What you call yourself – publicly or privately – is usually a reflection of what you want to be.

And privately, Simcoe County is using the R-word: Region.

It’s all unofficial, of course. It conjures up images of a sophisticated municipality that offers an array of services to its lower-tier members.

“What could Simcoe be as a region that it can’t be as a county?” asked Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s local government policy branch manager Jeff Neal.

“The name is important; it’s how you think of yourself. In terms of authority in legislation, very seldom is there any difference between a county and a region. It’s all upper-tier.”

In law, there’s no difference between a county and a region. In 2001, the Municipal Act introduced the upper-tier, lower-tier and single-tier distinction: upper tiers are counties and regions, while the lower tiers are their members, such as Innisfil, Collingwood, Midland or Oro-Medonte. Barrie, by contrast, is a single tier; it is its own planning authority, while the county must approve the Official Plans – the key long-term land-use plan – of its member municipalities.

Section 11 of the Municipal Act sets out the service base for upper-tier and lower-tier municipalities, he explained.

“Along with counties, you find regions; there aren’t a lot of differences in responsibility. Some are historical. Some are governance.

“There isn’t a template of understanding what a regional municipality is and if you cross it, you become a regional municipality.”

Historically, there were trigger-points, however; usually population determined whether a township became a town and a town a city. Those days are gone.

Whether you are upper-tier or lower-tier is functional; name is determined by choice.

“The name is a function of history, of legacy. That’s why you find Brant County, a single-tier municipality, ” said Neal. Similarly, Prince Edward County enjoys the rural image the name evokes and uses it to promote tourism. By contrast, a large urban, multicultural municipality in York Region calls itself a town: Markham.

“Normally, you can call yourself anything, as long as someone else isn’t calling themselves that already. The process (of a name change) is by bylaw, and you must inform the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the (provincial) title director.”

Changing a name is indeed simpler today. In bygone eras, a municipality had to go through a formal process – rather than simply passing a bylaw authorizing the change and then informing the province.

“You used to have to go to the Ontario Municipal Board,” Neal noted. He added that both “county” and “region” are dated, as they harken back to bygone eras.  

Counties – and their names and titles — have existed since the days of Upper Canada in the 18th century, while Ontario created regions in the early 1970s.

Today, they are upper-tier municipalities and they offer a similar plate of services. The major difference between York Region and Simcoe County is York’s regional municipal police force. In its $450-million annual budget, the county provides waste management services, paramedic services, long-term care, social services, regional roads, and children’s services.

York Region provides those, along with transit – something the county is examining as it continues work on its Official Plan – as well as water and wastewater treatment and police. Its spending totals $1.3 billion.

Durham Region provides a similar array of services, for $1 billion per year: police, health, land ambulance, children’s services, long-term care, social services, waste management, and transit.

York and Durham are among the five regions in Ontario, created in the early 1970s; the others are Peel, Waterloo and Halton, located to the west.