Ontario Construction News staff writer
The Government of Canada and Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) are contributing $1.43 billion to help 35 communities manage municipal infrastructure in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Alberta.
Funding will be used for upgrades to roads and bridges, drinking water and wastewater systems. Asset management strategies are also designed to reduce risks.
“Investments in infrastructure asset management projects will help improve the quality of life in municipalities across Canada. Today’s funding announcement will help them plan and manage their infrastructure based on reliable data to create strong, sustainable and affordable communities,” said Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.
“Local governments are responsible for approximately 60 per cent of the public infrastructure that support our economy and our quality of life, such as roads, bridges and wastewater systems,” said Scott Pearce, president, federation of Canadian Municipalities. “That’s why supporting them in building and maintaining strong asset management through initiatives like the FCM’s Municipal Asset Management Program is crucial.
“This program, funded by the Government of Canada, helps communities across the country develop sound asset management practices and conduct data collection and analysis to improve their investment decisions.”
New Brunswick projects:
- City of Moncton: $49,360 to operationalize asset management through a strategy that includes listing key performance indicators to measure performance and recommendations for a five-year capital plan.
- City of Saint John – $48,000 to establish a standard approach to collect, store, and maintain all municipal asset data. Additionally, the project will identify data quality gaps, address “desktop” issues, and prioritize future data improvement activities.
Saskatchewan projects:
- Municipality of Pleasantdale – $50,000 to collect data that will better inform its decisions on infrastructure and capital assets. The data collected will be focused on road conditions, gravel pits and future resource expectations.
- Town of Lumsden – $50,000 to update, develop, and implement asset management practices with identified objectives, roles, and levels of service. The asset investment plans developed will prioritize work to be implemented over 5 to 10 years. Operational templates will be developed to help with the collection and use of missing or inadequate data.
- Municipality of Hazel Dell – $49,950 to create and maintain an asset management program. Once the initial asset data has been created, staff will be assigned to update it to better assist the Municipality with budgeting, forecasting, and future capital planning.
Nova Scotia projects:
- Town of Trenton – $50,000 to create asset management strategies, roadmaps, and asset-specific plans for the existing sanitary sewer system, street network, sidewalks, and curbs.
- Municipality of Digby – $38,880 to complete its asset register which will include attribute data such as age, condition, and material, and support a preliminary 5-year capital program.
- Town of Berwick – $49,950 to compile a complete inventory of major assets including linear assets, buildings and structures, and fleet, and to support a preliminary capital program. Council and staff will also participate in asset management training sessions as part of this initiative.
- County of King – 49,950 to complete and consolidate an inventory of the major assets including linear assets, buildings and structures and fleet, and to support a preliminary capital program.
Quebec projects:
- Thetford Mines – $50,000 to perform a full inventory of municipal infrastructure under its responsibility and assess the condition of each structure in order to develop an asset management plan. The city will also assess the costs of upgrading infrastructure and identify short-, medium- and long-term investments required to maintain its assets at an adequate service level.
- Regional County Municipality (RCM) of Fjord-du-Saguenay – $50,000 to implement asset management through concrete measures including waterways and buildings, are all affected by climate change and exposed to various types of risk.
- City of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu – $50,000 to inspect the water mains of its drinking water distribution system in order to plan the future interventions required to maintain its service level. The collected data will also make it possible to update asset management tools.
Alberta projects:
- County of Wetaskiwin – $50,000 to improve its data collection, data input, reporting capabilities, and to expand asset management support.
- The Town of Redwater – $50,000 to undertake a project to assess and prioritize the condition of all municipal buildings. An asset management spreadsheet will be created to capture costs associated with identified issues and help with forecasting and budgeting processes for future capital and operations.
- County of Newell – $50,000 to undertake a study of the condition of its roads. The study will include assessments of all gravel roads to determine maintenance requirements. The findings will be reviewed and used to shape Newell’s asset management practices and contribute to its 10-year capital budget.
