The Government of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) have announced new training opportunities to help local governments across the country optimize asset management practices for the best possible infrastructure investment decisions.
The Municipal Asset Management Program (MAMP) was created to support municipalities with the funding, skills and tools to enable more robust and data-driven asset management programs. Over the past year, 23 partner organizations delivered 89 training activities to nearly 3,300 participants from communities of all sizes in what was MAMP’s first of three calls for capacity-building partners.
FCM is awarding $5.2 million in grants to 17 partner organizations to deliver the next phase of training between July 2018 and December 2019. The focus in this second round of funding is to expand the understanding of asset management and build technical capacity. Local leaders and key municipal staff will have access to ongoing training that is collaborative and encourages knowledge sharing across communities. The training will build competency through workshops, online sessions, presentations, and other activities.
For example, The Fédération québécoise des municipalités (FQM) will offer training and technical assistance activities to municipal staff and elected officials in small and medium-sized Quebec municipalities to help them improve their asset management systems. FQM will also conduct outreach to enable knowledge sharing more broadly across the province. The Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities (NSFM) is offering workshops that provide tools and processes for integrating climate resilience into municipal asset management planning. Asset Management Saskatchewan (AM-SK) is offering webinars and a three-day, in-person workshop on asset management planning and decision-making, that allows participants to develop a draft asset management plan using their own organizational data.
“As local leaders, we all face difficult decisions related to managing local infrastructure needs. That fact isn’t going to change, but with new asset management tools, municipalities can ensure we’re driving the best possible outcomes for our communities — and for Canada,” said Vicky-May Hamm, president of FCM. “The collaborative nature of this program will see representatives from different communities working together, sharing information and discovering what works to deliver the best results for our residents.”
Funding for the partner organizations’ grants is provided by MAMP, a five-year, $50 million initiative funded by the Government of Canada and delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
