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Welcoming new OMAA partner ADR Chambers
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ADR Chambers Investigations provides independent, third-party investigation and dispute resolution services for municipalities and other organizations. We handle sensitive matters professionally, confidentially, and efficiently so disputes can be resolved and organizations can move forward. Integrity Commissioner Services ADR Chambers Investigations and its investigators act as Integrity Commissioners for more than 60 municipalities and school boards across Ontario. Integrity Commissioners investigate complaints involving: - Municipal Council Members, to ensure compliance with municipal Codes of Conduct
- School Board Trustees, to ensure compliance with trustee Codes of Conduct
Integrity Commissioners may also be appointed to conduct closed meeting investigations. Ombudsman Services An Ombuds is a neutral and independent investigator who helps resolve complaints and identify systemic issues. ADR Chambers has been providing municipal ombudsman services for many years. Workplace Investigations
ADR Chambers provides Independent, fair, and timely investigations for unionized and non-unionized workplaces. We investigate complaints made by employees or appointees alleging breaches of workplace laws, organizational policies, or Codes of Conduct. Our investigators gather and assess evidence to determine whether workplace policies or applicable laws have been breached. We also assess employee requests for accommodation related to workplace policies. Workplace Mediations
Mediation is a voluntary and collaborative process in which parties work toward resolving a dispute with the assistance of a neutral third party. Mediation can be particularly effective where parties must continue working together and wish to preserve or restore professional relationships. Workplace Restorations
Workplace restoration services help organizations rebuild trust, restore respectful working relationships, and improve team performance, particularly following an investigation.
Learn more about our services below, or visit our website at adrinvestigations.com. |
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We are gathering input to better understand how members use the site, what works well, and where improvements may be helpful. Your feedback will directly inform next steps. The survey takes less than five minutes to complete, and your input will play an important role in shaping our upcoming website enhancements |
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| Ever wonder what perks for public service professionals could look like? Applaud is a free membership association that connects you to a vibrant community, inspiring events, professional development, and exclusive perks. As a sneak peek, we’re offering a guided Sound Bath webinar at noon on 12 February, a moment to pause, recharge, and feel grounded during your day. Explore a membership designed to support your whole self, at work and beyond. |
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Are you thinking about making the leap to become a CAO one day?
Join us for in Kitchener on 17 April for a jam-packed day filled with great advice, networking, and hands-on workshop segments. Sessions to include the following: - Pathways to Becoming a CAO: lessons learned from experienced CAOs.
- Things Councils look for in a new CAO and Recruiter Q&A
- Positioning to Move Forward: Contracts, Mentoring, and Building your Brand
- Fine-tuning your LinkedIn Profile
- Development and delivery of your personal elevator pitch.
Cost: $25 members, $99 for non-members |
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Great news! We've booked Steve Patterson for the Spring Workshop.
He’s performed his comedy all across North America and all around the world in places like Australia, Ireland, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. Steve has taped national television specials each year since 2002 including numerous Just For Laughs galas and is the host of the hilarious CBC Radio show The Debaters . Twice named Canada’s Best Male Stand-Up at the Canadian Comedy Awards, Steve has also taken his award-winning humour to the literary world with The Book of Letters I Didn’t Know Where to Send. Described by best-selling author Terry Fallis as “hilarious, thought-provoking and more often than not, written on the bedrock of truth,
This keynote is in addition to great programming on red tape reduction, service corporations, homelessness, succession planning, and much more. And on Thursday evening we’ll set sail on an elegant Muskoka Steamship for a dinner cruise across the scenic lakes. Register today!
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Building your Bench: Succession Planning for Municipal Leaders Keeping municipal services running requires more than good intentions, it requires planning before it’s needed. As retirements increase and critical knowledge sits with fewer people, succession planning becomes essential to protecting continuity and reducing operational risk.
CareerJoy, in partnership with OMAA is proud to offer this webinar designed specifically for municipal administrative leaders. Beyond naming successors or creating binders that sit on a shelf, this session will focus on identifying critical roles, assessing organizational risk, preserving institutional knowledge, and building internal readiness in a realistic, resource-conscious manner. Whether you are already thinking about succession planning or haven’t yet had the time to focus on it, this webinar will help you assess risk, clarify priorities, and take meaningful steps toward continuity and readiness, before gaps appear. Thursday, February 26 from 1:00–2:00 p.m. |
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Join our Panel at the Workshop | |
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Succession and transition planning for CAOs works best when it is treated as a multi?year, deliberate process that protects business continuity, supports council, and sets employees up to thrive well after the CAO has left. Sometimes, however, life comes at you fast and you need to get things in order in one year or less.
We are looking to host a panel discussion at the upcoming Spring Workshop on “Finishing Well” — practical steps in the last 5, 2, and 1 year of a CAO’s tenure to support succession, transition, and organizational continuity as well as "emergency" scenarios.
If you have led a planned transition, developed an internal successor, managed an interim CAO arrangement, or introduced a formal succession framework in your municipality, please consider volunteering to share your experience. Please email Scott with a very brief outline of your experience with this issue. |
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Public architecture is political philosophy in stone. When we build only for function, we are saying the citizen is a taxpayer to be processed, not a person to be welcomed. Philosophers have been telling us for centuries that beauty is not a luxury; it is a form of truth about what we value. Plato wrote that “beauty is the splendor of truth,” suggesting that what we find beautiful often reveals the deeper order we believe in. When our public buildings are ugly, hostile, or merely efficient, they say we value only cost and expedience, not dignity or delight.
Immanuel Kant argued that in the experience of beauty we sense a harmony between our inner faculties and the world outside us; beauty, he said, “pleases universally without a concept.” We don’t need a memo to tell us that a library full of natural light feels better than a bunker of poured concrete. People linger more willingly in spaces that acknowledge their humanity. A beautiful council chamber doesn’t make democracy perfect, but it makes it easier to remember that the business conducted there concerns human beings.
Ugly buildings are not actually cheap; they exact their cost slowly, through staff fatigue, citizen frustration, and the message that public life deserves only the leftovers of our imagination. Beauty does not always mean marble and grand plazas. It can mean daylight instead of flicker, a tree‑lined entry instead of a windswept parking lot, a lobby that displays children’s art instead of notices. Designing attractive public buildings is an ethical obligation. In making our public buildings nicer, we are giving physical form to the idea that shared life should be honorable, welcoming, and, beautiful. |
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The Township of Selwyn is the largest lower-tier municipality in the County of Peterborough. With a population of 18,653 and more than 8,000 households, Selwyn is a large, lively rural community that includes four distinct urban centres: Lakefield, Bridgenorth, Ennismore and Young’s Point. Selwyn Township ranks high on the quality-of-life scale. With a broad economic base that includes technology, information services, healthcare, education, retail, finance, and agriculture, it is home to one of Peterborough County’s most stable economies.
Unmatched for leisure activity and recreation options, the Township is home to several golf courses, elegant and rustic restaurants, luxurious hotels and resorts, bed and breakfasts, distinctive boutiques, cafes and galleries. The Township offers entertainment and recreation that caters to all ages – students, young professionals, families and retirees. The Township has a variety of options for enjoying the culture; a night out on the town or a fun-filled day of sports and recreation are just minutes away at one of the Kawartha Lakes. Many residents have lake homes and cottages that serve as peaceful getaways. Fishing, boating, water sports and winter sports are popular activities, as is putting your feet up and watching the spectacular sunset.
There are tangible reasons why Selwyn Township is considered a wonderful place to be, and include an overall low crime rate, clean air and water, a great mix of housing types, schools and medical facilities local to the broader community. In summary, Selwyn boasts a sense of community, a focus on families, solid values, and a genuine concern for others. The Township hums with activity and is known for being clean, safe, friendly, and not particularly stressful. In short, it’s easy to live, play and work here.
With a combined operating and capital budget of approximately $28M and close to 100 permanent and part-time staff, the Township of Selwyn is committed to meeting the needs of residents and the business community by delivering efficient and effective services. Due to the retirement of a long-serving and well-regarded CAO, Selwyn is looking for an inspiring leader to play a key role in implementing Council’s vision for the future.
Inspire our Future as our Chief Administrative Officer
As the ideal candidate, you are an inspiring, principled, and collaborative leader with a proven track record of results and accomplishments in an efficient and fiscally accountable fashion with related experience from either a public sector or private sector organization. You have exceptional communication skills and the political acumen to interact with an engaged council and diverse stakeholders; you foster the development of partnerships, develop our workforce and inspire our employees, while ensuring customer service excellence. Lastly, you have an exceptional understanding of forward-thinking strategies as it relates to managing responsible growth, ensuring effective municipal operations in a fiscally accountable fashion and guiding our organization into the future, while retaining our rural community charm.
Reporting to the Mayor and Council, the Chief Administrative Officer is responsible for the strategic leadership and efficient delivery of all the municipality’s administrative and operational services. As the key advisor to Council, you will embrace our vision, mission and strategic priorities and develop and implement operational plans to ensure the coordination of services which align to and support our strategic priorities. You will recommend policies, plans, and programs that benefit our residents by being innovative, accountable and fiscally sound. You will work to enhance growth and development in the community, as well as ensure the effective utilization of resources through the priorities and guiding principles as identified by Council.
Leading a talented team, you will inspire a dedicated workforce and help foster a workplace culture focused on service excellence, innovation and teamwork while positioning Selwyn as an employer of choice. We offer a competitive compensation of $153,629 to $186,909 plus pension, benefits, vacation, training and development, not to mention an opportunity to work with an engaged Council in a beautiful rural, lakeside community.
Closes: 2 March or sooner
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AMO's new public advertising campaign, Make Your Municipal Move, brings awareness to municipalities and highlights the diverse career opportunities that are available at the level of government closest to people and communities.
In the coming weeks, a toolkit and a webinar will be added. The session will walk partners, as well as municipal human resources and communications staff and leaders, through the campaign and how it can be used effectively within local communities. The toolkit will include branded campaign assets, promotional guidelines, and ready-to-use templates to help municipalities and partners align the campaign with their own branding and drive engagement. |
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Throughout February, Canadians are invited to learn more about and celebrate the diversity and accomplishments of Black Canadians across the country. The 2026 theme for Black History Month is: “30 Years of Black History Month: Honouring Black Brilliance Across Generations — From Nation Builders to Tomorrow’s Visionaries.” Canadian Heritage has created a digital toolkit to help Canadians promote Black History Month content and activities.
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The IPC and the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) have developed joint principles to guide the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. These principles are designed to help organizations develop, deploy, and use AI in ways that maintain public trust by respecting privacy and human rights. Download the Principles for the responsible use of artificial intelligence to learn about the recommended “privacy by design" approach to mitigate risks, and be "explainable" to the public.
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AI has yet to deliver the ROI many leaders expected. What are they getting wrong? “This is probably the biggest, most complex transformation we’ve seen—but it’s 80 percent business transformation and 20 percent tech transformation,” according to McKinsey’. “That’s different from how most people have thought about it.” On this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, North America Chair Eric Kutcher speaks with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about how CEOs can deliver on AI’s revolutionary potential—and meet this “legacy moment” successfully.
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OMAA: Connecting CAOs, Strengthening Municipalities You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the OMAA newsletter.
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