The CAMA Residents’ Guide – Your Local Government: A Resident’s Guide to Services, Roles & Good Governance is a practical resource developed by the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) to help residents better understand how their municipality works.
Download the Resources
- Download the Full Residents’ Guide
- Download the Stand-Alone Chapter: Understanding Your Municipality – Quick Facts for Residents
- Download: How CAOs and Municipal Leaders Can Use the Residents’ Guide
This guide provides clear, plain-language explanations of municipal governance, services, and decision-making processes across Canadian municipalities. It is designed to support municipalities in educating residents about the roles of Council, administration, and the community, while encouraging respectful and informed civic engagement.
The guide explains how local government functions, including how municipal decisions are made, how services are delivered, and how residents can effectively raise concerns or participate in their community. By helping residents understand municipal processes, responsibilities, and limitations, this resource can support stronger relationships between municipalities and the communities they serve.
CAMA has also developed a stand-alone version of Part I – Understanding Your Municipality: Quick Facts for Residents that municipalities may choose to share independently with residents, new community members, advisory committees, or during public education initiatives. This shorter resource provides a simple snapshot of how local government works and where residents can go for help.
Click here to access the stand-alone Quick Facts for Residents document.
In addition, CAMA has prepared a companion resource titled “How CAOs and Municipal Leaders Can Use the Residents’ Guide.” This document provides guidance on how municipalities can use the guide as a public education and governance tool — including ideas for sharing the guide with residents, supporting Council communications, assisting with onboarding and orientation, and reinforcing respectful engagement with local government.
Click here to access How CAOs and Municipal Leaders Can Use the Residents’ Guide.
Together, these resources provide municipalities with a practical toolkit to support public education, strengthen governance understanding, and encourage constructive and respectful engagement between residents, elected officials, and municipal staff.
Download the full Residents’ Guide here.
