Asset Management Information System AMIS, ASTM Cincinnati April 87

Hum Hartley, Susan

Environment Canada, Parks (formerly known as Parks Canada) currently manages 31 National Parks, 83 National Historic Parks and Sites including 9 Heritage Canals and 4 cooperative heritage areas and contributes to the protection of 36 historically significant sites through cost sharing agreements. The Program's mandate to preserve and interpret Canada's natural and cultural heritage has required the development and maintenance of a wide range of facilities. Currently the 9400 real property assets within Parks inventory have a estimated replacement value of $3.4 billion (1985 cdn $) excluding land value. They include 4000km of roads encompassing highways such as major portions of the TransCanada through the Rockies, bridges, 640km of historic and contemporary canal navigation and water control facilities, contemporary buildings ranging from kitchen shelters to park unique visitor reception centers, utilities such as sewer and water systems servicing visitor facilities and six townsites operated within park boundaries, a wide range of campgrounds, picnic areas, beaches and trails and finally, significant and unique heritage properties such as fortifications, historic buildings, ruins, mining dredges, and vessels. As for most government agencies, the 1980's for Parks can be characterized as a period of increasing fiscal restraint. Unfortunately, the diminishing of available funds for maintenance were not paralleled by a decrease in visitor expectation or stabilization in asset condition. A one-time study in 1982 indicated that the outstanding rehabilitation work to bring the Parks' fixed assets up to an adequate level of service was $384 million (Cdn), approximately one-tenth of the value of the asset base itself. Even at an optimum level of capital funding (currently estimated at $84 million annually), it is recognized that a backlog of work will always exist. However, the reality of increasingly inadequate funding (as exemplified by the 20% decrease in capital funding imposed for 1987/88 by the Minister in order to meet the Program's acquisition commitments) and the existence of an ever-changing backlog of outstanding work and fluctuating priorities has made it imperative that a more consistent and rational approach to the identification and correction of asset needs, from a park to a national perspective, be found. The Engineering and Architecture Branch, Parks, is currently developing the Asset Management Information System (AMIS), a tool to assist Parks E&A personnel at all levels of the organization in effectively managing the vast and diverse inventory of assets whose maintenance is E&A's responsibility

Asset Management Information System AMIS, ASTM Cincinnati April 87

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