ACCESSIBILITY OF MUNICIPAL SERVICES FOR ETHNOCULTURAL POPULATIONS IN TORONTO AND MONTREAL

The increasing density and residential concentration of some ethnocult ural groups in some Canadian cities raises challenges for the planning and delivery of municipal services. This study examines the accessibi lity and receptivity of municipal services for ethnocultural populatio ns in Toronto and Montreal. The analysis centres principally on a comp arison of the Toronto Multicultural Access Program (MAP) and the Burea u interculturel de Montreal (BIM) and their relationships with selecte d municipal departments and political bodies. Results show that, as ex pected, Toronto, with a higher proportion of different ethnocultural p opulations, had greater accessibility and receptivity of municipal ser vices than Montreal did: MAP was found to have a narrow mandate focuse d on improving accessibility of services, whereas BIM was found to be responsible for a wider range of services affecting ethnocultural popu lations. Public relations work occupied a large proportion of BIM reso urces. While MAP addressed the improvement of accessibility in a syste matic and structured way that involved all departments in the administ ration, BIM tended to intervene in a more varied manner based on the n eeds of particular groups, districts or departments. A discussion of t he possible reasons for the different approaches and their implication s for urban development and planning is presented along with suggestio ns for future study in this area.