AMP it Up is almost over (for now!)

Where AMP it Up started

MFOA and the Province of Ontario, first through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and then through the Ministry of Infrastructure, have been providing assistance to municipalities in Asset Management Planning since 2016.

The objective has been to help municipalities progress with their asset management planning.

AMP it Up 1.0 (2016-2018)

From 2016-2018, MFOA helped by writing a Guide to Asset Management in Ontario which is published on MFOA’s website, building a Self-Assessment Tool (questionnaire) to help municipalities evaluate the progress on their asset management journey and organizing a pilot project for 93 municipalities with population under 25,000 to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their municipal asset management plans and then developing a local Municipal Action Plan to help them improve.

AMP it Up 2.0 (2018-2021)

From 2018-2021, this pilot plan was expanded to make it eligible for all municipalities with population under 25,000 in Ontario to participate. The program registration was closed with 195 participating municipalities of the 260 which were eligible. In addition to the asset management plan assessments and Municipal Action Plans, all municipalities in this group were provided with 10 hours of enhanced support to help them start to implement the recommendations in their Plan.

Funding was also provided to have an AMP it Up 1.0 Refresh program for the 93 municipalities that participated in the pilot and 29 municipalities of that group responded and participated in the Refresh program. This program provided 20 hours of consulting assistance to update their knowledge of the asset management plan as many staff have changed in these municipalities. Given the level of staff turnover, the consultant often provided continuity for the municipalities.

Levels of Service Workshops were also offered by MFOA to assist municipalities in preparing for the next stage of compliance with the Asset Management Regulation requiring municipalities to document their Levels of Service for the municipality. These workshops were offered by the consultants that have been assisting MFOA with delivering the assistance to municipalities. Workshops were delivered in small groups with time provided for interaction to help municipalities better understand the requirements. MFOA offered 34 workshops with 272 participants representing 244 municipalities.

AMP it Up 3.0 – the current program (2022-2026)

The goal of the current AMP it Up is to enable municipalities to understand the asset management plan (AMP) that they have and to obtain expert advice and guidance on their individual AMPs, specific to their situation – either through individual coaching and assistance, workshops or working in groups (cohorts). MFOA and MOI signed a Transfer Payment Agreement in 2022 with the Ministry funding 90% of the costs and MFOA 10%.

Project 1 – Coaching and Assisting Municipalities

This project involved coaching and assisting individual municipalities to meet the requirements for asset management as prescribed by the Regulation. When consultants coach, the municipal staff are encouraged to continue the work. Given the turnover in municipal staff due to retirements and other changes, many times the AMP consultant is the continuity in the municipality for asset management. An important lesson is that one-to-one coaching is superior in providing needed assistance and in building capacity in client municipalities.

The program purpose of AMP it Up 3.0 is the same as the previous programs – to help municipalities understand the asset management plan they have and to obtain expert advice and guidance specific to their situation. In AMP it Up 3.0, MFOA has been assisting by: assessing their current AMP; determining the level of staff involvement and comfort with the AMP; identifying gaps in the existing plan; developing a “next steps” work plan that the municipality can manage given its resources; and providing access to our experts by the municipalities to resolve issues encountered as the municipalities move through the work plan.

Through AMP it Up 3.0, 179 municipalities have received coaching and assistance to help improve their Asset Management Plan. Our consultants, and most municipalities were very busy throughout 2025 working to complete their new AMP to comply with the Regulation. At the end of our funding with MOI, there are still a number of municipalities working with consultants to complete the asset management work. The MFOA Board has approved funding to allow municipalities and consultants to complete this project.

Project 2 – Group Workshops to assist municipalities in achieving compliance with the Regulation

As part of this project, MFOA’s consultants developed and delivered workshops on various topics to enable municipalities to complete the work required to comply with the Regulation.

MFOA has delivered workshops available to all municipalities as follows:

• For municipalities that needed assistance with Levels of Service and had not completed their asset management plan requirements under the Regulation for July 2022, workshops were delivered during June - July 2022 and 37 municipalities attended;
• To assist municipalities with the July 2024 Regulation requirements, including level of service assistance, workshops were delivered during January-July 2024 and 275 municipal staff attended;
• To assist municipalities with the July 2025 Regulation requirements, workshops have been delivered during 2025 and in March 2026 - 69 workshops were delivered to 598 municipal staff.

Project 3 – Cohort-Based Working Groups

Given the nature and scope of asset management, municipalities working together in groups have found progressing together and learning from each other can be an important tool for sharing resources, best practices and common approaches. A cohort-based education program in the area of asset management planning can provide many benefits.

MFOA, with the support of the Province, has created a Community of Practice Guide and identified resources to enable municipalities to assist themselves through the creation of communities of practice in asset management.

This project aims to encourage municipalities to participate in the working groups. To accomplish this, MFOA is providing key online resources; facilitating communities of practice around specified topics; coaching working groups through a series of work activities to be completed and issues to be discussed with their peers; and engaging consultants to develop topics and organize groups by population and type of infrastructure.

All municipalities were eligible and encouraged to form groups or apply and be assigned to one. Each group met monthly under the guidance of a consultant, with follow up support delivered either as one hour each month or 2–3 hours each quarter. The program was oversubscribed with 115 municipalities participating in the cohort-based working groups (and a wait list of municipalities wanting to participate).

Additionally, at the end of our funding with MOI, there remain a number of municipalities working with consultants to complete the asset management work. The MFOA Board has approved funding to allow municipalities and consultants to complete this project.

Now that it’s over

One of the key features of the AMP it Up program is the provision of enhanced support to assist municipalities with implementing their individual work plans. Municipalities have been utilizing the enhanced support to facilitate working sessions with municipal staff to develop levels of service frameworks and define lifecycle management strategies. This approach addresses two key elements of asset management planning and will directly help municipalities meet some of the requirements of Ontario Regulation 588/17. Additionally, the knowledge transfer that occurs through the working sessions better positions the municipalities to continue this work independently following the completion of the program.

The AMP it Up 3.0 program has continued this process with individual municipalities, groups of municipalities (cohorts of communities of practice) and workshops for all municipalities, and continued to expand the foundation that is helping municipalities advance their asset management practices.

MFOA is grateful for the funding support from the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for AMP it Up 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0.

What’s next? AMP it Up 4.0

MFOA is now exploring opportunities for the next generation of supports for municipalities on Asset Management Plans and asset management planning. We are partnering with other municipal organizations and should be making a proposal to MOI in the near future. Stay tuned for more!