It is our honour to recognize amazing businesses and leaders within our community through the Mayor’s Innovation Awards. As we approach the ceremony, we would like to introduce the nominees.
Introduced in 2023 by Mayor Alex Nuttall, the Municipal Innovation Award demonstrates the City of Barrie’s commitment to continuous improvement and excellence in public service. It recognizes the individuals, teams, and departments within our organization that have gone above and beyond to drive innovation, streamline processes, and deliver more effective and efficient services to our community.
Countless projects have been completed by City of Barrie staff that have improved efficiencies, showcased incredible innovation, and improved internal departments as well saving time or making things easier for residents. Public nominations are not accepted for this category; projects are brought forward through a separate submission process.
This year’s Municipal Innovation nominees include:
Electronic Timesheets – Human Resources
Previously, the process of submitting paper timesheets was inconsistent and time-consuming, requiring employees to fill out forms, obtain supervisor approval, and submit them for entry. With the new electronic system, employees only need to update their timesheet for specific occurrences, streamlining the process and reducing administrative burden.
Biosolids Centrifuge Dewatering Pilot Project – Infrastructure
A grant from the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks enabled a biosolids centrifuge dewatering pilot project in June 2024 at the Wastewater Treatment Facility. The pilot reduced biosolids volume, reduced required transport truck trips, and provided key data on biosolids quality, process water, polymer use, and operational needs to assess full-scale feasibility.
AI-Powered Chatbot on Barrie.ca Transforms Customer Support – Information Technology, Communications & Customer Service
The City of Barrie’s new chatbot navigates and interprets City website content to answer questions 24/7, in multiple languages, about services, events, and regulations, reducing inquiries to Service Barrie and saving staff time. Interaction data shows increasing usage and a recent peak success rate of 75.22% in responding accurately to user queries.
Moving Water Billing Reports to SAP BI – Finance Department
The City of Barrie’s Finance department moved existing Water Billing reports from an old system to SAP BI that helped save licensing and maintenance costs and facilitated new requirements and reporting capabilities for staff. This project saves city staff over 1,000 hours per year, as well as licensing costs.
Dedicated Staff for Swim Lesson Course Setup – Recreation & Culture
The Aquatics Department manages over 5,000 swim lesson classes annually across three pools. Previously, course setup was divided among three programming staff who were subject to frequent interruptions causing errors, rework, and inefficiencies. Assigning a part-time staff member with specialized skills to handle course builds reduced errors and setup time, allowing programmers to focus on active programs and improving overall course quality.
Barcode Scanners at Water Stores – Finance and Infrastructure
Integrated scanners with SAP have streamlined Goods Receipts and Goods Issues processes in the Surface Water Treatment Plant and Barrie Police stores, eliminating manual paperwork and data entry. Previously, store personnel recorded transactions on paper before re-entering them into SAP. The new QR code scanning functionality captures transaction details directly into the system, saving significant time and resources.
Congratulations to all the nominees in the Municipal Innovation category! Keep up the great work to continuing striving to make the City of Barrie a welcome home for residents and businesses alike.
Stay tuned for the announcement of the winners following the Mayor’s Innovation Awards ceremony on November 27th!
Thank you to the sponsors of the 7th Mayor’s Innovation Awards, Adams Hamilton, Ain Whitehead LLP, Innovative Automation, Marquee Benefits, reIGNITE Conference and the Sandbox Centre for recognizing the importance of these local businesses.