Digital Commons Network^™

The Impacts Of Income Tax And Government Benefit Policy Changes On The “Welfare Wall” For Households In Receipt Of Ontario Works (Ow) Social Assistance In The City Of Toronto, Paolo Staffieri

MPA Major Research Papers

A “welfare wall” has long existed in Canada for households in receipt of social assistance when they transition into employment. The welfare wall phenomena occurs when the gain in overall income when employed is marginal compared to the overall income while in receipt of social assistance before a claw back of benefits occurs.A behavioral pattern identified and analyzed by previous studies is that when individuals experience a marginal gain in income when exiting social assistance that this may serve as a disincentive with exiting social assistance. In recent years both the Federal and Provincial governments have introduced numerous tax benefits …

Quality Strategic Planning – Are We There? A Comparative Evaluation Of The Current State Of Strategic Planning With Ontario’S Smaller Municipalities, Mike Macauley

MPA Major Research Papers

Strategic planning for municipalities is a common undertaking to identify goals and objectives to improve the quality of life of their residents. Research has shown that strategic planning offers many benefits to organizations, and allows them to strategically identify, implement and achieve top priorities. The strategic plan itself is the product of the strategic planning process, though evaluating the final published plan often does not occur and a lack of academic research exists to understand if strategic planning is producing quality strategic plans.By evaluating strategic plans in Ontario using a plan quality framework designed from a newly published study (Evaluating …

Harmonizing Agricultural Growth And Nighttime Sky: Municipal Strategies For Mitigating Commercial Greenhouse-Related Light Pollution In Ontario, Canada, Adam Betteridge

MPA Major Research Papers

This comprehensive research investigates the intricate interplay between the thriving commercial greenhouse industry and the pressing concern of nocturnal light pollution in a focussed area of Ontario, Canada, and the Netherlands. The study addresses the multifaceted challenge of managing greenhouse-related light pollution, which emerges as an unintended consequence of employing supplementary lighting to extend growing seasons and enhance crop yields. The analysis of jurisdictional approaches reveals the complexities and the varied success achieved in addressing this issue.In Ontario, particularly in and near the County of Essex, the response to greenhouse-related light pollution has primarily been reactive, with municipalities passing light …

From Epistemic Bubbles To Generative Possibilities: Knowledge Leadership And Knowledge Mobilization For Child And Youth Care Practicum Education, Carys Cragg

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Child and Youth Care (CYC) Practicum Education (CYCPE) operates in more than 40 public postsecondary institutions (PSI) across Canada. CYC educators instruct and assess, while supervisors mentor thousands of students at child, youth, and family-serving organizations. As an emerging profession, CYC does not yet experience well-established governance, widespread postsecondary research infrastructure, nor public recognition, leaving CYCPE with threats to its credibility and existence. Despite individual CYC educators’ and programs’ extensive professional knowledge, we lack CYC-specific CYCPE organizational knowledge. This problem of practice (PoP) limits CYC educators’ ability to inform, improve, and innovate upon CYCPE’s design and delivery. This organizational improvement …

Recruiting For The Cao Role: An Evaluation Of The Existing Recruitment Processes In Low And Single Tier Municipalities In Ontario, Ashley Bilodeau

MPA Major Research Papers

It is no secret that there are challenges associated with the retainment of Chief Administrative Officer position in municipal governments throughout Ontario. This is related to an aging population (O’Flynn; Mau, 2014), a younger generation that is not committed to one employer (Strategy Corp, 2019), a significant turnover rate associated with the political nature of Council (Coulter, 2011) and fierce competition with the private sector (Strategy Corp, 2019). The Chief Administrative Officer role is unique as Siegel argues. He quotes Rost’s definition of the leadership role of the municipal CAO, as someone who “has the ability to move the municipality …

The Evolution Of Municipal Asset Management Maturity In Canada: Surveying Mid-Sized Cities And Evaluating Federal And Provincial Policies To Spur Municipal Asset Management Practice, Dan Ditaranto

MPA Major Research Papers

In today’s global economy, Canada’s cities play a key role in the country’s economic growth and prosperity. They must build and maintain significant amounts of public infrastructure. However, the large and ever-growing national infrastructure deficit threatens to undermine the country’s competitiveness and quality of life. Since the turn of the century, the federal and provincial governments have increased reinvestment in infrastructure and employed several policy approaches to spur municipalities towards formalized asset management (AM) practice, which is widely recognized as the optimal means for determining long-term maintenance and funding requirements. Given the varied policy approaches, the state of municipal AM …

Identifying Challenges And Advantages Of Internet Voting And Assessing The Impact On Voters Turnout In Municipal Elections, Abdul Katawazy

MPA Major Research Papers

The paper identifies obstacles, opportunities, and more significant potential for elections through e-voting. The study uses litterateur review and statistical data assessments of e-voting in Ontario municipal elections to identify the impacts of e-voting on voter turnout. The research's anticipated findings show e-voting presents substantial challenges for governments, including privacy and data protection and constantly updating policies to keep up with evolving technologies. The challenges must be addressed while maintaining voters' privacy and trust in the voting processes. The research provides literature and recommendations for further research on e-voting in the municipalities that will support developing a strategy ensuring a …

Development Charges: The Price Is Right? An Evaluation Of The Patterns, Processes And Outcomes Of Development Charge By-Laws In Ontario Regional Municipalities, David Gundrum

MPA Major Research Papers

In Ontario, Development Charges (DCs) are a revenue tool designed to assist municipalities with paying for growth-related capital costs arising from the expanded infrastructure required to accommodate new development. The Development Charges Act, 1997 grants municipalities the authority to levy DCs through adopting By-laws of Council and defines the rules and structure they must follow when implementation and revision of charge systems occurs. Where implemented, DCs are meant to ensure that existing municipal ratepayers (property owners) are not required to pay the capital costs associated with new services and facilities that are needed to accommodate new development. The revenue collected …

Conditional Grants In Ontario: A Case Study Of The Municipal Modernization Program, Elizabeth Reimer

MPA Major Research Papers

The intent of the 2019 Regional Government Review (Review) was to find ways to expand service delivery and reduce costs in 82 Ontario municipalities. However, no changes resulted. Instead, the Province allocated significant funding to the existing Municipal Modernization Program (MMP) for municipalities to utilize in hopes of achieving the same results the Review had. Accordingly, this paper looks at whether the MMP, a provincial conditional grant, is effectively achieving its stated intended purposes. It is clear that intergovernmental relations as they pertain to grants is a much-researched topic, with a vast collection of research to draw upon spanning much …

Accountability: A Canadian Municipal Examination On The Impact Of Vehicle And Equipment Training Programs On Preventable Collisions With Municipal Fleet Assets, Jessica Ruddell

MPA Major Research Papers

Annually, close to 1,000 Canadian workers die due to work-related injuries, exposures and disease. A lack of training and skills can contribute to this loss of life for many. Employers of all kinds, including municipalities, have a responsibility to protect workers and reduce risk to the organization through training activities. Known hazards, like the operation of vehicles and equipment require training before a worker can be deemed competent. Inevitably, preventable and non-preventable collisions will occur involving fleet vehicles and equipment. Documenting and analyzing preventable collisions as part of a collision investigation program, can help organizations understand why preventable collisions are …

Discourse, Power Dynamics, And Risk Amplification In Disaster Risk Management In Canada, Martins Oluwole Olu-Omotayo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The domain of disaster risk management is rife with discursive contentions, whereby dominant discourses amplify the powers of risk actors to precipitate and reinforce political, economic, and environmental inequalities that predispose different sections of the population to unequal disaster risk vulnerabilities. This thesis identified important actors (government, risk experts, media, and NGOs) that shape the power dynamics in disaster risk management in Canada and explained their roles, influences, and the dimensions in which their powers negotiate each other through risk discourses. The patterns of these power dynamics in the three aspects of power –communication, assessment, and social trust –were also …

Motor Vehicle Collisions In London, Ontario: Estimating The Influence Of The Built Environment And Children’S Potential Exposure, David Lui

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death for children and youth worldwide. To effectively target interventions to improve child safety, it is necessary to identify where motor vehicle collisions occur most often and what factors make these areas more hazardous. Study #1 maps collisions in London, Ontario (2010-2019) and identifies hotspots using a network kernel density estimation method within a GIS. Logistic regression analysis revealed that bike lanes were negatively associated with hotspots, while sidewalks were positively associated. Study #2 estimated children’s risk of being exposed to a motor vehicle collision while commuting to and from school, by …

Measuring The Exposure And Vulnerability Of Transit Riders To Cold Temperatures In London, Ontario, Armin Mahboubi

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Due to the expansion of suburban areas in many cities around the world, accessibility to public transit through walking has become a new challenge for riders. Considering the impacts of climate change in creating more extreme weather, such as extreme cold, heat, or flooding, transit riders may thus be at a higher risk of exposure for various weather-related illnesses (Fraser & Chester, 2016).

Using ArcGIS Pro and ArcMap software, and data collected from City of London’s Open Portal, the United States Geological Survey, Open Mobility Data, and Statistics Canada, the exposure and vulnerability of transit riders to cold temperatures in …

Edi-D In Canadian Universities, Madison Milanczak

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization (EDI-D) is a term that institutions adopt to serve the livelihoods of equity-deserving individuals better. It is commonly used in post-secondary institutions as a holistic descriptor of the values institutions attempt to uplift through programming and other initiatives.

Equity, Diversity, inclusion, and decolonization programming have recently increased in Canadian universities. Although there has been an increase in initiatives, funding, and public attention, the quality of programming is under review. Focusing on the U15 research universities, this project analyzes the current EDI-D programming in Canadian universities. Insinuating critical reflection on EDI-D programming, the distribution of resources, …

The Enactment Of Quality Assurance Policies In Ecuadorian Higher Education: A Case Study In The Public Universities In The Province Of Manabí, Diego R. Sornoza Parrales

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigates how the administrators in the research and quality assurance offices in the regional universities in Ecuador enact the national research quality assurance policy. The massification and diversification of higher education and the internationalization, as well as globalization of higher education institutions create an increasingly competitive environment. Given this competition, resources are scarce, resulting in more frequent and more aggressive budgetary constraints. Government and national funding agencies are including the notion of “quality” in their policies to measure the performance and efficiency of universities and determine budget allocation, demanding universities to “prove their value” to remain operational. In …

Education And The Pandemic: Engaging In Epistemic Humility To Question Assumptions, Institutions, And Knowledges, Prachi Srivastava, Prachi Srivastava

Education Publications

Education systems are the formal institutionalisations of the knowledges and values our societies privilege, who they privilege, how, and on what terms. They are imbued with assumptions. These assumptions inform how systems are structured. The pandemic has exposed existing global and local inequalities, non-binary dynamics of inclusion and exclusion, and dysfunctions of education systems. This paper argues that the global scale and severity of the education disruption challenges taken-for-granted distinctions that privilege systems of the ‘West’ as referential for ‘the Rest’. It argues that the existing overarching technicist knowledge regime is inadequate for recovery, and proposes an alternative approach.

Exploring Health Inequities: Head Injuries In People Experiencing Homelessness, Emily M. Angus

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Lifetime occurrence of head injury is disproportionately affecting people experiencing homelessness in Canada. Head injury in people experiencing homelessness is associated with victimization, housing instability and substance use (Topolovec-Vranic et al., 2017). However, individual factors including sex, race, social class and disability also produce social and health inequities which may have intersectional impacts on this population (McCall, 2005). Through secondary exploration of data from the No Fixed Address Version 2 (NFAv2) and No Fixed Address Version 2x (NFAv2x) studies (Forchuk et al., 2018; in press), and an intersectional lens, the purpose of this study was to explore relationships between individual …

Implementing Health Impact Assessment As A Required Component Of Government Policymaking: A Multi-Level Exploration Of The Determinants Of Healthy Public Policy, Stephanie A. Simpson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

It is widely understood that the public policies of ‘non-health’ government sectors have greater impacts on population health than those of the traditional healthcare realm. Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a decision support tool that identifies and promotes the health benefits of policies while also mitigating their unintended negative consequences. Despite numerous calls to do so, the Ontario government has yet to implement HIA as a required component of policy development. This dissertation therefore sought to identify the contexts and factors that may both enable and impede HIA use at the sub-national (i.e., provincial, territorial, or state) government level.

The …

An Epidemic Amidst A Pandemic: A Critical Policy Analysis Of Supervised Consumption Sites, Vanisa Ezukuse

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study's primary purpose is to critically appraise current federal and provincial policies regarding supervised consumption sites (SCS), noting intended and unintended consequences; and how these policies could impact SCS users. This study's secondary goal is to compare current policies related to SCS in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec to provide critical insight and suggestions for ongoing policy development. Carol Bacchi’s (2009) “What is the Problem Represented to Be?” framework was applied to the Canadian policy document with a focus on SCS. Four themes are proposed: Public Health versus Criminality, Presumptions versus Assumptions, Policy Unaccountability, and Policy Duality. It …

Reassessing The Case For Development Charges In Canadian Municipalities, Andrew Sancton

Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance – Publications

“Growth should pay for growth.” This slogan—the common justification for development charges—is rarely challenged in municipal circles. The principle that those who cause new urban growth should pay for the infrastructure associated with it has generally been taken for granted, at least for the last few decades. Development charges evolved from post-1945 subdivision agreements and were initially accepted by most developers as a mechanism for enhancing the likelihood that current residents in a municipality would agree to new development. They now add as much as $90,000 to the cost of a new house in some parts of the Greater Toronto …

Exploring Leisure, Social Participation In Older Adults, Zahra Fatina

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Older adults often face challenges in meaningful occupations in their neighbourhoods, often tied to place-based barriers and changes including neighbourhood decline or gentrification. The objectives of this study are to draw on findings from an ethnographic study exploring older adults’ lives in their neighbourhoods, in order to contextually situate the diverse experiences of older adults as they engage in community occupations, focusing on social participation and leisure. We employed an ethnographic methodology with 38 older adults living in two neighbourhoods in a mid-sized Canadian city. Participants engaged in narrative interviews, photo elicitation interviews, go-along interviews, and activity-space mapping with follow-up …

Global Impact Of Social Determinants On Access To Childhood Hearing Healthcare: A Scoping Review, Bahar Rafinejad-Farahani

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

No abstract provided.

Municipal Property Taxation In Law And Practice: A Descriptive Comparative Study Between Alberta And Ontario, Arben Buzuku

MPA Major Research Papers

Municipal property tax is one of the most important revenue sources for most local governments across the world. The extent to which local governments have control over property taxes is a critical factor – it determines the local revenues in relation with expenditures of services as well as their equity and fairness in relation to taxpayers. In Canada, provincial legislation governs property taxation. As result, municipal autonomy in setting property taxation varies depending on the province. This paper provides a descriptive comparative research of legal aspects of municipal property taxation in 10 mid-size municipalities in Alberta and Ontario. The study …

Recruiting Gen Z Workers To Ontario Municipalities: A Study Of How Ontario Municipalities Can Improve Recruitment Strategies To Attract Gen Z Workers, Kaitlin Bos

MPA Major Research Papers

The generational shift from Millennials to Generation Z (Gen Z) is perhaps the most critical generational shift for modern day municipalities. While Generation Y, Millennials, and the generations before them continue to play a key role in the direction and success of local government organizations. It is important to analyze the trends of the incoming generation of workers to ensure long-term success and prosperity. This research report revolves around the research question, “How can Ontario municipalities improve their recruitment strategies to attract Generation Z workers?” Ontario municipalities must recognize the values of Gen Z’s and reconfigure their external recruitment practices …

Strategic Management In Ontario Regional Government: Evaluating The Factors For Successful Policy Implementation For Intensification And Infrastructure Investment, Valerie Hendry

MPA Major Research Papers

In this study, I identify the strategic management factors for successful policy implementation for intensification and infrastructure investment in regional governments. These factors include organizational capacities, administrative leadership within government, and administrative governance. To examine these themes, I employed a qualitative case study analysis to evaluate how certain strategic management factors and processes influence regional government decisions and outcomes related to the prioritization of water and sewer infrastructure investment in intensification areas to comply with the provincial 2006 Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The case study uses strategic management theory to help to analyze and explain observed data …

Political Practice: The Career Mobility And Ambitions Of Local Councillors, Rachel Nauta

MPA Major Research Papers

This research project explores the career ambitions of local politicians to seek office at higher levels of government. Testing theories from existing political ambition research in other jurisdictions, the paper explores factors of political ambition in Ontario through a survey of first-time local councillors and an archival study of past multi-level political careers. Success in politics can follow many paths, but results from the survey indicate that councillors who were younger, male, extraverted, and involved in partisan political activities were more likely to have ambitions for higher office. Further, while American political careers tend to move upward from local to …

Watching But Unseen? An Evaluation Of The Transparency Of The Online Presence Of Integrity Commissioners In Ontario, Kirby Oudekerk

MPA Major Research Papers

The expected benefits of transparency in government, such as increased public engagement and trust, are well established. Transparency also enables a better accounting of elected officials by the public, but this accounting depends on having rules in place and someone responsible for enforcing those rules. The Ontario government took steps to provide this for local governments in Ontario when it permitted municipalities to create codes of conduct and to hire a municipal Integrity Commissioner to enforce those codes. However, the ultimate accountability is delivered by the voting public during municipal elections and, in order for this political accountability regime to …

Examining Connected And Automated Vehicle (Cav) Policy In Ontario: A Modified Multiple Streams Framework Analysis, James Scott

MPA Major Research Papers

This research paper utilizes Kingdon’s (1984) Multiple Streams Framework to systematically analyze influential agenda-setting variables in the policy domain of connected and automated vehicles (CAV) in Ontario, Canada. The paper also leverages the Five Stream Confluence Model, a model which builds on the Multiple Streams Framework and is designed by Howlett et al. (2015) to analyze policy formation. The two foundational research questions that will guide the overall direction of this paper are: (1) What influenced Ontario to be the first province in Canada to legislate connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) in 2015? (2) Have influential agenda-setting variables translated through …

Determinants Of Success: The Atlantic First Nations Water Authority, Michaela Sferrazza

MPA Major Research Papers

Water security and access within First Nations communities entails a complex set of issues. However, this does not excuse government authorities’ inadequacies to address the inequity among Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada regarding access to safe water. The Human Rights Watch describes access to safe drinking water “as a fundamental human right easily enjoyed by most Canadians” (Human Rights Watch 2016), and one that is integral to health and wellbeing. Many Indigenous communities have long been lacking access to clean, potable water which has many socio-economic implications. In a 2012 article written by White et al., they articulate that …

Representative Regionalization: Toward More Equitable, Democratic, Responsive, And Efficient Local Government In New Brunswick, Zack Taylor, Jon Taylor

Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance – Publications

Responding to the Government of New Brunswick’s Green Paper on Local Governance Reform released in April 2021, this report diagnoses the problems of the province’s existing system of local governance and proposes a solution that leverages existing assets to create a more equitable, democratic, responsive, and efficient local governance system. A reformed local governance system will help New Brunswickers confront difficult present and future economic and demographic challenges.

This report recommends strengthening New Brunswick’s 12 Regional Service Commissions along the lines of British Columbia’s regional districts—multi-purpose bodies that have coordinated service delivery and land-use planning in that province since the …