City creates a new corporate structure with 9 Divisions

By Staff

June 20th, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

The detail in this article is not correct.  An org chart was released by the city earlier today that sets out the structure more clearly.  We will revise thus article once we get more information from the Communications people at City Hall.

City hall has released a new corporate structure

New corporate structure changes the title of Executive Director to Commissioner.  The title Director will remain.

Nine divisions have been created with a list of all the departments that will be in a Division.  The responsibilities are also set out in detail.

There are no new positions created at the Commissioner level.

Pay-bands for these roles remain within the City’s established compensation framework – this has not changed.

The Head of Corporate Affairs is a senior administrative role that will oversee Communications & Engagement, Government Relations, and Audit – areas which were spread across multiple departments in the previous organizational structure.

Burlington’s leadership team remains at headcount neutral, meaning all roles are repurposed from existing positions, including retirements and other vacancies.

The compensation quoted in these postings is comparable to other senior executive roles on the market today. Our non-union compensation system is aligned to the 65th percentile of the market for comparable municipalities. This ensures we continue to attract and retain talented staff.

Hassaan Basit, Chief Administrative Officer

Chief Administrative Officer

The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) is responsible for providing corporate leadership for the general management of the corporation as well as participating in the overall stewardship of the municipality. The CAO reports directly to Council and oversees the following City departments and divisions.

There are nine Divisions in the City of Burlington Corporate structure

Burlington Digital Services Division

Burlington Digital Services

Responsible for internal technical support, including:

  • Business application management and support
  • Desktop hardware and software support
  • Security
  • Training and general consulting

Burlington Digital Services also manages the City’s:

  • Data centres
  • Email
  • Internet access
  • Network
  • Telephone systems

Community Services Division

Customer Experience

Responsible for:

  • Unifying City’s customer service initiatives.
  • Improving and transforming our customers’ overall experience at the City.

Fire

Responsible for:

  • Fire prevention education
  • Fire safety inspections
  • The prevention and suppression of fires
  • Emergency and rescue services

Recreation, Community and Culture

Responsible for all matters relating to:

  • Parks and facilities
  • Recreation and culture services

Transit

Responsible for managing:

  • Transit route network including scheduling, operations and maintenance of transit vehicles.
  • Handi-Van paratransit system

Corporate Affairs Division

Communications and Engagement

Responsible for our brand and reputation management. Their roles include:

  • Developing and implementing public engagement programs
  • Developing a variety of communications materials, including print, web, video and social media
  • Media relations

Government Relations

Responsible for:

  • Providing advocacy and advice for the City of Burlington’s relations with all levels of government.
  • Developing relationships and seeking funding with key government stakeholders to advance the city’s strategic priorities.

Internal Audit

The City Auditor is independent of the City of Burlington administration and reports directly to City Council through the Audit Committee, ensuring its work is completed freely and objectively.

Audits typically answer questions around:

  • Efficiency and effectiveness of city operations and program delivery
  • Safeguarding of assets
  • Integrity and reliability of financial and operational information
  • Compliance with laws and regulations

Development and Growth Management Division

Building

Responsible for:

  • Building code information
  • Building inspections
  • Business licensing
  • Building, plumbing, heating, swimming pool, septic system and sign permits

Burlington Land Partnerships

Responsible for:

  • Addressing multiple areas of municipal strategic land management including acquisition and development.
  • Achieving tangible and measurable community benefits and returns in three areas: supporting economic growth and direct job creation, completing “city building” projects and delivering much needed affordable housing.

By-Law Compliance

Responsible for:

  • By-law enforcement
  • Including by-law complaints and investigations

Community Planning

Responsible for:

  • Niagara Escarpment Commission applications
  • Our Official Plan and other planning policies that provide guidance for City development
  • Parkway belt applications
  • Rezoning applications
  • Site plan applications
  • Subdivision and condominium applications

Finance Division

Finance

Responsible for financial and accounting management including:

  • Budgets
  • Collecting taxes and other revenues
  • Financial reporting
  • Tax certificates and assessment review
  • Tenders and general purchasing

Human Resources Division

Human Resources

Responsible for:

  • Attracting and retaining City employees
  • Employee benefits
  • Employee health and safety
  • Pay research
  • Staff and labour relations
  • Staff training and development

Legal and Legislative Services Division

Legal Services and Halton Court Services

Responsible for:

  • Negotiating development and subdivision agreements
  • Preparing business contracts
  • Representing the City before the Ontario Municipal Board and courts

Legislative Services

Responsible for:

  • Assessment rolls and bylaws
  • Maintaining corporate records
  • Conducting municipal elections
  • Providing commissioner of oath services
  • Providing support for Council and Committees

Public Works Division

Engineering Services

Responsible for managing:

  • Coordination of corporate initiatives to green city operations
  • Designing and construction of all roads, sidewalks, parks, open spaces, bridges and sewers
  • Environmental issues
  • Geomatics
  • Infrastructure management and engineering reviews for subdivisions, site plans and re-zonings
  • Policy development

Facilities, Assets, Sustainability

Responsible for:

  • Design and construction of new facilities and capital renewal of existing facilities and building systems
  • Long-term facility asset management and capital planning
  • Energy management, monitoring and reporting, including the Climate Action Plan, the Corporate Energy and
  • Emissions Management Plan. and the Climate Resilient Burlington – A Plan for Adapting to Our Warmer Wetter and Wilder Weather
  • Support corporate environmental sustainability initiatives

Roads, Parks and Forestry

Responsible for the maintenance of:

  • Streets and sidewalks
  • Parks and playgrounds
  • Storm sewers and creeks
  • Snow clearing
  • Forestry
  • Cemetery operations
  • City signs production
  • Fleet services

Transportation Services

Responsible for the delivery of various road-related services. These services include:

  • The traffic signal system
  • Traffic services
  • Transportation planning
  • Parking bylaw enforcement
  • Downtown parking

Transformation Division

Corporate Strategy and Business Improvement

Responsible for:

  • Providing ongoing support and coordination of the vision, mission, values, goals and objectives in the City’s strategic planning.
  • Building capabilities within the organization, through leadership and support of enterprise approaches, in innovation, project management, change and continuous improvement.

Risk Management

Responsible for:

  • Improving the effectiveness of governance processes.
  • Supporting the organization in the identification, assessment, and reporting of risks to strengthen the achievement of the City’s strategic priorities.
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5 comments to City creates a new corporate structure with 9 Divisions

  • Lynn Crosby

    As Blair so perfectly stated, the strong mayor powers seem to be being played out already with the new CAO. This whole exercise reminds one of the Deputy Mayor titles – meaningless but they sound good on paper. And let’s not forget Pipeline to Permits, Food for Feedback, Red Tape Reduction. Is this the new Onerous Org Chart?

    I see the Human Resources duties include retaining staff. We’ve already seen how impossible that is here now. They’re leaving in droves.

  • Joe Gaetan

    City Hall is a building. Is this a home baked organization, a strong Mayor Org or the new CAO putting his footprint on our wallets? It is not a flat Org redesign.

  • Blair Smith

    Stephen has, as usual, nailed it. Perhaps the most common organizational structure of large organizations (common because it is proven, effective and follows natural business relationships) sees functions arranged under ‘corporate’ or ‘enterprise’ services (finance, HR, audit, purchasing, accommodation, legal and often I&IT and communications), client/customer services then divisions based on whatever operational services the organization provides. The structure apparently designed by the new CAO of COB defies easy description – and why is the natural response of COB to create more, to proliferate, rather than to find efficiencies and savings through consolidation.

    However, my initial reaction to this structure was how unseemly and almost precipitous in terms of timing. Our new City Manager/CAO has been in his chair exactly 2 months. And even if he had a well-formed idea of what he wanted to implement, it would have been wise to sit and observe for several more months; to see from a different perspective those things that actually worked. I believe that he needed to be far more temperate and deliberate, and not only for appearance sake. He has created a brand new and startlingly different organization in which the working relationships between functions have substantially changed. He may believe that chaos is the best breeding ground of creation – but I don’t and it is the Burlington citizen and taxpayer who will dance to this discordant piper. There will be, I think, a period in which ‘who does what’ will be confused and confusing or in which operational silos will appear. I had great hope for Mr. Basit. I am much less enthused today.

    A final observation; there is no way that the nature and extent of this reorganization was not known, at least by the Mayor, before Mr. Basit took his chair. It is a singular demonstration of how dangerous and dysfunctional are the strong mayor powers that Meed Ward has stubbornly retained, despite the opposition of the majority of her Council. The City is now run by two people – the Mayor and the CAO and he only serves at her pleasure.

  • Stephen White

    Four divisions each with one to two departments, and each headed by a Commissioner. 9 Commissioners in total. Really?

    Begs the question: why not amalgamate Human Resources, Legal, Transformation and Corporate Affairs under one Commissioner entitled “Corporate Services”, then move Internal Audit and Risk Management under Finance since they all deal with financial issues? 9 Commissioners now becomes 5. 4 Commissioners eliminated x approximately $150K salary = $600K x 1.4 (SAVH + benefits and pension) = $840K savings.

    Oh, silly me. I forgot. We aren’t interested in saving money in this City. Just keep increasing the municipal taxes by 7.5%…or was that 10%+ ? The folks at City Hall can certainly add, but they haven’t quite mastered the time honoured by increasingly forgotten art of subtraction!

    BTW… for comparison purposes, courtesy of the 2023 PSSDA: Oakville manages with 4 Commissioners (i.e. Community Development; Community Services; Corporate Services and Treasury; Community Infrastructure). Markham has 2 (i.e. Corporate Services; Development Services). Richmond Hill has 3 (i.e. Planning & Building Services; Corporate & Finance; Community Services). Easy to check it out.

    https://www.ontariosunshinelist.com/employers

    Oakville and Markham also have larger populations than Burlington. Again, begs the question: why nine?