2023 Service Review

Over the 2022-2026 term of Council, Service Review is anticipated to achieve direct and indirect savings of approximately $2 million, equivalent to 10 per cent of the gross operating budget.  

Implementing the Service Review Priority Opportunity Action Plan has created the first-of-its-kind, three-year work plan for the City Manager and Strategic Leadership Team, elevating the accountability and transparency of the organization.  Adopting the recommendations and 53 actionable opportunities identified in the plan will improve administrative operations and sets a clear policy and role directive from Council; that is, to ensure that the municipality’s financial and organizational resources are being used as efficiently as possible.  The funding required for the Service Review was from the Ontario Municipal Modernization Fund.

Ontario’s Municipal Modernization Fund

The Municipal Modernization Fund was announced by the Government of Ontario in 2019 to help small and rural municipalities deliver more modern and efficient services, often through the use of technology.

Modernization funding is awarded through two intake streams: a Review stream to fund service delivery, administrative expenditures, or budget reviews; and an Implementation stream to undertake projects that increase municipal efficiency and effectiveness based on the findings of previous reviews or evidence-based reports.

Owen Sound used the Modernization grant to prepare the 2023 Service Review for $108,000.

Completed third-party service review reports must be posted for public information as a requirement of Modernization Funding. Owen Sound’s Review is listed in the tab below.