City of Moose Jaw Awarded for Using GIS to Modernize and Share City Records

REGINA, Esri Canada User Conference – September 26, 2018 – Esri Canada presented the City of Moose Jaw with an Award of Excellence today for its use of geographic information system (GIS) technology to streamline their records, keeping them in line with federal requirements and improving service to the community.

Until recently, the City of Moose Jaw kept infrastructure replacement and repair records, by city block, on recipe cards. Their computer-aided design and drafting (CADD) files formatted for print had no attribute data. The City’s Drafting department was creating design plans but there were no as-built drawings on file after 1991, older as-builts were only available on mylar. There were no authoritative infrastructure records.

With the federal government requiring municipalities to give them information about their stock, use and condition of tangible capital assets, the situation had to change. It was the City’s Finance department that identified an enterprise GIS as the best solution to improve information management.

“Small cities have to be as efficient as possible with their staff’s time and Moose Jaw has proven that smart use of GIS technology can free staff from repetitive tasks, to be much more productive. This is a great example of digital transformation,” said Alex Miller, president, Esri Canada.

The City began by attending Esri Canada User Conferences, training with Esri products and testing different applications. The enterprise GIS project was implemented in 2010 as a five-year project and during that time, the City of Moose Jaw developed a fully functional GIS department, providing access to GIS data across city departments: Engineering, Parks & Recreation, Financial Services, Planning & Land Division and Public Works.

Field workers used Esri’s Collector for ArcGIS app to update manhole classification, storm and sanitary main maintenance, pothole repairs, sidewalk and post-repair inspections. They tracked sewer flushing and validated infrastructure. ArcGIS was a centralized repository for data collection and storage which dramatically reduced duplication of work. This also allows them to use preexisting content from other GIS professionals, saving a lot of time. The City is in the process of converting drafting plans, as well as water service connections and infrastructure records on recipe cards, into ArcGIS.

“In a very short time, we have seen the return on our investment using ArcGIS. Having public information digitized, assigned locations, and organized in a centralized database, we’ve improved our ability to locate information and make timely decisions. ArcGIS allows easy access and retrieval of information for manipulation and analysis, which was nearly impossible using paper,” says Bret Rowlinson, GIS supervisor for the City of Moose Jaw.

Previously requested paper maps and manually cross-referenced property and tax information are now up to date, readily retrieved, converted into standard form letters and mailed. The public can also access web maps, keeping them informed of City decisions.

With assistance from Esri Canada Professional Services consultants, and using Cityworks PLL, the City is developing a governance strategy for GIS and a plan to keep the data current, which will be used in the issuing of various licensing, building and land permits.

Learn more about ArcGIS at esri.ca/arcgis.

About Moose Jaw, SK
Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, on the Trans-Canada Highway, 77 km (48 mi) west of Regina with a population of about 33,274. The city is an industrial centre and important railway junction for the area's agricultural products. CFB Moose Jaw is a NATO flight training school, and is home to the Snowbirds, Canada's military aerobatic air show flight demonstration team.

About Esri Canada  
Founded in 1984, Esri Canada provides geographic information system (GIS) solutions that empower people in business, government and education to make informed and timely decisions by leveraging the power of mapping and spatial analytics. These solutions enable organizations to better manage their resources, plan their future and collaborate within and beyond their organization. Esri Canada’s products and services help advance successful digital transformation. The company serves 12,000 organizations from 16 offices across Canada and is based in Toronto. In 2015, Esri Canada became a Gold Standard winner of Canada’s Best Managed Companies and in 2016 was named one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures. More information can be found at esri.ca. Follow Esri Canada on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

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