The federal government has invested nearly $2 million in a series of projects to help communities in Ontario improve their asset-management practices.

The Municipal Asset Management Program (MMAP), which is delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) on behalf of the federal government, aims to strengthen local infrastructure planning and decision-making by increasing local asset-management capacity through investments in activities such as asset-management training, technology and software enhancements and information sharing.

The federal government has topped up the program with more than $1.9 million that will be used to fund more than 40 projects in small communities across the province.

For example, Grey County will receive $50,000 to collect data and take inventory of its building assets. These assessments will be used to provide recommended lifecycle activities and determine the associated costs so the County can create an accurate asset management plan for all building facilities.

The Municipality of the Township of Hawkesbury East will receive nearly $26,000 to conduct surface condition data collection and processing for 138 kilometres of road and five kilometres of sidewalks using a web-based geographic information system application.

The Town of South Bruce Peninsula has been earmarked $50,000 to develop a risk management framework, lifecycle strategy framework and levels of service framework, which will be integrated into its asset management plan. These activities will help the town define levels of service for the asset classes and capture the necessary information to track performance on its service areas.

"Municipalities of all sizes are Canada's builders,” says FCM president Garth Frizzell. “They own nearly 60 percent of the public infrastructure that supports Canada's economy and quality of life. With strengthened asset management practices, they are making infrastructure investment decisions based on sound and reliable data. Supported by our strong federal-municipal partnership, FCM is delivering programs from coast to coast to coast that help municipalities in Ontario do what they do best: deliver solutions that work."

The $110-million MMAP has invested in more than 830 municipal asset management projects. The program offers funding, training and resources to help small and medium sized municipalities improve their asset management policies and approaches enabling them to make solid infrastructure investment decisions.