Ask-NAMS-Canada

Hi there, would anyone know which municipalities have done their own asset management training course for municipal staff?  Basically trying to push for a business case that such a course should be mandatory if relevant to the position...

Thanks!

Chuan Li

Policy and Project Specialist

Corporate Asset Management

York Region

------------------------------
Chuan Li
Regional Municipality of York
Policy and Project Specialist
Newmarket ON
Canada
------------------------------

Hi Chuan Li,

Municipal asset management communities of practice across Canada - which are non-profit and typically supported by provincial/territorial or federal governments to build AM capacity across the municipal sector - have well established and subsidized training programs geared specifically for municipal staff. Asset Management Ontario (AMONTario), for example, offers AM: Core Skills; Climate Change & Green Infrastructure; and Sustainability & Leadership. These certificate courses can be tailored to specific requirements of municipalities - that's often a more effective approach than developing training in-house. The other advantage is that these courses can be done asynchronously or in cohort-based contexts. I believe your manager is part of AMONTario's Large Urban Community of Practice discussion group. 

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has a webpage with links to various municipal asset management training programs across the country.

Don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions.

Regards,

Chris Chen

------------------------------
Chris Chen
Asset Management Ontario
Director
Kemble ON
Canada
------------------------------

Hi Chuan,

We have done a training course for staff which we developed using internal resources which presents our City's approach to AM Planning utilizing the IPWEA framework. We share this training with asset owners during the development of their AM Plans. We created the training course using Sharepoint to present the material and share that link across the organization. Hope this helps!

To add more detail - our course is outlined in 8 Modules and includes:

Module 1 - Background
Module 2 - Lifecycle
Module 3 - Levels of Service
Module 4 - Demand Management
Module 5 - Risk Management
Module 6 - Climate Change
Module 7 - Financial Management
Module 8 - Continuous Improvement

These modules are released to asset owners gradually as we complete their plans and we hold workshops to go through the key concepts of the modules to ensure understanding, and we assign homework activities to help them fill in parts of the plan.

We've gotten a lot of positive feedback from asset owners. In my opinion, it is the way to go.

------------------------------
Amber Dewar
City of Hamilton
Senior Program Analyst
HAMILTON ON
Canada
------------------------------

Hi Chuan,

I am putting together a 3 module, internal training course designed for staff.  These can be paired down and/or consolidated for other audiences such as Top Management and Council. I am currently piloting them in my home department.

Modules are:

• Module 1 - Academics and Legislation
• Module 2 - Asset Management System, Documents and Enablers
• Module 3 - Asset Management Strategy and Plans

My objectives through this training are:

• Ensure that staff that have stewardship responsibilities in the management of assets have the same, core knowledge
• 4 Understand what words mean
• Understand the 4 fundamentals of AM
• Understand AM Policy, Strategy and Plans, including practical application
• Most important, positioning staff and the City to be successful in the delivery of our next 2 regulatory AMP's

Feel free to reach out and I'd be happy to share. My contact information is in my signature below. 

------------------------------
Denny S. Boskovski, C.E.T.
Manager, Corporate Asset Management

City of Markham
101 Town Centre Boulevard
Markham, Ontario L3R 9W3

T: 905.477.7000 Ext. 6190
dboskovski@markham.ca
------------------------------

Hi Chuan, I'm not sure which municipalities all do internal AM courses, but my team has done an AM101 course for interested staff through our internal learning calendar, but not as a mandatory to relevant positions. AM has an impact on a wide variety of roles within the organization, and so some awareness is beneficial to various staff.  Attendance is subject to the interest of the staff and/or direction of the supervisor/manager of the employee.    

------------------------------
Geoff Brown, P.Eng.
Manager, Corporate Asset Management Branch
City of Regina
Regina, SK CANADA
------------------------------