Manitoba is the fifth most populous province in Canada with 1,278,365 residents as of 2016 and is the sixth largest in land area at 552,371 km2 (213,272 sq mi). Manitoba's 137 municipalities cover only 20% of the province's land mass yet are home to 94% of its population. These municipalities provide local government services to their residents.
A municipality in Manitoba is "a municipality that is continued or formed under" the Municipal Act, which was enacted in 1996. Municipalities that can be formed under this legislation include urban municipalities (cities, towns and villages) and rural municipalities. The Local Government Districts Act, enacted in 1987, allows the formation of local government districts as another municipality type. Of Manitoba's 137 municipalities, 37 of them are urban municipalities (10 cities, 25 towns and 2 villages), 98 are rural municipalities and 2 are local government districts. The Municipal Act and the Local Government Districts Act stipulate governance of these municipalities. Additional charters or acts are in place specifically for the cities of Brandon, Flin Flon, Portage la Prairie, Thompson and Winnipeg, the towns of Morris and Winnipeg Beach, and the rural municipalities of Kelsey, St. Andrews and Victoria Beach. The Municipal Act, the Local Government Districts Act, and all these additional acts and charters were enacted at the provincial level by the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, representing Queen Elizabeth II, on the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. The Government of Manitoba's Department of Local Government is responsible for providing provincial services to municipalities.