The aim of this thesis is to study if the debt of local governments is a threat to their fiscal health, by focusing on French and Canadian cases (mainly Québec and Ontario). The first chapter provides a descriptive analysis of the studied territories, and reveals that the local debt is significantly lower in Ontario, in comparison with France and Québec. The second chapter focuses on the fiscal health of the 30 largest French and Canadian cities. It shows that municipalities with a large debt are not always in a precarious financial situation. The third chapter investigates the hypothesis of a negative capitalization of municipal public debt in the average residential property values in 130 municipalities of Québec and Ontario. Our estimations give mixed results, and do not allow us to confirm our initial hypothesis beyond any doubt. Nevertheless, the household’s burden in Québec which have to finance larger municipal debts is offset by lower property prices and lower private indebtedness compared to Ontario’s households. Finally, the fourth chapter examines a French issue: the potential link between the integration level within intermunicipal community (EPCI and member municipalities) and the consolidated debt. Results show a negative effect of integration on the consolidated debt and on the debt of member municipalities, suggesting that a larger integration could be a complementary method to the legal restrictions of local indebtedness.