Are you interested in how municipalities successfully approach common asset management challenges? Learn key lessons and tips from Canadian municipalities that you can action in your asset management journey.

During this webinar, you will discover tips to:

• Engage and unite employees from across your municipality to support asset management activities
• Enhance your staff’s asset management knowledge and skills by incorporating consultant know-how
• Develop realistic objectives with consideration to time and resource limitations
• Tackle asset inventory and condition assessments

Speakers:

• Marco Daigle, Treasurer, City of Edmundston, NB
• Kelly Watkins, Treasurer, Township of North Frontenac, ON
• Hillary Elliott, Chief Administrative Officer, Village of Silverton, BC

Read the transcript.

Click here to view the video in YouTube and jump ahead to relevant topics.

Watch this webinar recording to learn how your city or community can manage traffic congestion, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and control costs of bussing students to school. Be inspired by the City of Kingston, ON, that addressed these challenges with a unique award-winning program which provides free transit passes to all high school students – along with on-bus orientation to teach students how to ride the bus and the benefits of public transit.

You will discover new best practices, helpful and accessible resources, including our free guidebook Engaging students to increase public transit ridership and other tools that could help you to undertake a similar initiative in your community.

Speakers:

• Daniel Hendry, Sustainable Initiatives Coordinator, Limestone District School Board
• Jeremy DaCosta, Director, Transit and Fleet Services, Kingston Transit, City of Kingston

Read the transcript.

This guide provides step-by-step information and tools for building a partnership between your municipality and school boards, engaging stakeholders and implementing a student transit pass program.

It shares the story and lessons learned from the City of Kingston, ON and its Transit High School Bus Pass Program, which won a 2018 FCM Sustainable Communities Award. The program provides free transit passes to all high school students along with on-bus orientation to teach students how to ride the bus and the benefits of public transit.

In this guide, learn how to:

• Engage stakeholders, form strong partnerships and build your team.
• Design a program to fit your community.
• Implement the program through a coordinated effort by schools and the transit authority.
• Measure and report results, and share your story with others.

This guide is designed for school district staff and school board commissioners, municipal staff, including transit authority personnel, transit planners, sustainability coordinators, as well as municipal elected officials who want to take action to increase transit use in their community.

Read the guide.

Watch our webinar recordings to learn how Canadian municipalities of all sizes are lowering contamination rates in their recyclable materials, improving recycling systems and the quality of recyclables to meet changes in international regulations around plastic waste.

Webinar #1: A circular economy approach to plastics: A review of global case studies

Presented with the National Zero Waste Council and the Smart Prosperity Institute, this webinar recording explores plastics management through the lens of circular economy, examining how organisations and countries around the world have revolutionised traditional waste management to benefit their community.

Moderator:

• Stephanie Cairns, Director of Cities & Communities | Circular Economy, Smart Prosperity Institute

Speakers:

• Andrea Crump, Circular Economy Policy and Projects Officer, London Waste and Recycling Board, United Kingdom
• Peter Skelton, Strategic Partnerships Manager, WRAP Global, United Kingdom

Read the transcript

Webinar #2: Toward a circular economy for plastics: Canadian perspectives and approaches

Discover how Canadian municipalities are eliminating plastic waste in their communities by adopting a circular economy approach in our webinar recording. You’ll also learn how you can identify solutions, opportunities and challenges in your community when taking on this challenge. Hosted in collaboration with the National Zero Waste Council and Smart Prosperity Institute.

Moderator:

• Christina Seidel, Co-Chair, Circular Economy Working Group, National Zero Waste Council and Executive Director, Recycling Council of Alberta

Speakers:

• Chris Lindberg, Head of the Circular Economy Unit, Plastics Initiative, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Government of Canada
• Charlotte Ueta, Acting Manager, Waste Management Planning, Solid Waste Management Services Division, City of Toronto, ON
• Annette Synowiec, Acting Manager, Business Operations and Change Initiatives, Solid Waste Management Services Division, City of Toronto, ON

Read the transcript

Webinar #3: Raising recycling awareness through education initiatives

In our webinar recording, learn how you can get the word out to your residents to encourage better recycling practices through programs and other education initiatives to improve your community’s recycling rates.

Speakers:

• Andrew Duffield, Director, Sustainable Development, City of Beaconsfield, QC
• Michael Dipasquale, Supervisor, Waste Operations, Waste & Environmental Management Department, City of Markham, ON

Read the transcript   

Webinar #4: Partnering with your sorting centre: How to optimize plastic waste management

See how some Canadian municipalities have successfully collaborated with their local waste sorting centres, and learn how you can apply the same principles to create an efficient and beneficial partnership between your community and your sorting centre, as well as lower your contamination rates in our webinar recording.

Speakers:

• Janine Piller, Waste Diversion Supervisor, City of St. John’s, NL
• Dwight Whynot, CEO, Scotia Recycling

Read the transcript

Webinar #5: Closing the loop: From plastics to products

This webinar recording focuses on Canadian and foreign innovative technologies that process plastic waste ultimately fostering local and circular economy. We also examine current trends and promising technologies from Canada and globally.

Speakers:

• Maggy Hinse, Environment Advisor, City of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, QC
• Virginie Bussières, Vice-President of Communications, Marketing and Government Relations, Pyrowave

Read the transcript

The first two sessions were hosted in collaboration with the National Zero Waste Council, the Smart Prosperity Institute, as well as FCM’s Green Municipal Fund. GMF is funded by the Government of Canada. 

InfraGuide: National guide to sustainable municipal infrastructure is a collection of technical best practices and principles to help better inform municipal staff and decision-makers in infrastructure management. 

Based on Canadian expertise and research, InfraGuide addresses key areas in infrastructure planning, providing a range of resources from highly technical guides to strategic planning tools. Technical staff can explore the principles and best practices in their specific areas of work, while senior managers, CAOs and elected officials can better understand the principles and governance structures that support better infrastructure planning and maintenance.

Find documents relevant to your municipality’s needs

Access reports designed to help you maximize returns on your community’s infrastructure investment, while being mindful of the social and environmental implications of those decisions. These tools support sustainable municipal infrastructure decisions and actions in seven key areas:

• Asset management [decision making and investment planning]
  • Alternative Funding Mechanisms
  • Dedicated Funding
  • Investment Parameters for Municipal Infrastructure
  • Planning and Defining Municipal Infrastructure Needs
  • Public Consultation for Infrastructure Renewal
  • Managing Infrastructure Assets
  • Managing Risk
  • Selecting a Professional Consultant
• Potable water
  • Developing a Water Distribution System Renewal Plan
  • Deterioration and Inspection of Water Distribution Systems
  • Establishing a Metering Plan to Account for Water Use and Loss
  • Methodology for Setting a Cross Connection Control Program
  • Monitoring Water Quality in the Distribution System
  • Selection of Technologies for the Rehabilitation or Replacement of a Water Distribution System
  • Small Systems Operation and Maintenance Practices
  • Speed and Quality of Linear System Repairs
  • Water Quality in a CO₂ Distribution System
  • Water Use and Loss in the Water Distribution System
• Municipal roads and sidewalks
  • Dust Control for Unpaved Roads
  • Guidelines for Sealing and Filling Cracks in Asphalt Concrete Pavements
  • Preservation of Bituminous Pavement Using Thin Surface Restoration Techniques
  • Priority Planning and Budgeting Process for Pavement Maintenance and Rehabilitation
  • Reuse and Recycling of Road Construction and Maintenance Materials
  • Road Drainage Design Alternatives and Maintenance
  • Rut Mitigation Techniques at Intersections
  • Sidewalk Design Construction and Maintenance
  • Timely Preventive Maintenance for Municipal Roads
• Stormwater and wastewater
  • Assessment and Evaluation of Storm and Wastewater Collection Systems
  • Biosolids Management Programs
  • Communication and Public Consultation for Biosolids Management
  • Conveyance and End of Pipe Measures for Stormwater Control
  • Inflow Infiltration Control Reduction for Wastewater Collection Systems
  • Optimization of Lagoon Operations
  • Quality Management for Biosolids Programs
  • Selection of Technologies for Sewer Rehabilitation and Replacement
  • Solids Inventory Control for Wastewater Treatment Plan Optimization
  • Source and On Site Controls for Municipal Drainage Systems
  • Stormwater Management Planning
  • Wastewater Source Control
  • Wastewater Treatment Plant Optimization
• Environmental protocols
  • Accounting for Environmental and Social Outcomes in Decision Making
  • Demand Management 
  • Environmental Assessments
  • Environmental Management Systems for Municipal Infrastructure
  • Land Use Planning
  • Strategic Commitment to the Environment by Municipal Corporations
• Transit
  • Strategies for Implementing Transit Priority
  • Transit Best Practices
• Multidiscipline 
  • An Integrated Approach to Assessment and Evaluation of Municipal Road Sewer and Water Networks
  • Best Practices for Utility-Based Data
  • Coordinating Infrastructure Works
  • Developing Indicators and Benchmarks
  • Developing Levels of Service
  • Water and Sewer Rates Full Cost Recovery

InfraGuide was developed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the National Research Council, and funded by the Government of Canada.

More about InfraGuide

Developed between 2001 - 2006, InfraGuide is the collaborative effort of a network of 200 volunteers from across the country, including municipal staff, researchers and other experts. While infrastructure management practices and technology have continuously evolved since these documents were developed, many of these best practices continue to be relevant today. FCM makes these resources available so the sector can continue to build on this work.