By Peter Way PSM, Chair NAMS.AU
As part of my recent visit to Calgary in Alberta, Canada for the final ISO AM Standards meeting, I had the opportunity to attend the seventh Canadian CNAM conference in neighbouring Edmonton. The advances that our Canadian friends in asset management have made over recent years were an eye-opener.
Canadian municipal government is very different to Australia, in that there is a plethora of small communities, each with its own council. They have rapidly progressed from the basics of data gathering, rudimentary analysis and assessment, into continuous improvement and sustainable asset management. It needs to be recognised that they mandated accrual accounting for their municipalities, only a few years ago – so they have plenty of work to do.
IPWEA delivers NAMS.PLUS Workshops in several Provinces in Canada through local asset management groups. Because of the large number of small municipalities (Canada has a total population of 35 million and about 3700 municipalities), tools such as the Australian NAMS.PLUS are rapidly taking off. The Canadians are finding it suits them perfectly – and they are even showing us a thing or two in the way they better engage their mayors and politicians in the process. In some cases, they have also used the NAMS.PLUS outcomes to then immediately involve the local community, achieving resolution on things like variations in levels of service and even rate increases.
On the drive from Calgary to Edmonton with one of our Canadian colleagues, it was fascinating to see the extent of those famed rolling prairies stretching as far as the eye can see. They are now being challenged to cater not only for beef production but the burgeoning oil and gas production from oil sands and coal seam gas deposits. Whilst their Federal government is using tax from gas revenues to fund community improvement, it is doing so with requirements for municipalities to demonstrate sustainability in investments in public infrastructure with life-cycle cost assessments and robust capital asset management plans.
The conference papers provided some great insights into the journey our Canadian colleagues have been embarking upon, and the many parallels with our journey here in Australia. The Keynote address reminded us of a major Canadian Federal government initiative over five years (concluded in 2007) – the Canadian Infraguide, which saw around $12.5 million invested in developing 55 best-practice guides. We have used some of those in our work here in Australia, but they run the risk of 'disappearing' over time. Unfortunately, funding stopped in 2007 and the project has lapsed. I do have a website address for access to several of these best-practice guides from Canada, so anyone interested, please contact me on pway@ipwea.org.au.
Concerns about defining levels of service with genuine community involvement in setting these, is one of the current challenges Canadian municipalities are addressing vigorously. For me, some of the highlight presentations at the Conference, included the following:
- The Two Billion-Dollar Elephant – Township of Langley, including their experience in communicating with community.
- City of Ottawa – new technology for water and sewer infrastructure operations and maintenance.
- Levels of service workshop – delivering on the promise.
- It's one small step for Canadian asset management – City of Ottawa. Asset report card methodology to engage with community on investment versus level of service.
- Passing the Torch – City of Edmonton. Transfer of asset management, knowledge with staff turnover.
- Keynote address – ISO 55000 – the IAM perspective. David McKeown – CEO – Institute of Asset Management.
Copies of a number of presentations are available here.
The networking opportunities from the conference and the opportunities to learn from the many and varied presentations, highlights the evolution of asset management globally. We must stay tuned to what is happening around the world, and always lookout for opportunities to learn from others' experiences.
In the picture: Alberta Art Gallery in Edmonton.