Training Opportunities for Municipal Staff
Asset Management Technical Assistance Project
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), in collaboration with Asset Management Ontario (AMONTario), is providing free hands on training and technical assistance to 80+ municipalities across Ontario by educating multi-disciplinary staff and elected officials on asset management concepts to help them make progress in the implementation of their asset management plans and establishment of a robust asset management system.
Participating municipalities are grouped in cohorts based on geography, population size, asset management maturity, quality of existing asset management plan, staff capacity and common interests/challenges in asset management. This approach facilitates peer to peer learning and help establish knowledge sharing groups for active collaboration among neighboring municipalities.
The project covers different topics such as asset management governance structure, asset hierarchy and data gap analysis, establishing service levels, risk assessment and asset lifecycle strategies for financial planning. Participation requires commitment from municipalities to attend all coaching sessions and complete project milestone using the provided tools and templates over a period of one year.
This initiative is delivered through the Municipal Asset Management Program, which is delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and funded by the Government of Canada.
2021 ASSET MANAGEMENT WEBINAR SERIES
The purpose of this introductory webinar series is to share the freely available tools and templates piloted during 2019 - 2021 with 50 municipalities across Ontario in partnership with the Municipal Asset Management Program.
This series will help develop a better understanding of asset management concepts and the staff resources required to adopt asset management as a decision-making tool for Council to identify local infrastructure investment priorities.
Contact us to request recordings of these webinars.
1) Leadership & Governance in ASSET MANAGEMENT
Having an asset management governance structure with clear roles and responsibilities foster a culture of collaboration and integration between different departments across a municipality and helps staff collectively provide standardized information on assets cost, risk and levels of service to inform Council decision-making. Join this session to learn more about the different types of governance structures that can be adopted to develop and implement an asset management program at your municipality.
Target Audience:
- Elected Officials
- CAO, Treasurer and Directors
- Staff from various departments responsible for managing infrastructure assets
Slides - Leadership & Governance in Asset Management
2) ESTABLISHING ASSET HIERARCHY & Conducting DATA GAP ANALYSIS
An asset hierarchy is a systematic organization of assets that creates a line of sight between services, assets and accountabilities that facilitates planning and decision-making. Join this session to learn more about the different asset data attributes that staff need to collect and maintain, and the available tools and templates you can use to assess the current state of your asset data inventory.
Target Audience:
- Treasurer
- Staff from various departments responsible for managing infrastructure assets
Slides - Asset Hierarchy & Data Gap Analysis
Template - Asset Information Management Package
3) Understanding service levels
Service levels can be defined as the performance of your assets or the quality of the service they provide to your community. Municipalities are expected to establish realistic targets based on the available financial resources and the minimum asset condition or performance requirements to address community needs. Higher service levels will result in reduced risk of asset failures or service interruption, but they are also more costly and difficult to sustain over the long-term. Join this session to learn more about the steps involved in identifying existing levels of service and establishing future targets using the available tools and templates.
Target Audience:
- Elected Officials
- CAO, Treasurer and Directors
- Staff from various departments responsible for managing infrastructure assets
Slides - Understanding Service Levels
4) USING RISK ASSESSMENTS TO IDENTIFY LOCAL PRIORITIES
Risk is assessed based on the likelihood of an asset failing and the severity of the service consequences if it does. Using risk assessment provides a more structured and objective assessment of what is the most important and urgent need in the existing asset base. Join this session to learn more about the steps involved in the risk assessment process by which infrastructure investment needs can be prioritized using the risk assessment template.
Target Audience:
- Elected Officials
- CAO, Treasurer and Directors
- Staff from various departments responsible for managing infrastructure assets
Guide - Asset Risk & Prioritization Models User Manual
5) Developing financial strategy using ASSET WHOLE LIFECYCLE COSTS
One of the challenges in asset management for a municipality is to determine its infrastructure funding gap and develop a long-term strategy for how it will be managed. Join this session to learn how to estimate asset whole lifecycle costs to understand current and future financing requirements, and to how this information can be used to develop a financial plan.
Target Audience:
- CAO, Treasurer and Directors
- Staff from various departments responsible for managing infrastructure assets
Slides - Developing Financial Strategy Using Asset Whole Lifecycle Costs