Tag Archives: consultant

Digital Solutions for Canadian Municipalities

The past few months have been challenging for everyone as we change the way we live, play and work. Many industries have been forced to pivot and find digital solutions to continue serving their customers in the “new normal”. Canadian municipalities are no different. With many municipal offices closed to the public or working at a reduced capacity, there has never been a better time to start introducing digital solutions to work safer and work smarter. Here are some great digital solutions from Canadian muniSERV members to get you started.

Citizen Engagement/Customer Service

 AccessE11 is a Municipal 311, Citizen Issue and Relationship Management platform designed to provide small to mid-sized municipalities with a simple, cost-effective means to manage citizen issues. The platform drives simplicity, reduced administration, stronger decision making and better compliance across specific areas of focus within local government operations. Citizens can report issues and monitor the status of their issue digitally, improving customer service and operational transparency.

Smart City/IoT

 Trilliant has revolutionized how municipalities, cities, energy providers and utilities manage their mission-critical operations. Trilliant connects the world of things (IoT) and incorporates Smart City functionality to new or existing networks. Municipalities can improve the efficiency of their offerings through the implementation of things like advanced metering infrastructure for water, electricity and gas, smart street lighting, smart network sensors and so much more.

Treasury

 Clik2Pay  is a customer billing payments solution that allows citizens to receive and pay their tax bills or other municipal invoices directly from their smartphone. Municipalities benefit from quicker payments and simplified bill collection, all for less than it costs to pay by debit or credit card.

Payroll Efficiency

 Mother Clock  Inc. is a fully integrated time tracking payroll platform that is modernizing payroll technology. This tablet-based time tracking service is the solution for businesses that want to abandon paper-based processes.  Mobile employees can use their smartphones to clock-in/out with GPS time tracking, increasing accountability.

Cyber Security & Training

 RiskAware provides municipalities with an Information and Cyber Security advantage through governance, training, education and risk management. They can help you assess your digital risks before getting started.

Digital Transformation Consulting

 ArchITectAbility provides IT Advisory, Assurance, Architecture and Governance expert services as well as Business Process Re-engineering offerings. If you’re not sure where to start your digital transformation, here you go!

These are just a few of the great Canadian companies that are helping municipalities go digital. 

Search our  Find a  Consultant database by service, business name, province or city, for even more of our members’ innovative digital solutions, to help municipalities simplify processes and find efficiencies! 

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Exclusive Opportunty for muniSERV Professionals Only!

You know muniSERV is a powerful online platform that helps consultants/professionals and municipal service providers showcase themselves directly to municipal decision-makers. Your muniSERV professional membership includes an SEO optimized professional profile with access to exclusive and targeted marketing to municipal clients. We help you build your reputability and visibility within Canadian municipalities to grow your business.

Now, muniSERV.ca and the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) are happy to announce the development of a Members in Transition Toolkit to help Canadian CAO members in transition access the information and professional services they need as they navigate their way through transition.

Our partnership with CAMA provides an exclusive and unique opportunity for your muniSERV professional profile to link directly to the CAMA Members in Transition Toolkit on their website – and to those CAMA members in transition who need your professional services. Participating in this special category increases your opportunity to build your practice/business locally and across Canada.

We are now looking for the following professionals from each province to provide specific services for inclusion in the toolkit: 

  • Employment Lawyers (who represent employees)
  • Financial Planners/Accounting Planning/Taxation Advisors
  • HR Advisors/Career/Transition Counsellors/Life Coaches
  • Recruiters/Executive Recruitment Firms/Head Hunters
  • Pension Advisors
  • Messaging/Communication Experts
  • Psychiatrists/Counsellors/Therapists
  • Business Coaches

How can you participate in the special transition/career services category?

muniSERV Members: If you’re already a muniSERV professional member, you’re all set. All you need to do is go to your dashboard and add the new, special Transition/Career Services in the “Build Membership Package” section.

New muniSERV Members:

  • Become a muniSERV member today to create your profile in your dashboard
  • Start appearing in searches in the Find Municipal Experts & Services database right away and get a Free Members Only rotating ad (value of $120) for your first month of membership.
  • Go to your dashboard in the “Build Membership Package” section and add the special “Transition/Career Services” category to your cart. 
  • Then select as many subcategories as you like in “Manage my Profile”
  • Membership and participation in the Transition/Career Services category is just $489/year. And, if you’re a CAMA member or sponsor, you pay only $460 annually.

*muniSERV is pleased to share the revenue from this special category with CAMA to support their members and future projects.

Click Here to get started or Contact us [email protected] for more information.

 

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The Ontario Regional Government Review and How It Affects You

A lot has changed since the mid-1970s. That’s how long it has been since Ontario’s regional municipalities were established. Since then populations have grown, infrastructure needs have greatly changed and your tax dollars are being stretched further than ever. That’s why the province is reviewing the governance, decision-making, and service delivery functions of 8 regional municipalities and Simcoe County in their current Regional Government Review. Find out more about the review, the municipalities that are covered and how you can have your say in the process.

 

Who is Involved?

Led by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Ontario government is reviewing 8 regional municipalities (Durham, Halton, Muskoka District, Niagara, Oxford County, Peel, Waterloo, York), Simcoe County, and their lower-tier municipalities. In total, 82 upper and lower-tier municipalities are included in the review. The review is led by Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark with 2 special advisors appointed as an advisory body to help with this review, Ken Seiling and Michael Fenn. The special advisors will be out in the communities and available for discussions with appointed and elected officials, concerned parties and local citizens.

 

What is Being Reviewed?

The main focus of the review is to help ensure that these municipalities are working effectively and efficiently, and can continue to provide the vital services that communities depend on.

The review aims to create efficient and effective governance, decision-making and service delivery throughout the province. As municipalities grow and evolve, so do their specific needs. There will be obvious financial concerns, from the allocation of service responsibilities to identifying opportunities for cost-saving measures. The existing governing model will be reviewed to make sure that the distribution and election/appointment of councillors properly represents residents. The decision-making process will also be under scrutiny at all levels.

 

How Can You Have Your Say?

The province of Ontario is looking for input from the people who live, work and spend time in the municipalities covered by the review. Residents, businesses and municipal partners are all invited to share their thoughts on what is working well and what they feel can be improved or streamlined. The deadline to complete the online survey is April 23, 2019. Written submissions can also be sent via email or by Canada Post. Further details, submission guidelines and privacy policy can be found here

 

When Will Changes Be Seen?

Findings from the public consultation, as well as recommendations from the advisors, are expected early this summer. Individual municipalities could start seeing changes in the following months.

 

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muniSERV is Canada’s leading online solution for helping municipalities and professionals connect.

We help municipalities save time and money searching for the consultants & CAOs they need while offering professionals the opportunity to showcase their profile and services to get found and grow their business.

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Unique Opportunity for Professionals & CAMA Sponsors!

Each year a number of Canadian CAO’s are transitioned out of their CAO positions. Most often they are simply a casualty of a new political environment.

CAMA recognized the growing need to support their CAO members in transition and engaged a consultant to develop a Members in Transition Toolkit. The Members in Transition Toolkit will be launched at the 2019 Annual Conference in Quebec City.

It became evident that those transitioned members who had immediate and continual access to good resources, appeared to get through transition easier. So part of the project included having them identify the specific resources that would have been helpful to them as they navigated their way through transition.

We now need to locate the professionals from each province who provide these identified resources, for inclusion in the toolkit. The toolkit will list the services required and will link to the professionals who provide the service, so our members in transition can quickly and easily find the professional resources they need, when they need them.

Specifically, here are the professionals we need for the toolkit:

 Employment Lawyers (who represent employees)
 Financial Planners/Accounting Planning/Taxation Advisors
 HR Advisors/Career/Transition Counsellors/Life Coaches
 Recruiters/Executive Recruitment Firms/Head Hunters
 Pension Advisors
 Messaging/Communication Experts
 Psychiatrists/Counsellors/Therapists
 Business Coaches

CAMA partners with muniSERV.ca to provide the professional resources Canadian municipalities need, through its Find Municipal Experts & Services database.

If you provide any of the above professional services, please consider becoming a muniSERV professional member and then select the special Transition/Career Services category after the toolkit is launched in May. Doing so provides you with the unique opportunity to be automatically be linked directly to the CAMA Members in Transition Toolkit so CAMA’s CAO members in transition can easily find you. *muniSERV is pleased to share the revenue from this special category with CAMA to support future projects.

How to Participate

If you already have a muniSERV professional profile, you’re all set until the launch of the new toolkit in May. We’ll notify you when you need to go back into your dashboard and add the new, special Transition/Career Services in “Build Membership Package”. 

If you’re not a muniSERV member yet;
 1. Become a muniSERV member today and create your profile in your dashboard
 2. Start appearing in searches in the Find Municipal Experts & Services database right away and get a free Members’            Only Rotating ad (value of $120) for your first month of membership.
 3. We’ll notify you when you need to go back into your dashboard in the “Build Membership Package”, and add the                  special “Transition/Career Services” category to your cart.
 4. Then you will be able to select as many subcategories as you like, in “Manage my Profile”

Click Here to join muniSERV, or Contact us: [email protected] or  [email protected] , for more information.

 

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Build Your Business Road-Map Workshop

Build Your Business Road-Map Workshop

Are you an entrepreneur with great ideas and huge potential, yet struggling to bring those ideas to fruition?

I’ll bet!! You’re wearing a dozen hats, you have clients to keep happy, bookkeeping to stay on top of and you also need to market your business? With so much going on in your mind every day, it’s no wonder you lose sight of what is important – achieving your goals!

In this interactive workshop, we will:
– explore the theory behind radiant thinking
– identify the areas you wish to focus on in your business
– use mind-mapping to develop your business road-map
– create an action plan and set specific goals with a date to achieve them!

Register at: http://cheetahfusion.com/events/

Location: 54 Cedar Pointe Drive, Unit 1207, Barrie, ON

Date: Friday, February 1st, 2019

Time: 9:30am until 12:30pm

Early Bird Rate until December 31st, 2018 – $90+HST
Regular Price as of January 1st, 2019 is – $125+HST

**$10 per seat sold goes to Season’s Center for Grieving Children!!

Includes: refreshments, light breakfast and workshop materials.
Parking: free parking

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How Your Online Presence Could Be Hurting Your Job Search

You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. And, in this day and age, it is very often your online presence that will make that first impression for you. If you’re currently in the market for a new job, it is very likely that potential employers are checking you out online before even considering you for an interview. The strength, or weaknesses, of your online presence, can make or break you. Don’t let them keep you from getting the job that you want!

job search

Even though you are applying for a professional position, your personal social media will still be under scrutiny. Now might be a good time to review the persona that you are presenting, as well as your privacy settings. Even the tightest profiles can be subject to security glitches, so you need to assume that everyone can see EVERYTHING that you post, like, share or comment. We have all heard stories about people losing their job over an inappropriate tweet or an off-colour Facebook photo, not to mention scathing posts about a former employer. Don’t sabotage yourself before you even get started.

 

When tending to your professional online presence, consistency is key. Make sure your name is the same on all your profiles, including your Candidate profile on muniJOBS, by avoiding nicknames, etc. It will make it easier for employers to search you out. Make sure you are sending the same message on each of your profiles. If your muniSERV profile presents you as a well-qualified consultant, your LinkedIn profile should do the same. Ensure that all profiles are fully up-to-date with any new skills, training courses, or achievements. This might also be the time to call in some help from a pro. A dynamic biography with a summary of your strengths and experience can go a long way, especially when written from an outsider’s point of view. Consider it an extension of your CV or cover letter and outsource it to a professional for best results.

 

Some experts predict that online presence will make the resume obsolete in the next 5-10 years. In an already competitive market, this will only lead to an even larger talent pool being available with full information readily available. This is even more reason to make sure that your personal and professional profiles are in line with the image that you want to project. Increase your chances of being found by municipal decision-makers with a CAO or Consultant profile on muniSERV and/or with a Candidate’s profile on muniJOBS. Contact us for more information and get started today.

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