Tell us your priorities for the Asset Management Plan
About the City's $2.7 billion in assets you use every day
Every day, as a resident of Niagara Falls, you take advantage of a City asset. It might be the roads you drive on, the sidewalks and trails you walk on, the public pool you swim in, or how you access clean drinking water. These are some examples of the $2.7 billion in assets the City manages. We maintain, upgrade or replace these assets as one way we deliver value to taxpayers and improve the quality of life in our city.
Have your say in shaping your community's future!
Our Asset Management Plan (AMP) guides how we prioritize and balance every asset for the long term. We are in the process of updating that Plan, which we are required to do through Ontario O. Reg. 588/17. This regulation guides municipalities and requires us to carefully assess and update our approach to delivering critical services for the long term, including our water, transportation, stormwater, and wastewater systems, as well as other public assets such as recreation facilities and parks.
We received your feedback to inform this update. The City wants to ensure that the services you rely on—clean water, safe roads, efficient stormwater management, and more—continue to meet your needs and those of future generations.. We engaged with the community to ask what levels of service you expect, how satisfied you are with what we are doing now, and where your priorities are for the future.
Pop-up engagement sessions
Our project team hosted several pop-up engagement sessions where residents could ask questions and fill out the survey in person.
We met with members of the community at several locations:
- Sunday, January 5: MacBain Community Centre, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
- Tuesday, January 7: Gale Centre, 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm
- Thursday, January 9: Victoria Avenue Library, 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
- Tuesday, January 14: MacBain Community Centre, 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
- Thursday, January 16: Gale Centre, 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
- Saturday, January 18: Victoria Avenue Library, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
Preliminary Engagement Results are In!
- 82% of respondents preferred the City’s services to be similar to a family diner service level, over fast food or white tablecloth dinning.
- 60% of respondents would accept an increase in taxes and/or fees to support necessary improvements
- Preference to prioritize core infrastructure services
- Please check out a full summary of the results here: 2025 Levels of Service Asset Management Plan Engagement Results Summary
- To learn more about the engagement strategy please access the 2025 LOS AMP Communication Strategy
Service Area Findings
| Service Area | Key Findings |
| Transportation | Increase condition of paved roads, sidewalks and increase road/sidewalks maintenance |
| Water | Maintain service levels, satisfied with current service. Majority of respondents would not want to see an increase on their water bill. |
| Wastewater | Maintain service levels,
satisfied, 80% have not experienced a sewer backup in <5years. |
| Stormwater | Maintain service levels, 20% are
experiencing road flooding annually. |
| Recreation, Culture, Cemeteries & Facilities | Maintain service levels, similar
responses across cemeteries, recreation, park facilities, administrative
facilities, etc. Recreation Facilities were identified in need of the most
improvement of this category. Willingness to fund these two services. |
| Fire Services | Maintain service levels, 65% satisfaction level. 25% said decrease service levels |
| Parks, Trails & Natural Assets | Maintain service levels, majority
of respondents were satisfied with services. Parks were identified in need of
the most improvement of this category. |
Next Steps
- Formalizing Proposed Levels of Service (PLOS)
- Development PLOS Financial Plan
- Stakeholder Consultation on PLOS Financial Plan & Willingness to Pay
- Implementation Plan Development
- Performance Modeling & Data Management
- Finalize PLOS Asset Management Plan (AMP)
- CAO & Council Approval of PLOS AMP
- Submission of the PLOS AMP to the Ministry of Infrastructure by July 01, 2025
Asset Management is not just about maintaining assets. It’s also about delivering value in a structured, predictable way that aligns with the community’s needs and priorities. This is what we call Levels of Service.
Levels of Service define the quality, reliability, and availability of public services that our infrastructure delivers. It is measured in three ways:
- Community feedback
- How well the asset performs as it’s meant to
- The activities that support those assets and services.
Understanding what level of service the community expects—and what it’s willing to support financially—helps us balance the costs, risks, and benefits of service delivery so that we can manage the City’s assets in a customer-focused way for the long term.
Over the past three years, we’ve heard from the community through our budget surveys, which help inform our asset management planning.
You have consistently told us that we should prioritize maintaining essential services while seeking a balanced approach to funding and development.
Respondents told us they prefer increased services for road maintenance, water, sewer and stormwater services and that we maintain current service levels for recreation programming, libraries, and facility maintenance.
Feedback about how we should fund services varied. Some residents (31.8%) prefer to minimize tax increases even if it results in reduced services. Others (68.2%) support moderate tax increases to maintain and invest in services.
- Future-Ready Infrastructure: The 2025 AMP is about setting realistic service levels for key asset categories, such as: transportation, water, wastewater, stormwater, parks & trails, etc. By sharing your input, you help ensure that we are making informed decisions about maintaining and upgrading essential infrastructure.
- Sustainability & Accountability: We’re committed to transparent decision-making. Your feedback will guide how we balance the City’s assets needs with our financial capacity, ensuring responsible use of your user fees and tax dollars.
- Community-Centered Solutions: Your insights are vital as we develop a lifecycle management strategy for our assets. Help us prioritize investments and maintenance to preserve the services that matter most to you.
- Your Voice, Your City: Niagara Falls is home to a diverse community, and we want to hear from as much of the community as possible. Your unique perspectives are essential to building an AMP that reflects the collective priorities of the City.
Questions & Comments
We want to hear from you! Please leave your questions or comments, and the project team will be happy to reply. Because questions will be shared publicly, please avoid including personal information, such as an address. Thank you!
