Two Sui Generis Regimes? Multi-Level Urban Governance in Toronto and Ottawa–Gatineau
Public lecture
Nov 25, 2025 — 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
The Centre on Governance is pleased to welcome Sébastien Lambelet for a presentation on the unique multi-level urban governance shaping Toronto and Ottawa–Gatineau. He will explore how municipal authorities navigate strong provincial and federal influences in recent land-use planning decisions, drawing on findings from an ongoing SNSF-funded research project.
About the event:
The Centre on Governance is pleased to welcome Sébastien Lambelet for a presentation on the unique multi-level urban governance dynamics in the Toronto and Ottawa–Gatineau metropolitan regions.
Although distinct in many ways, these two urban areas share a defining feature: municipal authorities must engage in ongoing collaboration with supra-local public actors whose influence on local urban planning is significantly stronger than in other Canadian cities.
- In Toronto, this influence is primarily exerted by the Province of Ontario.
- In Ottawa–Gatineau, it comes mainly from federal authorities, particularly the National Capital Commission (NCC).
This politico-institutional configuration can present opportunities for municipalities for example, by providing access to additional funding. However, supra-local authorities also frequently impose their own visions and priorities, which can lead to tensions and conflict.
This presentation will explore how these dual dimensions of public-public cooperation are expressed through several recent land-use planning decisions and operations. The analysis draws on an ongoing research project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
Sébastien Lambelet
Postdoctoral researcher at the City Institute (York University, Toronto)
Sébastien Lambelet is a postdoctoral researcher at the City Institute at York University in Toronto, a visiting researcher at the University of Ottawa, and a lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Geneva. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of Geneva (2019). His research focuses on metropolitan and urban governance, land-use planning policy, land sobriety, and the narrative strategies of actors involved in urban development.