Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but 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 public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

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 notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

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

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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. T ...

and

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

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

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

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

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

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 The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it would mean the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of ap ...

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

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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 West Northamptonshire, England, bordering Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, from Oxford and from Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the inter ...

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 West River may refer to: Rivers Canada *West River (Antigonish, Nova Scotia) in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia * West River (Pictou, Nova Scotia) in Pictou County, Nova Scotia * West River (Halifax, Nova Scotia) in Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia * West ...

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 *