I would say that the experience is mixed. Certainly, I think it's safe to say that, in general, especially the larger Canadian cities simply aren't keeping up with their counterparts in this area, for the simple fact that most municipalities are struggling to keep up with increasing demands and mostly static revenues from property taxes, and in fact cuts to transfers and other revenues.
It means that municipalities are juggling growing costs and stable revenues, which means they have to really prioritize where they put their funds. Often, that means maintaining core infrastructure, i.e., making sure your bridges don't fall down, the drinking water is still safe, and your wastewater treatment plant is operating to satisfaction and to regulation.
That said, obviously municipalities are always trying to stretch their dollar further and do what they can, so in fact there are a lot of examples. Indeed, from the region you're from, you can ride the SkyTrain almost anywhere and maintain those services, but it's nowhere close to what you're experiencing elsewhere.
Really, it comes down to the resources that we've empowered our cities to either collect or have shared with them from other orders of government. Obviously, FCM's long-standing position is that municipalities play a really important role in strengthening our economy, but if we want them to maximize that role, we need to ensure that we're investing in them, whether that be through supporting basic infrastructure, which takes the pressure off the municipal balance sheets so they can do these other things, or supporting them in those areas directly.