Asset Management News & Updates

In 2022, AMO delivered a series of videos to showcase how different municipalities are making continuous progress in building internal capacity and adopting asset management as a tool to assess infrastructure investment priorities.

View a roadmap for the future of asset management in Ontario through a deep dive into 14 different municipalities.

AMO annually hosts the Asset Management Outcomes Working Group. The Working Group brings experts together to identify opportunities for asset management advancement in Ontario. The group includes representatives from several partners including the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ontario, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing of Ontario, FCM, Statistics Canada, AMONTario, MFOA, and Good Roads.

Addressing Needs for Dynamic Populations - ROMA Conference 2026

To kick off ROMA 2026, municipal leaders from across Ontario joined an interactive session with AMO’s CCBF team.

The session shared key concepts for managing shifts of growth and demand, including asset management, housing needs assessments, housing-enabling infrastructure, and the role of municipal leaders.

Christina Benty then spoke about polarity thinking and how to manage conflicting challenges related to shifting demographics.

Working together, more than 120 attendees mapped out the advantages and disadvantages of two opposing thoughts: investing in core municipal responsibilities versus investing in growing community aspirations. The exercise revealed innovative strategies to address local challenges through compromise.

The flexibility of the Canada Community Building Fund (CCBF) allows municipalities to leverage critical data and strategic documents to optimize the fund for their unique long-term needs. The session provided valuable information and tools to support these efforts.

Growth and Asset Management - AMO Conference 2025

Ontario’s communities are growing, and with development comes the need for investment in supportive infrastructure and municipal operations. Asset management practices are important for municipalities to plan for their future needs and effectively accommodate growth.

At the 2025 AMO conference an engaging session was held with over 100 participants that explored the integration of growth and demographic shifts into asset management municipal programs. An overview of a new primer on growth and case study series was provided to attendees. Followed by a panel discussion on growth risks and related challenges with representatives from Centre Wellington, Muskoka, and Asset Management Ontario. The slides are available for further information.

Building a Brave Culture for Asset Management Success - ROMA Conference 2025

Asset management is not just a legislative requirement – its essential for making systematic, evidence-based decisions that prioritize limited resources, define levels of service, and align infrastructure investments with community goals. Municipal councils play a pivotal role in balancing cost, risk, and service levels to achieve desired outcomes for their communities.

AMO’s CCBF team along with Christina Benty held a pre-conference session at ROMA 2025 that began with a summary of asset management legislative requirements and concluded with open discussions about the struggle to balance costs and desired service levels and effective communication strategies between elected officials, municipal staff, and the public.

The slides and session handout are available for further information.

Asset Management and Psychological Safety - AMO Conference 2024

Asset management is a planning tool that helps council build the future it wants for its community. It helps make logical and rational decisions that target limited resources and prioritize infrastructure investments.

But what could possibly get in the way of evidence-based decision making? Why might we not attend to the things we should attend to? And what is the most important conversation we need to have given the challenges we face?

An engaging session was held with around 100 participants that illuminated condition assessments of a different kind and explored the antidote to asset management apathy. Christina Benty, a strategist with decades of experience working with local government organizations, advocated for an optimistic, open-minded, and creative culture that enables sustainable decision-making.

The slides and session handout are available for further information.

The ASSET MANAGEMENT ADVENTURE – 2023 Spring Workshops

Whether you are an elected official or a municipal staff member, you each have a different yet critical role in managing the community’s infrastructure so that it continues to provide safe, sustainable, secure services in a seamless, cost-effective manner both now and into the future. This session will provide an overview of asset management for sustainable service delivery and examine the role of elected officials and municipal staff by exploring topics such as:

What is the role of Elected Officials in asset management?
What are the challenges to be faced and the opportunities to be explored?
How to make decisions today that will protect future generations?
How to apply a climate change lens to your decision making?
How asset management supports financial sustainability and guides your infrastructure investments?

Slides: Christina Benty - Strategic Leadership Solutions

Handout: Christina Benty - Strategic Leadership Solutions

Creating your Sustainability Story – 2022 AMO Conference

As we go into the election, how can we frame the conversation about long term sustainability that appropriately considers service levels, corporate risks, and costs? Asset management provides a powerful framework for addressing these issues, and local councils play a critical role in facilitating an enabling environment to make progress.

This engaging session considers concerns for elected officials such as:

Besides cost, how else can we provide strategic direction to staff that appropriately considers other factors critical for our municipality’s sustainability?
How can we tell our municipality’s asset management story better in a way that will shape the future of our community?
How can we engage residents more effectively in setting service levels that are aligned with appropriate risk and financial thresholds?

Slides: Christina Benty - Strategic Leadership Solutions

UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF ELECTED OFFICIALS IN ASSET MANAGEMENT – 2021 AMO Conference

This facilitated panel discussion explores role of elected officials in building a culture of collaboration and coordination at their municipalities to support continuous progress in asset management.

Panelists:

Nancy Peckford – Mayor, Municipality of North Grenville
Cheryl Fort – Mayor, Township of Hornepayne
Brad Loosley – Mayor, Town of Petrolia

Opening Remarks 0:13

Asset management and service delivery 11:55

Using asset management lens for long-term planning 22:37

Building an organizational culture and relationship with staff 38:32

Ensuring sustainability of infrastructure services 48:42

Panel Discussion Summary

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS FROM AN ASSET MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE – 2020 AMO Conference

Learn how municipal councils can use asset management as a decision-making tool during a pandemic to reassess investment priorities, manage risks and demonstrate sound stewardship of public resources.

Panelists: