NSFM is launching a new Webinar Series June 4. For information, click here.

As Canadian municipalities face major shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic, recovery is top of mind. Join us at 11 a.m. on July 30th to learn how Nova Scotian municipalities can weather the economic storm. Grant Thornton’s Public Sector team will walk you through a series of case studies revealing how municipalities have responded to their unique challenges, and will share practical tips that can provide immediate value as you build your response plan.To register, click here.

How can the Quality of Life Initiative inform rebuilding in each region of the Province? Join Engage NS CEO Danny Graham at 11 a.m. on August 13 to learn how the opportunities and unique strengths of this province can help inform how to rebuild and recover in a way that improves Nova Scotians' quality of life. To register, click here..

Join Kieron Hunt and David Paterson, FBM Planning Studio, at 11 a.m. on Thursday, August 27 as they walk through their Nova Scotia Main Streets Community Workbook and provide the tools for fostering vibrant Main Streets throughout Nova Scotia.

They will focus on community-based initiatives in small and rural communities, as well as considerations for government strategies and programs.The work was led by NSFM and FBM Planning Studio, with assistance from the Ecology Action Centre, Develop Nova Scotia, and Nova Scotia Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal. The collaborative team led to a vision for how Main Streets can achieve social, environmental, and economic sustainability. The Workbook contains approaches and policy suggestions based on the challenges and opportunities identified through engagement events in Elmsdale, St. Peter’s and the Town of Westville in February 2020.

To register, click here.

AMANS and NSFM have partnered with Ashanti Leadership and Development Services to provide a virtual training opportunity on Unconscious Bias Within the Workplace. This session will address Unconscious Bias and identify tools that will support municipalities in addressing barriers to inclusion within the organization and communities. For more information, check out our webinar page.

The AMA is pleased to be offering another round of their Finance Management for Elected Officials workshop on January 25, 27 &29^th from 10-11:30. 

A must have for newly elected officials as part of their orientation A refresher for more seasoned elected representatives.Overview of Council’s role in the financial management of the municipalityReviews all stages of budgeting from planning, to creating, to monitoringThree 90 minute sessions  

Important Note: All sessions are interconnected so it is important to attend all three sessions. 

Facilitator: Greg Herrett, CPA, CA, CAO, Town of Amherst
Co-Facilitator: Bonnie Coulter, CPA, CA, Director of Corporate Services, Town of Truro 

Registration: To register for the workshop, please complete our registration form found here.

If you are registering more than one individual, please complete one form per individual. Registration numbers will be limited. 

Cost: The cost to attend is $300. Once you have registered a calendar appointment with a zoom link for each session will be sent to you. 

As the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing (DMAH) prepares to release capital grant applications for municipalities this spring, we invite you to learn more about these programs, which include the Flood Risk Infrastructure Program, Provincial Capital Assistance Program, Community Works, Beautification & Streetscape Program and the Emergency Service Provider Fund.

DMAH staff will provide brief program overviews along with guidelines for completing applications.

As well, this webinar will provide information on operating grants administered by DMAH, such as Municipal Financial Capacity Grant, Grant In Lieu of Property Taxes, Farmland Grant, Fire Protection and Municipal/Village HST Offset Program.

If you are interested in attending this important session, please contact Debbie Nielsen at NSFM by Tuesday, February 2 for a link to the webina

Joint webinar by NSFM and AMANS

Thursday, February 18^th, 2020 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. via zoom 

Join NATIONAL Public Relations for this 90 minute session. Their media experts will take you through the current media landscape and best practices when conducting media interviews, specifically in the new virtual environment. They will also outline the role of staff in briefing council for media and how to develop and stay on message.  

Facilitator: Tara Wickwire, Associate Vice-President, Marketing and Brand Strategy, NATIONAL Public Relations 

Fee:     Early Bird Registration: $125 prior to February 4^th   

$150 after February 4^th 

Click HERE to register 

Once you have registered, a calendar appointment with a zoom link for the session will be sent to you.  

Cancellation policy: If you wish to cancel your registration, in order to receive a full refund you must provide an email in writing to  before Monday, February 8, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. Cancellations received after this deadline will be subject to the full fee and substitution only.

Webinar: Exploring Diversity Inclusion

March 25^th – 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. through the zoom platform

Back by popular demand, the AMANS and NSFM have once again partnered with Ashanti Leadership and Development Services to provide an Inclusive leadership virtual training opportunity that addresses diversity in the workplace. In the Fall of 2020, we offered a session that provided municipalities with information on unconscious biases. The March 25^th session will take you one step further by providing the necessary tools, resources, and takeaways to help change the environment and minds of those working within municipalities. Research has long identified that although organizations have sought to address diversity and inclusion in the workplace, there are still a number of challenges to achieving inclusivity.  

Presenters: Professor David Divine & Ann Divine, CEO of Ashanti Leadership and Development Services

Date: March 25^th @ 10:00 am 11:30am 

Registration: To register for the workshop, please complete our registration form found HERE. If you are registering more than one individual, please complete one form per individual.  

Cost to Attend: Early Bird Registration: $125 prior to March 11^th. $150 after March 11^th

Working Together for a Clean Energy Future

Presented by Nova Scotia Power

September 23^rd, 2021: 10:00 am – 11:00 am through zoom

Presenter: Peter Gregg, President & CEO, NS Power

This webinar is being offered free of charge to NSFM members

It’s an exciting time. Momentum is building. We are starting to see some transformative change as we integrate new technologies, innovations and green solutions to meet the energy needs of our customers. As we look at ways to accelerate our transition to clean energy, our focus continues to be on reducing our carbon emissions in an affordable way for our customers. Nova Scotia has set ambitious targets to address climate change in our province—and clean electricity plays an important role. So does collaboration. We know achieving these goals will take all of us working together in partnership with stakeholders, government and communities. We want to continue that work and those conversations with municipalities, about opportunities to create a cleaner, more sustainable province together.

Topics will include:

• why smart municipalities need a smart grid—how transforming our power grid will help transform our communities
• Electrification of transit
• Smart grid development
• Partnership potential for electrification of buildings and other operations
• clean energy transition
• building Nova Scotia’s green economy and contributing to job creation within the province
• how Nova Scotians can help us grow our use of clean energy through using in-home batteries and smart electric vehicle chargers
• how we’re collaborating with some municipalities on key initiatives including:

Please CLICK HERE to register by September 21st

Join Us for NSFM’s Main Street Webinar to Learn about the Nova Scotia’s Main Street Assessment Tool and Community Conversation Guide Developed by FBM Planning

When:  Wednesday, Sept. 29, from 11:00 am – 12 noon

How:  Please follow this link to register for the webinar by Tuesday, September 28:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsceqgrzwvH9QJ3cfFnUedBTuXhNJp7qPI

In 2020-21, FBM met with residents in seven small communities across Nova Scotia to discuss the challenges and opportunities of their Main Streets. As a result of their findings, FBM developed the Main Street Assessment Tool and Community Conversation Guide (which will soon be available at nsfm.ca/main-streets). The tool was developed around themes of Main Streets for Movement and Main Streets as Places. It is a user-friendly tool for residents and leaders to assess Main Street elements in their community and plan for beneficial changes, so these areas can better serve local needs. 

Join members the FBM team to learn about the project and how it can inform work in your community.

This work was the result of collaboration of the NSFM Active Transportation Committee and FBM Planning, along with input from NS Transportation and Active Transit, Develop Nova Scotia, Ecology Action Centre, Bicycle Nova Scotia, and others. 

There is no cost to attend the webinar; however, you must register in advance for the event: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMsceqgrzwvH9QJ3cfFnUedBTuXhNJp7qPI

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Presenters: Rachel Bedingfield, Recreation Director, Town of Kentville; Jackie Oncescu Associate Professor, UNB; and Mary Sweatman, Assistant Professor, Acadia University

Recreation and leisure are important mechanisms that can support residents’ capacity to cope with stress and deal with traumatic community events and are a critical source of community resilience in the aftermath of traumatic events. However, municipal parks and recreation departments across Canada were greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as many were forced to suspend all programming and access to public spaces and services. Municipal recreation providers had to re-evaluate their approach and adapt to meet community needs, especially those citizens that were marginalized from community recreation experiences. The purpose of this webinar is to share the research findings from a case study in Kentville, NS, that examined the role of municipal recreation in supporting rural low-income families’ wellbeing during the pandemic.

This webinar will highlight the important role of the municipal recreation departments in navigating community crisis, discuss how and why recreation provisions were redesigned within the Town of Kentville during the pandemic, and the role and benefit of partnerships in delivering recreation provisions during a community crisis. These findings shed light on how municipal recreation staff build effective collaborations to address and support community resilience during times of crisis, such as the pandemic. As well as provide insight into building partnerships that can strengthen the facilitation of recreation and leisure services in the community to address broader social and economic inequities that prevent rural, low-income families from accessing recreation and leisure.

This webinar is part of the NSFM Webinar Series and is being offered free of charge to NSFM Members.

REGISTER BY NOVEMBER 15TH BY CLICKING HERE

This session is a joint initiative with AMANS

Friday, March 25, 2022 @ 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Location: Louis Millett Community Complex, New Minas, NS
Cost to attend: Early Bird rate until March 11: $250. After March 11: $300.

Learn more and sign up here

Only a few spots left!

Asset Management for Nova Scotia Municipalities Webinar

NSFM’s infrastructure and sustainability webinar series returns with a session on asset management for municipalities in Nova Scotia. Matt Delorme of AIM Network will introduce participants to the work his organization has been doing on municipal asset management and give an overview of the training AIM Network offers. Gary Lines of ClimAction Services will review the Climate Resilience Framework and how it can be applied to integrating climate change impacts and adaptation issues to asset management. Kyle McKenzie of NSFM will remind participants of NSFM’s online asset management course. A question and answer session will follow.

Time: Mar 22, 2023 2:00-3:15 PM ADT

Registration is required, contact NSFM for the registration link. 

NSFM will host the Nova Scotia Main Streets Ideas Exchange on April 27, 2023 at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish. This one-day event is the chance for community leaders, elected officials, advocates, and place makers to share aspirations and success stories for Main Streets and Downtowns in communities across the province.

Antigonish-based Author, Entrepreneur, and Chocolatier Tareq Hadhad has been confirmed as a keynote speaker for the event.

The event will include a chance to network and engage in three panel discussions:

• Mobility and accessibility at the core of communities;

• Vibrant Main Streets for health and social connection; and

• Main Streets as Incubators and Catalysts for the Local Economy.

Event details:

Time: April 27, 2023, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm

Place: MacKay Room, Bloomfield Centre, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish

Continental Breakfast, lunch and refreshments will be provided.

Pre-registration is required. The event cost is $25+HST, however a no-fee option will be available for community members or representatives of organizations that are unable to cover the ticket price.

Interested in attending, but need a stipend to assist in getting to Antigonish? Please contact Gordon Tate.