Cape Breton Regional municipality - A Community of Communities

About CBRM

On August 1, 1995, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality was formed through an amalgamation of eight former municipalities, boards, and agencies within the County of Cape Breton in the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia. The Municipality of approximately 106,000 residents occupies a geographic area of roughly 2,500 square kilometers. Over 1,900 kilometers of roadways cover the area, and there are around 43,000 homes. The beautiful coastline includes over 800 kilometers on the Atlantic Ocean and over 400 kilometers on the Bras d'Or Lakes.

The Council is made up of a Mayor elected at-large and 16 Councillors  each representing a separate district. The full Council meets in session on the third Tuesday of each month, and the Committee meetings are also held once a month. The Nova Scotia Municipal Government Act sets the term of office for the Mayor and Council at four years.

As a service to residents and to help maintain the strong community culture which has always existed in Cape Breton, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality has chosen to provide a distributed network of Citizen Service Centres in five strategic locations. At these sites, residents have access to municipal services i.e. internal customer services, recreation and public works. Staff members in these CSCs are small, but staff are empowered with the assistance of a wide area network which virtually brings the tools of a central administration to remote sites.

Three divisions of the Cape Breton Regional Police serve the areas within the Municipality. Thirty-four fire departments, consisting of both career and volunteer firefighters, are distributed throughout the Municipality. Emergency services are supported through a state of the art regional Communication Center which provides for enhanced 911 call taking and dispatching of municipal police and fire services.

Three divisions of Engineering and Public Works provide service delivery to residents in the areas of water, sewer, road maintenance, and solid waste management. The Municipality boasts a fully computerized deep water well system and a world class incineration facility. A modern fleet includes the operation of Transit Cape Breton.

Recreation services provided throughout the Municipality are highlighted by innovative partnerships with community groups. Centre 200 provides a venue for sporting events, major concerts, conventions, and trade shows, making it a multi-purpose facility. Arena operations, recreation and leisure programming, and special event management are areas of specialty within recreation.

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality encourages and supports residents in maintaining their strong cultural, social and business ties to the 110 communities within the Municipality. As the Mission Statement declares:

"It is the Mission of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality to work in partnership with the community to promote the economic, social and cultural development of our region."