Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Municipal Pathways Towards Digital Government: Ontario’S Municipal Modernization Program And The Determinants Of Technology Adoption, Owen Jaggard

MPA Major Research Papers

Ontario’s municipalities exist at various stages of e-government adoption. Municipalities are faced with the challenge of adopting new technologies to meet expanding services demands. Both municipalities and the Provincial government face the challenge of developing policies to support information and communication technologies (ICT) adoption. Understanding the unique determinants of technology adoption can assist with this policy making. The study answers how organizational factors affect ICT adoption in small and rural municipalities; and how Ontario’s municipal modernization funding interacts with these determinants. The study examines the determinants of ICT adoption for ICT policies, online services, and electronic records management systems. Focusing …

What Is The Role Of Public Participation In Planning Development Applications For Infill And Intensification: Evidence From Cambridge, Kitchener And Waterloo, Ontario, Deanne Friess

MPA Major Research Papers

The Ontario Planning Act makes public participation a requirement for most municipal planning decision. The intent of the legislated public process is to create a transparent public participatory process. However, the potential impact of the public participation is limited for certain types of applications as approvals are dependent on existing municipal planning policy and provincial direction. The province directs a large portion of new growth be accommodated through infill and intensification. Local municipalities apply the provincial direction in policies, plans, guidelines and regulations which encourage infill and intensification through land use permissions. Planning documents recognize that infill development protects agricultural …

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 …

Strategies For Developing Affordable Housing: An Analysis Of Service Managers’ Housing And Homelessness Plans In Ontario, Daniel Cardoso

MPA Major Research Papers

Housing unaffordability has become a crisis in Ontario as many residents struggle to find affordable housing across the province. The objective of this research is to uncover how service managers in Ontario are planning to address this growing unaffordability by developing new affordable housing. The following research question guides the methodology of this paper: What measures are being employed by Ontario service managers to facilitate the development of new affordable housing? This was done through an analysis of service manager’s housing and homelessness plans to thematically code measures that pertained to developing new affordablehousing into common themes across plans. This …

Exploring Factors Perpetuating The Underrepresentation Of Women Caos In Local Government, Kelly Sutton

MPA Major Research Papers

Despite women's progress in various professional domains, a persistent gender disparity remains evident in local government's most senior non-elected leadership roles. The underrepresentation of women in municipal city management continues, even though women comprise 47.4% of the Canadian labour force (Catalyst, 2020). This research paper aims to understand the underrepresentation of women in municipal Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) roles by examining theoretical perspectives and drawing from recent qualitative research into the gender imbalance in public sector leadership by DeHart-Davis et al. (2020). This research paper aims to shed light on the need for substantive change by unravelling the complexities surrounding …

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 …

Tax Increment Financing – The Impact Of Tax Incentives On Investment Attraction In Ontario’S Small And Medium Sized Municipalities, Jeff Loney

MPA Major Research Papers

This research evaluates the opinions of the Community Improvement Plan Administrators for 21 of Ontario’s small and mid-sized communities as it relates to Tax Increment Equivalent Grants. Through thematic coding, the research evaluates the following question: Do tax increment equivalent grants drive more new investment to small and medium-size municipalities than other types of grants in Community Improvement Plans? The study concludes that Tax Increment Equivalent Grants do not drive more investment to municipalities than different types of grants. However, it provides insight into how municipalities can better structure existing grants to assist in smaller centres. Furthermore, the study finds …

Measuring Public Value Through Local E-Government, Kevin De Leebeeck

MPA Major Research Papers

In response to the fulfillment of public expectations and the shortcomings of new public management, one alternative approach that has received recent attention is the concept of public value. The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has provided an affordance for the development of e-government profiles that principally aim to create public value. As evaluative research, this project contributes to the quantitative development of the public value construct by establishing and assessing relationships between ICT and public value frameworks. Through the use of common website metrics and other previously used dichotomous indicators, the levels of digital public value are …

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 …

“Analysing The Gap” If And What Is Causing The Gap In Voter Turn Out Between National And Local Elections, Max Rubin

MPA Major Research Papers

Local governments touch citizens’ lives every day. They build and repair the roads we drive on. They pick up our garbage and recycling that we place on our curbs. They build and maintain green space and ensure water comes from our taps. Each day a citizen in a municipality relies on a feature of their local government works. In contrast, our federal government is remote. They deal with national issues such as the environment, defence, and fisheries. They work on global, not local, agreements and relationships with other national governments. Yes, they set out income tax and regulations, but for …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Régionalisation Représentative : Vers Un Gouvernement Local Plus Équitable, Démocratique, Réactif Et Efficace Au Nouveau-Brunswick, Zack Taylor, Jon Taylor

Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance – Publications

En réponse au Livre vert sur la réforme de la gouvernance locale du gouvernement du Nouveau- Brunswick publié en avril 2021, le présent rapport fait le diagnostic des problèmes du système de gouvernance locale existant de la province et propose une solution qui tire parti des actifs existants pour créer un système de gouvernance locale plus équitable, démocratique, réactif et efficace. Un système de gouvernance locale remanié aidera les Néo-Brunswickois à faire face aux difficiles défis économiques et démographiques actuels et futurs.

Le présent rapport recommande de renforcer les commissions de services régionaux en s’inspirant des districts régionaux de la …

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 …

An Analysis Of A Canadian Framework Of Police Response’S On Sexual Assaults: Victim Advocate Case Review Program, Ardiana Berisha

MPA Major Research Papers

One in five sexual assault cases reported to police are deemed to be baseless by investigating officers and are therefore coded as “unfounded”. High rates of unfounded sexual assault cases have revealed significant flaws within the justice system as women’s stories are disbelieved by the police. Coding sexual assault cases as unfounded has become common practice amongst police services across Canada as police officers continue to dismiss sexual violence against women. Police officers play a crucial role as they are the first point of contact within the justice system that determine whether an offence has been committed. Police services across …

What Is The Best Leadership Style To Confront Anti-Black Racism And Advance Racial Equity In Transit Organizations?, André Darmanin

MPA Major Research Papers

The author conducts the research question explaining their curiosity on which leadership style is the most appropriate to tackle anti-Black racism and advance racial equity. The preliminary investigation will utilize existing research, including Gooden’s (2014) theory of nervousness within public administrators and organizations, combined with transformational and adaptive leadership styles. Looking at the organizational structure and challenges of operating a large organization like the Toronto Transit Commission is the example used for this research. The research will show that using an adaptive leadership style is the most effective in eradicating Anti-Black racism and advancing racial equity in transit organizations. The …

Maximizing Electoral Participation: How Accessibility And Outreach Factors Impact Electoral Participation In Online Elections, Christopher Casale

MPA Major Research Papers

Online voting in Canadian municipalities has proven to result in at least some moderate increase in the number of individuals participating in a given election. What is less apparent is how the implementation of these voting solutions affects voter turnout. This paper seeks to answer the question, what accessibility and outreach factors maximize voter turnout in online elections. This text will analyze six Ontario municipalities who have implemented internet voting for the first time in 2018. Assessing the effectiveness of their voter engagement strategies for that election period.

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 …

Monitoring & Evaluation Content In Municipal Official Plans: An Assessment Of Plan Quality & Implementation Actions, Owen Mccabe

MPA Major Research Papers

Municipal official plans are important tools in the Province of Ontario’s land use planning system. As documents that guide how communities manage change, they are a central element of planning practice and important objects of research. Official plans are not static – they are updated regularly as part of a plan-making cycle that includes issue identification, policy development, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. This research paper is focussed on the monitoring and evaluation aspect of the plan-making cycle, and specifically, the content in municipal official plans that addresses and guides these practices. It builds on the existing plan quality and …

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 …

Does Long Term Strategic Planning Lead To Improved Financial Performance? A Case Study In Ontario Municipalities, Renato Pullia

MPA Major Research Papers

This research looks at nine municipalities in Ontario that either have or have not adopted a strategic plan of 10+ years and a long-term financial plan of 5+ years, and assesses their financial change based on a set of financial criteria at two different points in time, 2000 and 2019. Using statistical analysis and longitudinal comparison, the research aims to test the hypothesis that strategic planning with a 10+ years’ time horizon provides a framework for longer-term financial decision-making, including strategies and key actions to facilitate multi-year, integrated, strategic decision-making, and provides more financially sound municipal entities than those municipalities …

Alternative Revenue Generation In Ontario Municipalities: The Utilization Of Municipal Accommodation Tax (Mat), Hayley Watts

MPA Major Research Papers

In recent years the Province of Ontario has enabled municipalities to adopt accommodation taxes as a revenue generating tool. There is an absence of data in Canada as to what this revenue is being utilized for. Most of the literature on the topic comes out of the United States and Europe, where hotel and accommodation taxes have been commonplace for many years, although a lot of the research focuses on the impacts of accommodation taxes on tourism. Hypothesising that the accommodation tax in Ontario is being utilized as a revenue-generating tool to offset other line items in municipal budgets, this …

The Financial And Environmental Viability Of Municipally Operated Hybrid Ambulance Fleets In Ontario: Calculating The Return-On-Investment Of Hybrid Ambulance Assets In Oxford County From 2017-2021, Stephen Edwards

MPA Major Research Papers

On October 26, 2017 Oxford County became the first municipality in Canada to deploy gasoline-electric hybrid ambulances as part of their Community Sustainability Plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting low-carbon transportation. The Oxford solution utilizes aftermarket hybrid electric-gasoline propulsion systems that leverage two primary technologies: regenerative braking, which uses the inertia of the vehicle to store energy in a battery cell during deceleration; and acceleration assist, which uses this stored energy to assist propulsion of the vehicle during acceleration events and thereby reduces gasoline consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Due to high demand for aftermarket hybrid propulsion …

Accountability: Understanding The Effect Of Governance Structures On Land Ambulance Services In Ontario, Connected By Consolidated Municipal Services Management (Cmsm) Agreements, Michael Longeway

MPA Major Research Papers

Ontario has seen significant changes across the municipal landscape, including the realignment of service responsibilities. One of the products of this realignment was the introduction of the CMSM program in 1998, which saw local municipalities take on the responsibilities for many services, including land ambulance. Land ambulance is an important life-saving service (Aringhieri et al. 2017). Decision-makers must ensure that such services must be delivered with optimal performance. As a public service in Ontario, this includes democratic performance. Crucial to the anchorage of democratic performance is accountability. Accountability is a transaction of information, dialogue, and rewards/sanctions (Brandsma and Schillemans 2012). …