FCM delivers next phase of asset management funding for municipalities
Posted in: News Item
Date Posted: 2020-05-15
Organization Name: Federation of Canadian Municipalities
Providing communities with tools and support to improve their decision-making process ensures they can plan a healthy, safe, and prosperous future for their residents. That is why the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is continuing to deliver on program objectives with our federal partners.
The Government of Canada and FCM launched the next phase of funding to help communities improve their asset management practices – enabling them to use sound and reliable data to make more informed decisions about key roads, water systems, buildings, and other infrastructure.
The funding is available through a renewed federal investment in FCM’s Municipal Asset Management Program (MAMP), first announced in last year’s federal budget. Since 2017, MAMP has funded more than 585 local asset management projects in communities across Canada. It’s proven to be so popular and effective that Budget 2019 committed an additional $60 million to the program.
“As we continue to face the greatest public health and economic crises of our time, smart investments in infrastructure will play a vital role in addressing the needs of communities and reviving local economies. The Government of Canada is working with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to help communities strategically plan, build, and maintain their infrastructure to improve quality of life, grow the local economy and create jobs,” said Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities. “By working together, sharing information, collecting real data and discovering what works, we will deliver the best results for Canadians and build more resilient and sustainable communities for our children and grandchildren.”
Doubling down on this federal-municipal partnership will enable funding support for hundreds more municipal projects, mostly in smaller and rural communities. It will also support projects from Indigenous communities (with shared service agreements) and communities that will work together to share knowledge or resources.
It shows what’s possible when federal and local governments work together to deliver for Canadians.
“Municipalities are Canada’s builders. We are responsible for 60 percent of the roads, bridges and water systems that support Canada’s economy and quality of life,” said FCM President Bill Karsten. Ensuring local leaders have the right tools to make sound asset management decisions is one of the ways we can be ready to drive Canada’s economic recovery when the time comes. Today’s announcement shows that when federal and local orders of government work together, we build better lives for Canadians.”
Managing existing and new infrastructure – while dealing with competing priorities and limited budgets – is a constant challenge for municipalities. Providing communities with tools and support to improve their decision-making process ensures they can plan a healthy, safe, and prosperous future for their residents.
MAMP supports local government initiatives ranging from collecting asset management data and analyzing needs to developing policies and training staff to implement them.