AMCTO Policy Blog


Legislative and policy updates from Ontario's largest municipal professional association.
Advocacy Update: Fixing the Voters' List
2015-11-30 3:01:57 PM

Since the end of the 2014 election, AMCTO has been advocating for transformational changes to the way that Ontario creates and maintains the voters’ list for municipal elections. While there is no “magic bullet,” AMCTO firmly believes that there are a number of opportunities ...





Economic Statement Includes Update on "Sharing Economy Advisory Committee"
2015-11-27 10:11:55 PM

When Finance Minister Charles Sousa tabled his fall economic statement yesterday it included an update on how the province plans to respond to the sharing economy. According to the update the province has established a Sharing Economy Advisory Committee with representatives fr...





AMO Presents Submission on Double-Hat Firefighters
2015-11-26 1:26:07 PM

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) has presented a submission to the Standing Committee on Justice Policy regarding Bill 109, the Employment and Labour Statute Amendment Act, 2015 . The submission focuses on schedules 1 and 3 and follows similar calls by AMO...





Federal Government Announces Refugee Resettlement Plan
2015-11-25 10:36:52 PM

The federal government has revealed much-anticipated plans for resettling 25,000 Syrian refugees over the coming months. According to details released yesterday by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), all 25,000 refugees will be identified by December 31, 2015, but only 1...





Details of Ontario's Climate Strategy Revealed
2015-11-24 7:42:18 PM

The government of Ontario has released new details today about its plan to fight climate change. The government's strategy will support its cap and trade program and seek to: ...help Ontario meet its emissions reduction targets, reward innovative companies and ensure that hou...





New Accessibility Certification Program
2015-11-23 5:58:43 PM

The government is looking for input as it develops a new, voluntary, third-party accessibility certification program. The certification will recognize organizations and businesses that have removed barriers and championed accessibility in their workplaces. Learn more or get i...





New Budget Bill Tabled
2015-11-23 5:16:07 PM

Last week Finance Minister Charles Sousa tabled, Bill 144, Budget Measures Act,  a new budget implementation bill, which includes a range of commitments previously announced in the most recent provincial budget. Some of the highlights include schedule 7, which will enact a ne...





New Research on Local Government's Role in Infrastructure Investment
2015-11-19 6:41:44 PM

New research, released today by the Mowat Centre, explores the challenges that all three levels of government face when making large scale infrastructure investment decisions. In particular the paper argues that there is no consistent strategy across separate orders of governm...





Report Calls for Different Approach to Municipal Accounting
2015-11-19 3:35:12 PM

A new report, released yesterday by the C.D. Howe Institute, calls for municipalities in Canada to move towards full accrual accounting. According to the report, which is the third in a series that ranks municipal accounting practices in Canada, the current method for accounti...





Local Government Perspective on Federal Mandate Letters
2015-11-18 4:35:01 PM

Last week Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released the mandate letters that he provided to each of his cabinet ministers following their swearing-in at the beginning of November. We've prepared a backgrounder highlighting a local government perspective on the new Prime Ministers...





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