AMCTO Policy Blog


Legislative and policy updates from Ontario's largest municipal professional association.
New Opportunities for Local Governments to Harness the Data Revolution
2016-02-11 2:07:55 PM

The City of Toronto's Institute for Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG) has released a new paper exploring the opportunities for local governments to harness the data revolution. Specifically the paper examines the experiences of the City of Toronto and the City of London ...





Elections Ontario Piloting New System During Byelection
2016-02-10 9:13:38 PM

Elections Ontario is testing a new polling system during the Whitby-Oshawa by-election this month. The new approach is designed to mitigate the challenges that Elections Ontario had had in recent elections attracting poll workers, while making better use of advances in technol...





Federal Government Pledges Better Relationship with Municipalities
2016-02-08 11:12:48 PM

Speaking last week at a meeting with the mayors of Canada's largest cities, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the federal government was "restarting" its relationship with municipalities. The meeting, which was facilitated by the Federation of Canadian Municipalitie...





IPC Rules Councillor's Email An Official City Record
2016-02-04 7:06:53 PM

In a decision that may set a precedent for municipalities across the province, Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) has ruled that the City of Oshawa must consider an email sent by a sitting councillor from her personal email address an official city record. As...





Advocacy Update: AMCTO Releases Pre-budget Submission
2016-02-01 7:43:22 PM

On Wednesday January 20th AMCTO President Chris Wray presented  the Association’s recommendations for the 2016 Ontario Budget before the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs during its hearings in Thunder Bay. Today, AMCTO is pleased to release its full 2016 Pr...





Government Announces New PTSD Strategy for First Responders
2016-02-01 7:18:42 PM

The government of Ontario has announced a new strategy to help prevent and mitigate the risk of PTSD amongst first responders. The new strategy includes a a range of initiatives including: An online toolkit with PTSD resources for first responders Funding for researc...





Federal Government Conducted Study on the Sharing Economy
2016-02-01 4:21:41 PM

According to reports in the Toronto Star, the federal government has been conducting research about the opportunities and challenges presented by the sharing economy. A committee of five deputy ministers enlisted a team of analysts to identify a number of challenges for regula...





Edmonton setting a municipal precedent for Uber?
2016-01-29 3:04:32 PM

The City of Edmonton has become the first Canadian city to legalize the ride-sharing company Uber.  With the apparent support of Toronto's Mayor John Tory, it appears that efforts in Edmonton could pave the path for what Toronto may do next. For more information and details...





Government Developing New Policy for Managing Excess Soil
2016-01-28 3:22:02 PM

The Ministry of the Environment and Climate and Change is conducting consultations on a new policy for excess soil. The new policy is designed to achieve the following two objectives: Protect human health and the environment from the inappropriate relocation of excess so...





Event: The Expanding Mandate of the Ontario Ombudsman
2016-01-27 6:34:21 PM

On behalf of the Ontario Ombudsman's Office, the Public Policy Forum is hosting an event for school board and municipal stakeholders on February 25, 2016. See below for more information: As of January 1, 2016, the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman's jurisdiction now includes th...





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