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As the City’s Asset Management process continues to evolve, we can make better informed decisions about where tax dollars should be spent now to make best use of funds to maintain essential services, and strengthen our economy, lifestyle and well-being.

The Asset Management Plan Phase Two: All Assets was approved by City Council in May 2024. 

Front cover Asset Management Plan Phase Two: All Assets

This Phase Two Plan presents the current state of all city owned assets that meet the Tangible Capital Asset (TCA) policy threshold of over $10,000 replacement value for individual assets or over $50,000 for pooled assets. The plan is divided into sections based on the eight major asset classes: Transportation, Drinking Water, Wastewater, Stormwater, Facilities, Fleet and Machinery, Equipment, and Land Improvements. 

The Asset Management Plan offers leaders and the public a comprehensive picture of the condition of the City’s infrastructure, supporting better-informed decisions about where tax dollars should be spent. The Asset Management Plan is a part of the City's overall Asset Management Program designed to enable the management of infrastructure assets in a way that connects strategic community objectives to day-to-day decisons relating to when, why, and how investments are made. 

Click through the asset classes below to find out more information about the assets in those classes: 

Transportation Graphic   Transportation

Residents and visitors use our transportation system to commute to work, bike to get groceries, drive to visit friends and family or to access destinations such as Prince Arthur’s Landing. Transportation Assets help the City to provide services to its residents such as emergency services, public transit, and solid waste collection. The continuity of transportation in the City relies on well maintained and functioning assets. Transportation assets have a total replacement value of $1,665,394,000.

The City of Thunder Bay’s Transportation Assets includes roads, bridges, culverts, sidewalks, streetlights, and traffic signals.

 
Drinking Water Graphic  Drinking Water

The City is committed to maintaining a safe and sustainable supply of drinking water, providing for public health protection, fire protection and support for the local economy. Drinking water assets have a total replacement value of $887,672,031.

The City’s Drinking Water Network is comprised of the Bare Point Water Treatment Plant (WTP) and the distribution network. After treatment, clean safe drinking water leaves the WTP and enters the distribution network. The network has 37,877 service connections, and 726 km of watermains. Additionally, the network has seven (7) pumping stations, four (4) reservoirs, one (1) standpipe, 9,456 valves and 2,595 hydrants.

 
Stormwater Graphic  Stormwater

The City of Thunder Bay’s stormwater assets manage the runoff of rain and melted snow that flows overland into catchbasins, ditches, streams, rivers and lakes. Stormwater is soaked up like a sponge in natural landscapes, which then nourishes plants and slowly replenishes streams, lakes, wetlands and aquifers. In more urban areas, impervious or hard surfaces such as asphalt, concrete and rooftops prevent stormwater from naturally soaking into the ground. Stormwater assets have a total replacement value of $372,260,000.

The City of Thunder Bay’s stormwater assets include 345 km of storm sewers, 486 km of ditches, three (3)stormwater retention ponds, more than 11,000 catch basins, 6,062 manholes, two (2) dams, 28 green infrastructure facilities, 39 oil-grit separators, and 373 outlets to receiving waters.

 
Wastewater Graphic  Wastewater

The City of Thunder Bay’s wastewater network is comprised of the Atlantic Avenue Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) and the sanitary sewer network. The WPCP provides service to over 108,000 people and has a rated capacity to treat 84.5 million litres per day. Wastewater assets have a total replacement value of $708,395,000.

The wastewater network includes the WPCP, four (4) lift stations, 34,969 service connections, and 526 kilometers of sanitary sewers.

 

Facilities Graphic  Facilities

The City of Thunder Bay owns and operates a vast array of diverse buildings and structures as part of its built environment that provide key services to the community, some of which include recreation, administrative, emergency services and operations. These assets support service delivery by providing safe and efficient facilities for use by staff, Council, Boards and Agencies and members of the public. The Capital Facility Construction Section of Engineering and Operations manages and maintains these assets to meet safety and regulatory requirements as well as the City’s functional requirements, in a reliable and sustainable manner. Facilities assets have a total replacement value of $727,618,000.

Facility asset inventory includes 193 facilities located throughout the service delivery area of the City of Thunder Bay.

Fleet and Machinery Graphic  Fleet and Machinery

The City of Thunder Bay owns and operates a vast array of vehicles and machinery which allows staff to efficiently deliver municipal services. Fleet and Machinery assets have a total replacement value of $126,336,000.

The types of fleet and machinery that The City owns and maintains range from small passenger vehicles, to Transit buses, to heavy equipment for construction operations and snow removal. There are also specialized vehicles such as fire trucks, ambulances and police vehicles for emergency services. Specialized machinery such as riding lawn mowers, trailers, forklifts and ice resurfacers are also included in the City’s Fleet.

 

Equipment Graphic  Equipment

The City of Thunder Bay owns and operates a vast array of equipment which allows staff to efficiently deliver municipal services. Equipment assets have a total replacement value of $62,818,000.

In order to maintain a high quality of public infrastructure and support the delivery of services the City owns several types of equipment. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Parks amenities, benches and waste receptacles;
  • Administrative computers, hardware and software;
  • Equipment required to provide long term care;
  • Equipment to maintain and repair infrastructure;
  • Equipment for public use within recreation centers;
  • Equipment to deliver emergency services; and
  • Transit equipment and structures

 

Land Improvement Graphic  Land Improvements

Land Improvement assets represent a variety of asset types that serve to improve the utility and/or the enjoyment of outdoor spaces. Land Improvement assets are managed by several different departments. Land Improvement assets have a total replacement value of $256,071,000.

This asset class includes parking lots, trails and walkways, play parks, sports fields, public art, fencing, docks, other siteworks such as fueling areas in public works yards and the leachate system at the landfill, as well as natural infrastructure such as trees and forests.

 

The Asset Management Plan Phase One: Core Assets was approved by City Council in December 2021 and provided information on core assets (roads, bridges, culverts, drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater). That information was updated and included in the current Phase Two plan. 

Thunder Bay is currently in Phase Three of the Asset Management Plan development. In Phase Three, The City will: 

  • Establish proposed levels of service (LOS) for all assets including information such as:
    • Why are the proposed LOS appropriate for the City based on options and risk associated with thelong-term sustainability of the City?
    • How do the proposed LOS differ from the current LOS?
    • Are the proposed LOS achievable?
    • Can the City afford the proposed LOS?
  • Determine performance of each asset category based on measures developed by the City such as those that would measure energy usage and operating efficiency.
  • Develop a lifecycle management and financial strategy for all assets including information such as:
    • Prepare a full lifecycle of the asset.
    • Determine the options and risks of lifecycle activities to achieve the proposed LOS and which options can achieve the LOS at the lowest cost.
    • Estimated annual costs, estimated funding projections and information on how to maximize projected funding to be available to achieve the proposed LOS.
    • Estimated capital expenditures and significant operating costs to achieve proposed LOS to accommodate increases in demand due to population and employment growth, including costs related to new construction or to upgrading existing municipal infrastructure assets.
    • Source of funding projected to be available due to an increase in population and economic activity.
    • Overview of risks associated with the implementation of the Asset Management Plan and actions that could mitigate those risks.

The Future-Ready Roadmap

Updated revisions of the Plan will be developed in three phases, each with key strategic actions to comply with the Ontario Regulation 588/17: Asset Management Planning for Municipal Infrastructure under the Infrastructure for Jobs and Prosperities Act, 2015. The Future-Ready Roadmap was developed, to map out the stops needed to collect, compile, and complete key strategic actions.

The following graphics illustrates the "Steps to Develop the Asset Management Plan" For a larger version, download the "Steps to Develop the Asset Management Plan" PDF.

Steps to develop the asset management plan image

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