Asset Management BC (AMBC) will have a new Executive Director as of July 1^st, 2022. Since the establishment of Asset Management BC 11 years ago, our first Executive Director, Wally Wells P. Eng., a great ambassador and champion of Asset Management in BC and beyond, is handing the reins over to another well-known figure in Asset Management, David Allen.

David is the retired Chief Administrative Officer of the City of Courtenay with significant municipal experience including prior positions at  4 other BC local governments and, for the  past 8 years, as  co-chair of the AMBC Community of Practice. David is the author of the 4 C’s, a regular contributor to the AMBC newsletter and is a passionate advocate of Asset Management. Wally will continue to provide assistance and guidance within our asset management community by continuing involvement with AMBC as an Asset Management  Master, Mentor & Coach.

Asset Management BC is your Community of Practice in BC linked with other Communities of practice across Canada.  The mandate for AMBC is to share knowledge and information through training, an annual conference, periodic workshops, social media, our newsletter, mentoring and networking and our partnership with many like organizations in BC.

Asset Management BC presents part II of the three-part workshop series leading up to the November conference at the Westin Wall Centre in Richmond, BC.

Sign up through CivicInfo and join us Thursday June 16th 9:30-Noon for the “Natural Capital” Workshop.  (all registrants will receive a copy of the workshop, so if you cannot physically be there, you will still have access to the material)

Workshop Facilitator – Doug Allin,  Chief Administrative Officer, Township of Spallumcheen, Co-Chair of the Asset Management BC Partnership Committee.

Check out our great line up of topics and presenters:

Megan Chorlton, MIABC

Local Government Liability Risks Arising from Climate Change

Liability implications of climate change and how large-scale weather events play a role in this equation. What local governments can anticipate with respect to the impacts of extreme weather events on their liability exposure. Statutory immunity; what do we have in place, and what are its limitations.

Megan joined MIABC ten years ago after practicing law at a prominent  Vancouver firm.  Megan began as Legal Counsel but soon took on key leadership roles as Director of Member Services and General Counsel, leveraging her previous experience in education and the law. Under her stewardship, the Member Services Department has evolved into a seven-person cross-functional team, and the annual Risk   Management Conference has become B.C.’s largest annual gathering of local government staff. As General Counsel, Megan not only is responsible for internal and external legal services but also plays a vital role in the MIABC’s corporate and real estate operations.

Caroline Jackson, Manager, Climate Action, Natural Systems and Biodiversity, Office of the CAO, District of North Vancouver

Future-Proofing for Climate Change Realities

Focusing on how the District of North Vancouver is adapting to impacts of climate change such as sea level rise, more extreme rainfall, and other geo-hazards: impacts on drainage systems, upsizing of storm water systems, longer term sea level rise strategy for adapting private and public infrastructure, flood mitigation, creek daylighting, incorporating nature based benefits in the infrastructure work, preventing wild fires by increasing forest resilience.

Caroline’s team works closely with a number of partners to implement a broad range of sustainability programs. Caroline holds a B.Sc. in Biology and Computer Science from Simon Fraser University and a M.Sc. in Zoology from the University of British Columbia. Caroline’s experience includes environmental management, waste management, climate protection, and community-based social marketing.

Emanuel Machado, Town of Gibsons

and Matthias Bass, ‘Statsmen’, Victoria

Development of a Natural Asset Dashboard

The team in Gibsons have developed and updated 5-6 local government resiliency models in the last 3-4 years. When these are “wired” together, we will better understand the relationship between drainage and aquifer recharge, sewer treatment plants, water distribution system, tree inventory and more in a complex three dimensional equation. 

Emanuel Machado is the Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Resiliency Officer of the Town of Gibsons, BC and the Chair of the Municipal Natural Assets Initiative (MNAI).

Since 2001, Emanuel has worked with communities throughout Canada, promoting a greater use of renewable energy, net-zero buildings, water strategies, social plans and sustainability frameworks, all with a focus on people, recognized with numerous awards including the Arbor Vitae Award from the Province of British Columbia and the Professional Award for Innovation in local government.

More recently, Emanuel lead the development of the Town of Gibsons Eco-Assets Strategy, a first in North America to formally recognize the role of nature as a fundamental component of the municipal infrastructure system, leading to a greater understanding of the value of ecosystems services and improved financial and operational management plans of the community’s natural assets.

Matt Bass is the owner and founder of ‘Statsmen’, a complex system modelling company in Victoria, BC. Since 2018, Matt focuses on complex system networks, AI learning networks, game-engine based 3D modelling and visuals of complex systems and statistical analysis. His goal is to connect communities with the analytical power of networks, striving towards a higher resilience – simple and elegant. Matt started his career as a biologist specialized in lichens. As a part of his work he invested in developing his statistical skillset with the software R. This process helped him to transition into the area of complex system modelling. His PhD at the University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus involved network modelling and resilience of communities.

For more information, please contact Gabi Vindisch, AMBC Coordinator at [email protected]

Take your asset management practices to the next level! Workshops will be offered throughout 2022 to meet demand, through an open call for applications.

Whether you’re just starting out or well underway, Asset Management BC (AMBC) is excited to offer BC’s local governments and First Nations a unique education program to help you advance your asset management practices. The team at Asset Management BC developed these programs to help you continue your journey with the asset management process. It is more than just a Plan. You’ll also be able to help others – participants from all sessions can share their takeaways and success stories through case studies and input to AMBC Primers.

The 2022 Asset Management BC Training Program includes two options, and you may choose more than one:

1. Working with Levels of Service: A series of hands-on, collaborative workshops and a simple spreadsheet-based tool to help you identify, optimize, and communicate your levels of service.    Watch our demo here: https://youtu.be/ynmEY3ZHqY4

2. Operationalizing Asset Management: A unique cohort-based learning experience to help you identify and overcome the barriers to asset management in the areas of organizational culture, structure, and capacity.

Download the full program guide.

Open call for applications. Please download the 2022 Call for Interest Form

Who Should Attend?

Both program options (Levels of Service, Operationalizing Asset Management) are open to all BC municipalities, regional districts, and First Nations of any size (for additional information, refer to ‘Recommended for’ under Levels of Service and Operationalizing Asset Management in this guide). Consideration will be given to other organizations, including those located outside of BC, based on registration numbers. Preference will be given to BC municipalities, regional districts and First Nations.

Program registration is ongoing; sessions start when there are an adequate number of participants.

Subsidies are available through UBCM for up to 50% of the registration cost for BC local governments and BC First Nations.  The full cost is paid at time of registration and participants can then apply for the subsidy once the training is completed. If you register more than the stated minimum number of participants, UBCM reserves the right to limit the number of participant subsidies per local government.

Asset Management BC is pleased to bring you the 2022 AMBC Workshop Series. Building on the structure of the 2021 Risks and Rewards Conference, the Virtual Workshops will continue to cover the themes of “Physical”, “Natural” and “Human” Capital.

In the fourth quarter, AMBC brings you the final event of the year, live, at the Westin Wall Centre Vancouver Airport, November 2-3! The theme of this year’s Conference is “People, Places and Purpose – Building Resilient Communities Through Sustainable Service Delivery”.

AMBC would like to thank CivicInfo for managing registration for all AMBC 2022 events.

Physical Capital – COMPLETED: Thursday, March 10th, 9:30am-Noon

The term “operationalizing” Asset Management, which originated right here at AMBC, has become a widely used term in the country, when the industry refers to putting asset management into practice. Attendees will hear real life examples describing what it takes to implement asset management practices successfully!

Natural Capital – Thursday, June 16th, 9:30am-Noon

Record wildfires that wiped out settlements, flash floods that obliterated water management infrastructure and destroyed bridges, a heat dome that melted roads and rendered structures uninhabitable, freezing rain, snowfalls, tidal waves, atmospheric rivers.  Climate change has shined a bright spotlight on municipalities’ reserves, and abilities to react to natural disasters.  Depending on the size of the community, the ability to respond to a natural disaster might be very different.  How does a small or medium community respond as opposed to a large metropolis.  Find out more through real live accounts and examples at AMBC’s Natural Capital session.

Cost: $75 + GST

Register now through CivicInfo!

Human Capital – Thursday, September 22nd, 9:30am-Noon

Managing our assets has become infinitely more complicated. The standard workplace as we all knew it, is gone.  It is replaced by a hybrid, evolving workplace, where more and more functions are being executed remotely.  What does this mean in terms of labour shortages?  How do we even define the new labour shortage, in particular when it comes to managing a remote workforce leading to record cyber security issues. Higher Education is lagging behind in turning out experts in the field.  Are we all fighting for the same cyber security specialists, and at what cost?  AMBC’s Human Capital session delves into the cyber security insurance and professional labour shortage problems, and explores some possible solutions.

Cost: $75 + GST

Register now through CivicInfo!

People, Places and Purpose: Building Resilient Communities Through Sustainable Service Delivery – November 2-3, 2022

Everyone has a different, significant role to play in managing the assets of BC’s communities. AMBC looks at the challenges and opportunities from the vantage point of small, medium and large communities in BC.

Conference will take place at the Westin Wall Centre Airport Hotel in Vancouver.

Cost: $395 + GST

Register now through CivicInfo!

The Framework establishes a high-level, systematic approach that supports local governments in moving toward service, asset and financial sustainability through an asset management approach. The development of the Framework was led by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities in partnership with Asset Management BC.  The Framework has been updated in 2019 and now includes 4 companion Primers;

Climate Change and Asset Management

Integrating Natural Assets with Asset Management

The Role of Operations & Maintenance in Asset Management, and

Land Use Planning and Asset Management

View the Framework and Primers >

Healthy natural assets can provide – or be restored and managed to provide – services just like engineered assets, often at lower cost. The Municipal Natural Assets Initiative (MNAI) offers tools and support so that local governments can integrate natural assets into their asset management and financial processes.

MNAI is currently offering a watershed-level program in B.C. focused on the needs and capacities of smaller / rural local governments in a single geographic region.

MNAI has extended the period for local governments to submit applications until after the BC municipal elections and will keep it open until a suitable candidate is identified.

To review the request for expressions of interest >> click here

The Status of Asset Management in British Columbia: Results from the 2016 Gas Tax Fund Asset Management Baseline Survey is now available.

In May 2016, UBCM launched the Phase 1 Asset Management Assessment Form – Baseline Survey collecting responses from all 189 local governments in BC.  While each local government provided discrete data, this report describes cumulative data only.  Results from the survey are the first of its kind in BC and confirm what was known anecdotally; there is a growing awareness of the importance of asset management to support the long-term delivery of local government services.