Formation (History)

Asset Management Canada – an alliance of Asset Management Communities of Practice from across Canada.

As our infrastructure ages and growth demands more from our public services, asset management has become an important topic for Canadian municipal governments across the country.  Asset management is not a new concept. For over a decade the Canadian Network of Asset Managers (CNAM) as well as other provincially-focused associations and organizations have been informing and educating local governments on the value of asset management practices for effective delivery, operation and maintenance of infrastructure. As the profession grew, these unique and regional Communities of Practice (CoP) would come together at the annual CNAM conference on an informal basis to share their individual experiences and ideas as a pan-Canadian roundtable.

Under the federally funded Municipal Asset Management Program (MAMP), the , Federation of Canadian Municipalities supported bringing together these provincial and territorial asset management organizations to determine if a more formal coalition could be created.  (For more information on MAMP funding, visit: http://www.fcm.ca/home/programs/municipal-asset-management-program/municipal-asset-management-program.htm)

In September and October 2017, two intensive workshops were held in Edmonton, AB and Quebec City, QC where each CoP was invited to attend, learn about each other’s activities and align on common goals for asset management across Canada. These CoPs, as well as CNAM, agreed on a charter and how to best collaborate and share resources, help build municipal capacity and increase the awareness and maturity of infrastructure asset management practices on a national basis.

Asset Management Canada is the result of those workshops. Asset management CoPs from across Canada will now work together to guide, support and advance the practice of asset management through collaboration, knowledge sharing, and advocacy. This website serves as a portal to connect with each CoP and find “best practices”, templates and guides in all regions that can help Canadian municipalities in their asset management journey.

Asset Management Canada

On March 2, 2018, the Asset Management Canada Charter was signed by the eleven (11) founding members, formally establishing Asset Management Canada.  The following are excerpts contained within the Charter;

CONTEXT – Asset management communities of practice now exist in most Canadian provinces and territories, as well as at the national level through the Canadian Network of Asset Managers. Asset Management Canada brings together these communities of practice whose mandates are to guide and support the practice of asset management in the public sector. While our communities of practice take many forms and have different capacities we recognize that everyone will benefit from sharing information and collaborating on areas of mutual interest. By sharing information, we will each be better equipped to advance asset management in our jurisdictions, and by collaborating, the Alliance will be able to make a greater contribution to asset management in Canada.

VISION – A harmonized alliance of communities of practice to advance public sector asset management in Canada.

MISSION – To support the advancement of asset management in Canada through collaboration, knowledge sharing and advocacy.

Click to view the full Asset Management Canada Charter, March 2, 2018 (pdf)

Why Asset Management? 

Sustainable Service Delivery ensures that current community service needs, and how those services are delivered (in a socially, economically and environmentally responsible manner), do not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Communities build and maintain infrastructure to provide services. These services support our quality of life, protect our health and safety, and promote social, economic and environmental well-being. Failure to care for our infrastructure, manage our natural resources and protect the benefits provided by nature risks degrading, or even losing, the services communities enjoy, and that future generations may rely on.  Sound asset management practices support Sustainable Service Delivery by considering community priorities, informed by an understanding of the trade-offs between the available resources and the desired services.

About this Website

Consistent with AMCanada’s vision and mission, this website is a portal designed to share asset management information.  It leverages and relies on the information, tools and resources that exist on the provincial/territorial Community of Practice’s and CNAM’s websites.  Visitors to the site can go directly to a Community of Practice’s website via the home page (map of Canada), or search all AMCanada members websites through the search function.  AMCanada is working to ensure that this is ‘the’ national asset management portal for municipal government.  The Events Calendar identifies asset management training and educational events across the country, being hosted by AMCanada’s members and/or partners.  The What’s New is designed to provide a look at what’s happening in asset management at the national level and with AMCanada.