Canton, Michigan in the context of "Downtown Detroit"

A charter township is a form of local government in the U.S. state of Michigan. While all townships in Michigan are organized governments, a charter township has been granted a charter, which allows it certain rights and responsibilities of home rule that are generally intermediate between those of a city (a semi-autonomous jurisdiction in Michigan) and a village. Unless it is a home-rule village, a village is subject to the authority of any township in which it is located.

Of Michigan's 1,240 townships, 143 are charter townships. A number of charter townships are among the most populous municipalities in Michigan. For example, Clinton Township and Canton Township, both in Metro Detroit, were respectively the 8th and 9th most populous municipalities in Michigan at the 2020 census. The most recent township to become a charter township is Brady Township in Kalamazoo County, which adopted charter status on January 3, 2024.