The Ingredients for Innovations in Small Town Ontario: Leadership& Culture

The majority of services that Canadians receive from government are from local governments, including vital services, such as water, sanitation and public transit (Downer and Foster 2017). As more facets of their life move into the digital realm, Canadians are understandably demanding more digitally-focused servicing from their governments at all levels (Cukier 2019). Municipalities are facing increased expectations to meet this demand and convert traditional in-person or manual servicing operations to digital (Downer and Foster 2017). However, municipalities are the most constrained orders of government in Canada. They have limited legal and fiscal autonomy, which creates capacity and service delivery challenges (Siegel 2006; Kitchen and Slack 2016; Henstra 2018). These challenges are magnified in a new and evolving policy space like digital service delivery. Large cities, like Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal, seem up to the task. They benefit from their significant organizational resources and proximity to thriving local technology sectors. But what about smaller, rural, and remote communities in Canada that cannot capitalize on these inherent advantages?

File added date: March 2021

Author: IPAC/IAPC

URL: https://documenthosting.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/Case+Studies/The+Ingredients+for+Innovation+in+Small+Town+Ontario:+Leadership+and+Culture