Types of municipalities in Quebec


The following is a list of the types of local and supralocal territorial units in Quebec, including those used solely for statistical purposes, as defined by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy and compiled by the Institut de la statistique du Québec.
Not included are the urban agglomerations in Quebec, which, although they group together multiple municipalities, exercise only what are ordinarily local municipal powers.
A list of local municipal units in Quebec by regional county municipality can be found at List of municipalities in Quebec.

Local municipalities

All municipalities, whether township, village, parish, or unspecified ones, are functionally and legally identical. The only difference is that the designation might serve to disambiguate between otherwise identically-named municipalities, often neighbouring ones. Many such cases have had their names changed, or merged with the identically-named nearby municipality since the 1950s, such as the former Township of Granby and City of Granby merging and becoming the Town of Granby in 2007.
Municipalities are governed primarily by the Code municipal du Québec, whereas cities and towns are governed by the Loi sur les cités et villes as well as various individual charters.
The very largest communities in Quebec are colloquially called cities; however there are currently no municipalities under the province's current legal system classified as cities. Quebec's government uses the English term town as the translation for the French term ville, and township for canton. The least-populous towns in Quebec are much smaller than the most populous municipalities of other types.
AbbreviationFrench termEnglish translationDescriptionLists
CTMunicipalité de cantonTownship municipalityAll or part of the territory of a township set up as a municipality.List of township municipalities in Quebec
CUMunicipalité de cantons unisUnited township municipalityMunicipality composed of several townships.List of united township municipalities in Quebec
MMunicipalitéMunicipalityTerritory administered by an authority established under the laws governing municipalities.:Category:Municipalities in Quebec|List of municipalities in Quebec
PMunicipalité de paroisseParish municipalityThe territory of a religious parish established as a municipality.List of parish municipalities in Quebec
VVilleTownMunicipality legally established as a town.List of towns in Quebec
VLMunicipalité de villageVillage municipalityTerritory of a village established as a municipality separate from a surrounding parish or township municipality.List of village municipalities in Quebec

The title city still legally exists, with a few minor differences from that of ville. However it is moot since there are no longer any cities in existence. Dorval and Côte Saint-Luc had the status of city when they were amalgamated into Montreal on January 1, 2002 as part of the municipal reorganization in Quebec; however, when re-constituted as independent municipalities on January 1, 2006, it was with the status of town .
Prior to January 1, 1995, the code for municipalité was not M but rather SD.

Aboriginal local municipal units

AbbreviationFrench termEnglish translationDescriptionLists
RRéserve indienneIndian reserveTerritory reserved for Indians under the Indian Act.List of Indian reserves in Quebec
TCTerre réservée aux Cris Land reserved for the CreeTerritory reserved for the use and benefit of the Cree population. Associated with a Cree village of the same name.
TITerre de la catégorie I pour les InuitsCategory I land for the InuitTerritory reserved for the use and benefit of the Inuit population. Associated with a northern village of the same name.
TKTerre réservée aux Naskapis Land reserved for the NaskapiTerritory reserved for the use and benefit of the Naskapi population. Associated with a Naskapi village of the same name.
VCMunicipalité de village cri Cree village municipalityA primarily Cree village with a Cree local authority established by the Cree Villages and the Naskapi Village Act.:Category:Cree villages in Quebec|List of Cree villages in Quebec
VKMunicipalité de village naskapi Naskapi village municipalityA primarily Naskapi village with a Naskapi local authority established by the Cree Villages and the Naskapi Village Act.
VNMunicipalité de village nordiqueNorthern village municipalityA village with an Inuit local authority established by the Act respecting Northern villages and the Kativik Regional Government.List of northern villages in Quebec

Prior to 2004, there was a single code, TR, to cover the modern-day TC and TK. When the distinction between TC and TK was introduced, it was made retroactive to 1984, date of the federal Cree-Naskapi Act.

Territories equivalent to local municipalities

AbbreviationFrench termEnglish translationDescriptionLists
NOTerritoire non organiséUnorganized territoryA territory that has not been organized under a local municipality. Administered directly by a supralocal authority.List of unorganized territories in Quebec

Submunicipal units

AbbreviationFrench termEnglish translationDescriptionLists
AArrondissementBoroughSubdivision of some local municipalities.List of boroughs in Quebec
EIÉtablissement amérindienIndian settlementVillage or hamlet the majority of whose population is Amerindian and situated on lands without any particular legal status.List of Indian settlements in Quebec

There is also a different kind of submunicipal unit, which is defined and tracked not by the Quebec Ministry of Municipal Affairs but by Statistics Canada in the 2011 census: see List of unconstituted localities in Quebec.

Supralocal units

AbbreviationFrench termEnglish translationDescriptionLists
ARgAdministration régionaleRegional governmentRegional civil administration of a large, sparsely populated, Aboriginal area. Represents Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal residents alike. Only one: the Kativik Regional Government.
CMCommunauté métropolitaineMetropolitan communityAdministration bringing together the municipalities of a metropolitan area, larger than an urban agglomeration. Not necessarily a multiple of RCMs and TEs. Only two: Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal and Communauté métropolitaine de Québec.
MRCMunicipalité régionale de comtéRegional county municipality A territory comprising municipalities and sometimes unorganized territories, governed by an authority determined by law.List of regional county municipalities and equivalent territories in Quebec
TÉTerritoire équivalent à une MRCTerritory equivalent to an RCMA statistical unit created to cover areas of Quebec not belonging to an RCMList of regional county municipalities and equivalent territories in Quebec