Your Municipality Needs a Modern Website. Here's How to Get One Without Breaking the Budget.
If you're a municipal administrator, council member, or CAO in a small Canadian town, you know this frustration:
- Custom municipal websites cost $40,000–$80,000. Your budget can't handle it.
- Template builders look cheap—but they feel cheap too. Residents notice. Businesses notice. Potential newcomers definitely notice.
- Your current site works... technically. But it hasn't been updated in years, doesn't work on mobile, and doesn't reflect the vibrant community you actually serve.
There's a better way!!
Introducing Community Hub CMS: Municipal Website Software Built for Canadian Communities
Community Hub CMS is a content management system designed specifically for small to mid-sized Canadian municipalities that need professional community websites without enterprise-level costs.
This isn't vapourware or a concept. It's the same platform currently powering Towns Canada. A national community directory serving hundreds of towns across the country.
National example: Towns Canada | Municipal example: Gabriola Life
Why Municipal Websites Fail (And How Community Hub CMS Fixes It)
The Traditional Municipal Website Problem
Most small town websites fail for three reasons:
- Cost: Custom builds require $40K–$80K upfront investment
- Maintenance: No budget for ongoing updates means sites decay within 2–3 years
- Complexity: Staff can't easily update content, so information becomes stale
The Community Hub CMS Solution
Community Hub CMS was built to organise community information at scale, across all of Canada. That means:
✓ Proven at scale – Already managing content for hundreds of communities
✓ Easy to maintain – Built for non-technical staff to update daily
✓ Mobile-first design – Works perfectly on phones, tablets, and desktops
✓ SEO-optimised structure – Helps residents and visitors find what they need
✓ Continuous improvement – Platform updates included in monthly service
Core Features for Municipal Websites
Community Hub CMS includes everything a small Canadian municipality needs:
Community Event Calendars
Publish council meetings, community events, festivals, and public consultations in one searchable calendar.
Local Business Directory
Help residents discover local businesses, services, and organisations. Support your local economy with built-in discoverability.
News & Community Stories
Share municipal updates, success stories, and community news. Keep residents informed and engaged.
Photo Galleries
Showcase community life, municipal projects, seasonal events, and local highlights.
Mobile-Responsive Design
70% of Canadians access local information on mobile devices. Your site works flawlessly on every screen size.
Search Engine Optimisation
The built-in localised SEO structure helps residents find information quickly and helps your community show up in internet searches. There is also special attention made toward GEO, optimising for AI is at the for-front right now. You will be a step ahead of all the rest!
Municipal Website Pricing That Actually Makes Sense
Setup: $3,000
*Monthly Service: $600 for 36 months
**Ongoing Service: $350
*Monthly service:
- Secure hosting
- Platform maintenance and security updates
- Technical support
- Continuous feature updates
- System Training
** Ongoing Service:
- Secure hosting
- Platform maintenance and security updates
- Technical support
- Continuous feature updates
No surprise invoices. No rebuilds every 3 years. No locked-in vendor relationships.
Compare that to:
- $40,000–$80,000 custom website builds
- $5,000–$15,000 redesigns every 3–5 years
- $200–$500/month for basic hosting without support
- $100–$150/hour for developer updates
See Community Hub CMS in Action: Live Municipal Website Demo
Don't imagine what your municipal website could look like. See it working.
Visit Gabriola Life The live municipal implementation of Community Hub CMS.
Explore it as a resident would:
- Browse upcoming community events
- Discover local businesses and services
- Read community news and stories
- View photo galleries of community life
Is Community Hub CMS Right for Your Municipality?
This platform works best for:
✓ Small to mid-sized Canadian municipalities (population 500–25,000)
✓ Communities with limited IT budgets seeking predictable monthly costs
✓ Towns wanting to showcase local businesses and community vitality
✓ Municipalities struggling with outdated websites that don't reflect their community
✓ Forward-thinking councils prioritising resident engagement and economic development
What Makes Community Hub CMS Different from Other Municipal Web Solutions?
Built from Real-World Use, Not Sales Decks
Community Hub CMS wasn't designed in a boardroom. It was built to solve an actual problem: how do you organise and present community information for tens of thousands of Canadian towns simultaneously?
The answer became Towns Canada. and that same robust infrastructure now powers individual municipal websites.
Continuous Platform Evolution
Because Community Hub CMS powers both Towns Canada and individual municipalities, platform improvements benefit everyone. When we add features, optimise performance, enhance security and every client gets the update.
Ready to Give Your Community the Website It Deserves?
You have three options:
1. Keep your outdated website (and watch residents go to Facebook for community info)
2. Spend $50,000+ on a custom build (and face the same maintenance problems in 3 years)
3. Start a conversation about Community Hub CMS
Next in This Series: Technical Deep Dive
Coming in Part 2: We'll explore the technical architecture behind Community Hub CMS, including:
- How content management actually works
- Security and data protection
- Integration capabilities with existing municipal systems
- Customisation options for unique community needs