Developing Municipal Type Service Agreements – Handbooks

Developing a service agreement can be complex and intimidating to those tasked with the important role of administering these services. The process however, can be broken down into stages:

1. Identifying Your Needs.
2. Determine if a service agreement is the best option, and if it is feasible.
3. Work together with your service delivery partner to develop principles and a process for negotiation.
4. Negotiate the terms of the agreement.
5. Sign the agreement (and host a signing ceremony!).
6. Administer the agreement for ongoing service delivery.

The Pathways for Service Delivery website houses templates, guidebooks, and other resources to guide First Nations and local governments through the different stages of developing a service agreement. The newly released handbooks, Developing Municipal Type Service Agreements, act as a compliment to those resources. These handbooks serve as bridging documents to the Pathways to Service Delivery Guide and the service agreement templates developed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). A handbook has been developed for some of the most common types of service agreements: Water and Sewer Services, Fire Protection Services, and Garbage Collection and Disposal Services.