List of municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador is the ninth-most populous province in Canada with 519,716 residents recorded in the 2016 Canadian Census and is the seventh-largest in land area at 370,514 km² (143,056 sq mi).[1] Newfoundland and Labrador has 277 municipalities including three cities, 269 towns, and five Inuit community governments, which cover only 2.2% of the territory's land mass but are home to 89.6% of its population.[2]

Location of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada

Distribution of Newfoundland and Labrador's 277 municipalities by municipal status type

The towns were created by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador in accordance with the Municipalities Act, 1999, whereas the three cities were each incorporated under their own acts.[3] Inuit community governments were created in accordance with the 2005 Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement Act.[4] These acts grant the power to enact local bylaws and the responsibility to provide local government services.[3]

St. John's is Newfoundland and Labrador's capital and largest municipality by population and land area.[2] Tilt Cove is its smallest municipality by population, and Brent's Cove is the smallest municipality by land area.[2]

Cities

Newfoundland and Labrador has three cities that had a total population of 151,786 in the 2016 Canadian Census.[2] The provincial capital of St. John's is the largest city by population and land area with 108,860 residents and 445.88 km² (172.16 sq mi).[2] Corner Brook is the smallest city by population in the province with 19,806 residents. Mount Pearl is the smallest by land area with 15.76 km² (6.08 sq mi).[2]

The three cities are governed under their own provincial legislation – the City of St. John's Act, the City of Mount Pearl Act, and the City of Corner Brook Act. These acts give them the power to enact local bylaws and the responsibility to provide local government services.[5][6][7]

Towns

The Municipalities Act, 1999 is the legislation enabling the Lieutenant-Governor in Council to incorporate, amalgamate, and disorganize towns in Newfoundland and Labrador upon recommendation by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Environment.[3] It also provides opportunities for towns to annex areas, and establish or alter their boundaries.[3] The prerequisite to undertake these actions is the preparation of a feasibility report, which includes a requirement for a public hearing.[3]

Newfoundland and Labrador has 269 towns that had a total population of 311,536 in the 2016 Canadian Census.[2] Fifteen of those towns are in Labrador.[8] Newfoundland and Labrador's largest town by population is Conception Bay South with 26,199 residents and the largest by land area is Baie Verte with 371.09 km² (143.28 sq mi). Tilt Cove is its smallest town by population with five residents, and Brent's Cove is the smallest town by land area with 1.02 km² (0.39 sq mi).[2]

Prior to 2011, the province had 272 towns. The number of towns was reduced to 269 on March 1, 2011 when the towns of Fogo, Joe Batt's Arm-Barr'd Islands-Shoal Bay, Seldom-Little Seldom, and Tilting disorganized and amalgamated to form the Town of Fogo Island.[9]

Inuit community governments

Newfoundland and Labrador has five Inuit community governments that had a total population of 2,558 in the 2016 Canadian Census.[2] The largest Inuit community government in the province by population and land area is Nain with 1,125 residents and 94.58 km² (36.52 sq mi).[2] Postville is the smallest Inuit community government by population in the province with 177 residents, while Makkovik is the smallest by land area with 1.97 km² (0.76 sq mi).[2]

All five Inuit community governments are within Nunatsiavut, the Inuit Land Claims Area of Labrador.[4] The five Inuit community governments were formed in 2005 with the signing of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement. The agreement granted them powers similar to other types of municipal governments in the province such as the establishment of a local government, municipal parks and recreation, public libraries, and public advertising. Each community elects at-large a council comprising an angajukkak (mayor) and Inuit community councillors.[4]