Municipal Teams Expand their Skills with Asset Management Professional Program

PEMAC Asset Management Association of Canada and Northern Lakes College congratulate the group of municipal practitioners who have recently graduated from the special delivery of the Asset Management Professional (AMP) program for cross-functional municipal teams.

In 2022 PEMAC was selected for the third time, by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) to provide asset management training to municipal practitioners. The Municipal Asset Management Program is an eight-year, $110 million initiative, which is delivered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and funded by the Government of Canada. 

During this third special delivery, more than 145 municipal practitioners from 52 municipalities of all sizes, across 8 provinces, participated in the special offering of the Asset Management Professional program (MAMP). Cohorts of municipal teams began their learning in May 2022 through the end of 2023, and invested more than 14,000 hours of lesson time among them. 68 of those practitioners completed  all six AMP courses by the end of the grant program, and have now become Certified Asset Management Professionals (CAMP).

“PEMAC is proud to have once again participated in the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' Municipal Asset Management Program. The funding has provided municipalities across Canada with the opportunity to start and continue their Asset Management learning journey, while they build the skills that will meaningfully improve the Asset Management practices at their organization," shares Nicolle Guillen, Education and Professional Development Manager at PEMAC. "The knowledge gained through the program is already being applied, as these professionals work to implement process improvements and make more informed decisions."

Course One of this special municipal delivery was offered a five-day live online course. Participants gained an overview of the essentials of Asset Management in the context of ISO 5500x and identified opportunities for application of Asset Management concepts in their municipality to realize value and increase the level of service. Cohorts completed the remaining five courses in an asynchronous online format. Each ten-week long course focused on a key subject area. The program culminated in a final Capstone project that allowed participants to apply their learning through topics such as leadership, culture, lifecycle activities, risk management, knowledge management and so much more.

Climate change impacts was a key element of the MAMP funding during this period. Some of the AMP course discussions reflected on the asset management learning and how to effectively apply it to climate impact considerations. Justin Brogan, Accounting Clerk at The City of Rossland in British Columbia shares how their municipality has leveraged the learning in the program to address climate change impacts:

"Rossland has incorporated the acknowledgement and management of natural assets (NA) within our asset management program, for example specifically naming these assets in our AM policy and inclusion in our roadmap, with the goal of getting a dollar valuation of the services provided by existing NA – primarily on the stormwater management front. We feel NA management is important both on the climate change mitigation front for maintaining the natural environment/biodiversity, and the adaption front given the increasing number of climate events (major storms, changing weather patterns)."

This FCM MAMP program is the third one that PEMAC was a partner in, and marks the end of the eight year program. PEMAC is proud to have partnered with FCM since 2018, providing the opportunity for more than 390 practitioners from across 112 different municipalities to expand their asset management knowledge in special offerings of the AMP program since that time.

Learn more about PEMAC's AMP program here.

Northern Lakes College continues to offer the AMP courses each semester, with the next courses beginning the week of April 16. Learn more about the upcoming schedule for the general public here.