growing across Canada’s big cities
The number of people on waitlists for social housing is rising sharply. In 2022, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said 1.4 million households did not have access to quality housing. Read more…
4. Owners struggle to sell short-term rentals as B.C. sets new rules
Owners of short-term micro-units in B.C.’s largest cities are struggling to find buyers for their properties. Property owners are offloading their short-term rentals in the wake of new regulations that are set to come into effect. Read more…
5. Canada’s cities aren’t accessible to people with disabilities
The March 16 rally in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery was aimed at bringing attention to the challenges people with disabilities face when trying to navigate urban environments and access public services. Read more…
6. Brampton councillors call for end to harassment, intimidation of women
City of Brampton regional councillors Rowena Santos and Navjit Kaur Brar spoke out this spring to call for an end to the harassment and intimidation of women in leadership positions. Read more…
7. Mr. PG captures the Great Canadian Landmark Contest
With 76 entries and thousands of votes cast, Municipal World announced Prince George’s historic Mr. PG has been chosen as the winner of the inaugural Great Canadian Landmark Contest. Read more…
8. Report finds Vancouver, Toronto housing “impossibly unaffordable”
A recently released report on housing affordability has found Vancouver is the least affordable place to have/own a home in Canada and the third least affordable in the world. Read more…
9. Mayor Laura Cabott: Loving the job, but ready for new opportunities
Laura Cabott loves almost everything about being mayor of Whitehorse. But after some six months of deep thought and introspection, she decided back in May she wouldn’t be running for re-election. Read more…
10. Mayor Sandra Masters: Running to address unfinished business
For several years now there has been a clear trend of incumbent mayors choosing not to run for re-election. Sandra Masters, elected as Regina’s first woman mayor in 2020, is bucking this trend. Read more…
These are just a few of the 2024 highlights, with more great content published every week. Happy reading! MW
✯ Municipal World Insider and Executive Members: You can access the complete set of Digital Editions for Municipal World magazine from past years (plus so much more!) in our Research Article Vault.
Related resource materials: