Municipal Issue Publics

Source abstract

Issue publics—groups of citizens who care intensely about particular policy issues—are rarely studied in municipal politics. This research note provides the first systematic analysis of municipal issue publics using a nationally representative 2025 survey of more than 6,000 Canadians, including 1,300 open-ended responses. We identify 32 distinct municipal issue publics across areas such as housing, policing, public transit, climate policy, taxation, and snow removal. Forty-five percent of respondents named a specific municipal issue they care deeply about. We show that issue public members are distinctive in their demographic characteristics and policy attitudes. Residents sort into issue publics along observable lines such as age, homeownership, and ideology, and issue public members often hold policy preferences that diverge from those of the broader public. These patterns have important implications for local advocacy, political mobilization, and municipal democratic representation.