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A regional municipality (or region) is a type of Canadian municipal government which works much like a county; the method of government depends on how it is defined. Sometimes it is legislated or more efficient to provide certain services, such as water, emergency services, and waste management, over an area that includes more than one local municipality. For this reason, regions may be involved in providing services to residents and businesses.
Regional municipalities are sometimes referred to as "upper tier" municipalities.
Regions tend to be an agglomeration of highly urbanized towns and cities, whereas counties tend to be more rural in nature.
In Ontario, regional municipalities provide many core services to cities, towns, townships and villages within their borders; for example, most provide police protection, and many handle waste management and public transit. Similar to counties, they also provide infrastructure for (at least some) roads, sewers, and bridges; and also handle judicial and social services.
In Quebec, regional county municipalities (French, municipalités régionales de comté) has been the 'county' level of government for the entire province since the early 1990s.
In Nova Scotia, regional municipalities are a single level of government, and provide all municipal services to their communities. As they tend to include at least some rural areas, they are not called cities.
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