Tools & Resources

Toolkits & Reports

We are proud to offer members a variety of tools and resources to help support them in their day-to-day work. This includes in-depth guides, toolkits, briefing notes, previously recorded webinars, research and reports. Some of these resources have been informed by the AMCTO Legislative and Policy Advisory Committee (LPAC) and various working groups in collaboration with sector stakeholders and fellow municipal association groups, while others are independent of AMCTO.

The goal of these tools and resources is to inform and educate. The content listed within these pages does not necessarily or always represent AMCTO's specific advocacy or policy positions or constitute endorsements of specific authors or organizations of any kind. For more information or questions, please contact us.

As the largest voluntary municipal association in Ontario, it is our position that local governments are the most transparent order of government with openness at the core of their operations as the level of government closest to the people. We believe that through modernized legislation, municipalities continuously improve on transparency and accountability. With this in mind, we are proud to provide members with the following advocacy toolkit that includes our submission on MFIPPA modernization, an Issue at Glance briefing note, template council resolution, and more.
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We need your help in getting the Ford Government’s attention on an important advocacy issue. Access our MEA modernization toolkit below to support our call for critical updates to this legislation. The toolkit includes our submission and recommendations for updates that are needed by Spring 2025. You'll also find social media assets to help us in spreading the word, a template council resolution, our 2022 post-election report, and more.
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As an Association, we always look forward to celebrating Local Government Week during the third week of October each year. Local Government Week is an opportunity to highlight our members' successes and the hard work that all local government professionals do to serve their communities. Access our #LocalGovWeek toolkit below for social media assets you can use in your municipalities to raise awareness of the important role local governments play in our daily lives, for one-pagers on ways to celebrate and promote public engagement, for a template council resolution, and more.
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We are excited to present an all-new resource for members: our strong mayor powers toolkit with the first iteration of key findings from primary research conducted among our members and chief administrative officers across the province.
With the help of municipal staff across strong mayor municipalities, we were able to monitor and assess how mayors, and municipalities, have used and implemented strong mayor powers, and its effect on municipal staff and communities. Thanks to a 74% response rate, further supported by publicly available information, we were able to identify key findings in strong mayor legislation interpretation, approach and practices, particularly with respect to impacts to municipal senior leaders and staff.
Our strong mayor powers toolkit and authorities scan:
- Provides members with information to compare strong mayor power use and practice across the province
- Allows us to better understand the impacts to municipal governance, structures and staff and continue to support municipalities that are transitioning or may be added to strong mayor systems
- Invites discussion and continued conversation toward developing better legislative solutions that meet government objectives
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Advocacy Updates

AMCTO advocacy updates provide members with a quick overview of our progress on specific advocacy issues. They also provide members with an opportunity to take part in our advocacy work through providing feedback, participating in provincial consultations and commenting on recent policies and legislation. Below are some of our recent advocacy updates and submissions:

Guides & Recorded Webinars

Explore our topic-specific guides and previously recorded webinars below. These are intended to provide informative legislative and policy overviews and recommendations based on sector best practices.

Last updated as of January 28, 2021:
On July 21, 2020, the Ontario government made amendments to the Municipal Act, 2001 that allows municipalities the option of authorizing proxy voting for members of council. With Bill 197: The COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020, municipalities that wish to allow proxy voting must amend their procedure bylaw to allow members of council to appoint another member of the same council to act in their place when they are absent.

The Province has positioned proxy voting as a way to "ensure continuing representation of constituents’ interests on municipal councils when a member is unable to attend in person due to, for example, illness, a leave of absence, or the need to practice physical distancing.”

While this allows a member of council to continue to represent the interests of their constituents should they be waylaid by illness, it could also be applied to a leave of absence, such as parental leave, a policy for which is now mandatory under s.270 of the Municipal Act (MA) as a result of amendments made through Bill 68: The Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act, 2017.

While there are a number of international legislative bodies at a provincial, state, or federal level that have utilized proxy voting to conduct business, an initial scan of jurisdictions at the local level suggests that such a mechanism is unique in its application to members of a municipal council.

Previously Recorded Webinar

Guides
Proxy Voting for Municipal Council Members (Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing, July 2020)
Proxy Voting Guide - Legislative Considerations & Implementation (AMCTO, 2021)
Last updated as of January 28, 2021:
In response to physical distancing requirements as part of Ontario’s COVID-19 pandemic response, on March 19, 2020, the Ontario Government made amendments to the Municipal Act (MA), 2001. Bill 187, the Municipal Emergency Act allows municipalities to update the procedural bylaws for meetings of municipal councils, committees, and local boards under sections 238 and 239 of the MA.
On July 21, 2020, through Bill 197, the Ontario Government made further amendments to the MA to permanently allow quorum for electronic meetings outside of an emergency — a decision that was built on the successful implementation of electronic meetings by multiple municipalities and in response to advocacy efforts of various municipal stakeholders.
Previously Recorded Webinar

Guides
These guides serve to provide the legislative context and practical considerations for the task of undertaking electronic council meetings. The first edition of the resource guide was developed in partnership with the Municipal Information Systems Association (MISA) Ontario, the Ontario Municipal Administrators' Association (OMAA), and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). The second edition of the guide builds on the first edition by highlighting best practices that have been unveiled since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and was developed in partnership with MISA.
Electronic Participation in Municipal Meetings (Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing, July 2020)
Providing Flexibility for Municipalities to Hold Local Meetings During Emergencies (Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing, March 2020)

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Tools & Resources

Toolkits & Reports

Advocacy Updates

Guides & Recorded Webinars

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