What you need to know as the ICF deadline approaches

As the April 1, 2020 deadline for Intermunicipal Collaboration Frameworks (ICFs) approaches, the three areas that members continue to ask about are completion, notification, and arbitration.

What is a complete ICF?

An ICF can be considered complete when all parties agree that it meets the legislative requirements set out in the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and the parties’ councils have approved the ICF by resolution or bylaw. See Section 6.0 of the Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework Workbook.

If your ICF negotiation process has been progressing cooperatively, but terms related to an issue or service cannot be agreed on due to lack of adequate information, then an ICF can be structured to indicate that an issue or service will continue to be studied after ICF adoption. This way, the ICF can be adopted without a single service disagreement derailing the process.

It is important when considering agreeing to further study to be confident that the efforts to study an issue or service will lead to a mutually agreed upon approach to addressing the issue or delivering the service. If the parties to the ICF have fundamentally different views on the issue or service, further study may not lead to a mutually agreed upon solution and proceeding to arbitration may be the preferable approach.

Additionally, if parties to an ICF are going to agree to further study related to an issue or service, it would beneficial to outline an agreement as to what the process to complete the further study will look like (i.e. tasks, responsibilities, timeline and outcomes or deliverables desired) and what the next steps will be after the study is complete.

If agreeing to further study is not a suitable option to address an outstanding issue(s), and your ICF cannot be completed by the deadline, the parties to the ICF must proceed to arbitration as set out in section 708.34 of the MGA.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs may consider granting an extension to the deadline, upon receipt of a written request, in exceptional circumstances (e.g. disasters, emergencies, death of a key individual), or where municipalities have been progressing cooperatively but simply need an additional one or two months to complete the ICF process. A written request must outline the reason an extension is required and should be sent by email (with all parties copied) to icf [at] gov.ab.ca (icf[at]gov[dot]ab[dot]ca). An extension is not granted unless the municipalities receive a written confirmation.

What is your municipality required to share with Municipal Affairs?

Completed ICFs do not need to be shared with Municipal Affairs; however, all parties must send email notification to the Ministry confirming completion. If only one party to an ICF sends notification, then the other party (or all other parties) must be copied. Notification emails should be sent to icf [at] gov.ab.ca (icf[at]gov[dot]ab[dot]ca). 

What do you need to do if arbitration is required? 

If you and your neighbour(s) cannot complete an ICF by the deadline, then the matter must be referred to an arbitrator. See section 5.3 of of the Intermunicipal Collaboration Framework Workbook.

Section 708.35 of the MGA outlines the requirements for the arbitration process. The parties to the ICF choose the arbitrator, and if they cannot agree on an arbitrator, they must advise Municipal Affairs and the Minister will appoint an arbitrator.

The Ministry has a roster of arbitrators that municipalities can use for ICF arbitrations. These arbitrators are familiar with the MGA requirements and municipal issues. Alternatively, any mediator who has assisted the municipalities in attempting to create an ICF may act as the arbitrator to make an award that resolves the issues in dispute among the municipalities.

The role of the arbitrator is set out in section 708.36 of the MGA.  Costs of an arbitration must be paid on a proportional basis by the parties to the ICF, unless the parties agree otherwise or the arbitrator awards costs differently. Each municipality’s proportion of the costs would be determined by dividing the amount of that municipality’s equalized assessment by the sum of the equalized assessments of all of the municipalities as set out in the most recent equalized assessment.

It is advisable, though not mandatory, to inform Municipal Affairs if your municipality will be entering into arbitration. You may email the Ministry at icf [at] gov.ab.ca (icf[at]gov[dot]ab[dot]ca) to inform them of the initiation of arbitration, or if appointment of an arbitrator by the Minister is needed.

If you have any questions on ICFs or the ICF change management resources, please contact AUMA’s advocacy team at advocacy [at] auma.ca (advocacy[at]auma[dot]ca).