Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

is the least populous province in Canada with 154,331 residents as of the 2021 census and is the smallest in land area at . Prince Edward Island's 63 municipalities cover of the province's land mass and were home to of its population in 2021. These municipalities provide

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

services to their residents in the form of fire protection, municipal planning services, and emergency measures planning. The remaining unincorporated areas have no local government.

Municipal statuses in Prince Edward Island are

cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

s, rural municipalities, and resort municipalities. Under Prince Edward Island's ''Municipal Government Act'' (MGA), which came into force on December 23, 2017, the formation of a municipality can be proposed by the Minister of Fisheries and Communities, the council of an existing municipality, or a petition signed by 30% of the residents that would be the electors of the new municipality. To be eligible for city or town status, certain minimum estimated population and total property assessment value criteria must be met. If those criteria are not met, rural municipality status can be granted if it is the opinion of the Minister of Fisheries and Communities that it would be in the public interest. The province's lone resort municipality – the Resort Municipality of Stanley Bridge, Hope River, Bayview, Cavendish and North Rustico – was established by

order in council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...

in 1990. The 2017 prevents creation of any new resort municipalities.

Prince Edward Island has two cities, ten towns, fifty rural municipalities and one resort municipality, which are distributed across three counties – Kings,

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

and

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlott ...

is Prince Edward Island's capital and largest municipality by population while

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

is the largest municipality by land area. The smallest municipalities by population and land area are Tignish Shore and

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

respectively.

Cities

Under the province's , a municipality may incorporate as a city if it has an estimated population of 15,000 or more and a total property assessment value of $750 million or more. Should a city no longer meet these requirements, the Minister of Fisheries and Communities may recommend to the Lieutenant Governor in Council to change the status of the municipality to a more appropriate status. Prince Edward Island has two cities. Charlottetown is Prince Edward Island's capital and largest city both by population with 38,809 residents and by land area with . It forms the core of a census agglomeration that encompasses the middle of the island and is home to 78,858 residents, or of the island's population. The province's second city is Summerside, which is located on the west side of the island. It has a population of 16,001 and a land area of . Starting with the municipal elections in 2018, the enables cities to elect a mayor and a minimum of eight councillors. With general municipal elections occurring every four years, the next municipal election is scheduled for November 2022.

Towns

Under the province's , a municipality may incorporate as a town if has an estimated population of 4,000 or more but is less than 15,000, and a total property assessment value of $200 million or more, but is less than $750 million. Should a town no longer meet these requirements, the Minister of Fisheries and Communities may recommend to the Lieutenant Governor in Council to change the status of the municipality to a more appropriate status. Prince Edward Island has ten towns that are incorporated municipalities, which had a cumulative population of 32,632 in the 2021 census. The province's largest and smallest towns are Stratford and North Rustico with populations of 10,927 and 648 respectively. Three Rivers is Prince Edward Island's largest town by land area with and

O'Leary O'Leary is an Irish surname derived from the Gaelic Ó Laoghaire, meaning "descendant of Laoghaire"—a personal name often interpreted as "keeper of the calves" or "calf herder." The name is historically associated with a prominent family lineage ...

is the province's smallest town by land area with . Three Rivers is also the province's newest town, which incorporated as a town on September 28, 2018, through the amalgamation of the towns of Georgetown and Montague, five rural municipalities ( Brudenell, Cardigan, Lorne Valley, Lower Montague, and Valleyfield), and portions of three adjacent unincorporated areas. Starting with the municipal elections in 2018, the enables towns to elect a mayor and a minimum of six councillors. With general municipal elections occurring every four years, the next municipal election is scheduled for November 2022.

Rural municipalities

Under the province's , municipalities that previously held community status under the previous ''Municipalities Act'', which originally came into force in 1983, were carried forward as rural municipalities. With the amalgamation of

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It is on the borders with Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, east-southeast of Banbury, north-northeast of Oxford, and ...

and Winsloe South on December 15, 2017, and then the coming into force eight days later on December 23, 2017, Prince Edward Island had 58 communities that became rural municipalities. On September 28, 2018, three amalgamations reduced the total amount of rural municipalities to 50. As of the 2021 census, the province's largest and smallest rural municipalities are West River and Tignish Shore with populations of 3,473 and 64 respectively. Starting with the municipal elections in 2018, the enables rural municipalities to elect a mayor and a minimum of six councillors. With general municipal elections occurring every four years, the next municipal election is scheduled for November 2022.

Resort municipalities

Prince Edward Island has one municipality holding resort municipality status. The Resort Municipality of Stanley Bridge, Hope River, Bayview, Cavendish and North Rustico was established as a resort municipality in 1990. The province's allows this resort municipality to continue yet prevents the establishment of additional resort municipalities in the future. Starting with the municipal elections in 2018, the enables the province's lone resort municipality to elect a mayor and a minimum of six councillors. With general municipal elections occurring every four years, the next municipal election is scheduled for November 2022. If the population of the lone resort municipality reaches 2,000 electors, it may be incorporated as a different type of municipality pursuant to the .

List of municipalities

Notes

References

External links

Federation of Prince Edward Island MunicipalitiesMunicipalities
– Government of Prince Edward Island: Department of Fisheries and Communities {{featured list

Municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...