AMCTO Policy Blog


Legislative and policy updates from Ontario's largest municipal professional association.
Proposed Extension of Municipal GO Transit Development Charge By-Laws & Munic...
2016-09-26 5:05:16 PM

Under Reg. 528/06 of the Metrolinx Act 2006, the proposal extends the expiry date of the current municipal development charge by-laws for GO Transit's growth and expansion capital costs enabled by this Regulation for another three years, until December 31, 2019.   In add...





Tow Trucks and CVOR
2016-09-26 5:03:17 PM

Effective January 1 st , 2017, all two truck operators will be required to possess a valid Commercial Vehicle Operators Registration (CVOR) Certificate.   This applies to tow trucks, including: • A motor vehicle commonly known as a tow truck; • A commercial motor ...





IMFG Releases Two New Papers - Complex urban challenges require new thinking ...
2016-09-26 4:52:05 PM

The Institute for Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG) has released two new papers by post-doctoral fellow Abigail Friendly.   The first paper, Participatory Budgeting: The Practice and the Potential , looks at how we can meaningfully involve local residents in the...





Videos to Help the Public Understand Ranked Ballot Elections
2016-09-26 9:00:00 AM

With Ranked Ballots being granted as an option for municipalities, it is time municipalities in Ontario find ways to demonstrate how they work to the public.  While there is a provincial commitment to do some of this work, we wanted to share what Minnesota Public Radio has pr...





Parliament Returns for Fall Sitting
2016-09-19 4:09:11 PM

Federal MPs are back in Ottawa this week as the fall sitting of Parliament begins. The fall session is likely to be dominated by leadership contests for the Conservative and NDP parties, as well as debates surrounding a number of the government's key commitments, including: ...





Report Urges Body Cameras for All Toronto Police Officers
2016-09-16 6:19:15 PM

The Toronto Police Service (TPS) released a report yesterday detailing the results of a pilot project that saw 85 officers wearing body cameras.  According to the report "while the technology used did not meet all of the Service’s needs, body-worn cameras do provide the unbias...





Chamber Tells Province to Open Up Sale of Legalized Marijuana
2016-09-15 3:32:55 PM

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) released a letter to the Premier yesterday arguing that the private sector should have a role to play in any new legalized marijuana regime. In the letter the OCC argues that the government should create an open-bidding process for license...





Provincial Election to be Moved to Spring of 2018
2016-09-14 9:22:59 PM

The government announced today that it will maintain its previous commitment to move the 2018 provincial election to the spring, avoiding any potential conflict with that years municipal elections. The provincial campaign had previously been scheduled to end only two weeks bef...





Province and Federal Government Announce Clean Water and Wastewater Funding A...
2016-09-14 8:48:17 PM

Today the federal and provincial governments announced a bilateral agreement that will make more than $1.1 billion of combined funding (federal government will provide $570 million, provincial government will fund $270 million, and municipalities and first nations will make up...





Fall Legislative Session Opens with Speech from the Throne
2016-09-12 4:49:15 PM

Today, Lieutenant-Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell opened the 2nd Session of the 41st Parliament of Ontario with a speech from the throne. The speech was dedicated to outlining the government's priorities for growing Ontario's economy. Specifically, the Lieutenant-Governor indic...





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