A provincial mandate is a legal requirement imposed on municipalities by the provincial government, obligating them to provide certain services or meet specific standards. Examples include policing requirements, social housing obligations, public health services, and accessibility standards. Mandates can be contentious when provinces require services without providing adequate funding—a practice called 'downloading' or 'unfunded mandates.' Municipalities argue they have limited revenue options and shouldn't bear costs for provincially-determined service levels. The tension between provincial authority to set standards and municipal responsibility to fund them is an ongoing issue in provincial-municipal relations across Canada.