Municipal policies,
written to be used.
Spencer Morley Consulting writes and updates policies for municipalities anywhere in Canada: AI adoption policies and procedures, communications policies, public participation policies, and other council and administrative policies. Each one is written in plain language for council, grounded in the legislation that applies in your province, and paired with the procedures staff need to apply it.
Book a 15-minute callPolicies we write.
- AI adoption policy and procedures: a council policy and the staff procedures that make it usable.
- Communications policy: who speaks for the municipality, how council and administration communicate, and how residents are kept informed.
- Public participation and engagement policy: when and how residents are engaged in decisions, built to your province’s notice and engagement rules.
- Other council and administrative policies, new or due for review: ask about yours.
Recent work includes AI adoption policies and procedures, a municipal communications policy update and a public participation policy.
Anywhere in Canada.
Municipal law is provincial, so every engagement starts by confirming the legislation that applies where you are. The method below stays the same; the legal grounding, approval chain and length change to fit your province and the size of your municipality. Work is delivered remotely, with on-site sessions where they help.
Policy and procedure, together.
A policy sets direction and authority, and council adopts it. Procedures set the day-to-day rules, and administration maintains them. Writing both at once means the policy can stay stable while the procedures keep up with practice, and staff are never left to interpret principles on their own.
How the work runs
One method for every policy we write.
Every policy is built to connect to the policies and bylaws you already have. Six phases, from first conversation to a council-ready draft.
- Phase 01
Discovery & regulatory grounding
Sponsor & designated lead
What happens in practice today, what council expects, and which legislation applies in your province.
- Phase 02
Policy suite cross-reference
Where the value is
Existing policies and bylaws are read for conflicts and gaps, so the new policy attaches to them instead of sitting beside them.
- Phase 03
Precedent benchmarking
Policies adopted by other Canadian municipalities are checked against present law before they inform the draft.
- Phase 04
Two-tier drafting
Policy + procedure
A council policy sets principles and authority. Companion procedures set the day-to-day steps staff follow.
- Phase 05
Review & refinement
Draft language is tested with administration, and with anyone who will apply it, before council sees it.
- Phase 06
Council-ready finalization
Finalized in council’s format and numbering: the policy for council’s approval, procedures approved separately, commonly by the CAO.
Phase 2 reads and cross-references the new policy against
- Related council policies & bylaws
- Privacy & records obligations
- Codes of conduct
- Communications & social media
- Council governance & delegation
- Administrative procedures
between phases 4 and 5
Before the second draft, the policy and procedure are run against written case scenarios (hypothetical, roles only), tracing authority, reporting duties and decisions across the policy, the procedure and the surrounding instruments. Each finding is resolved through a draft amendment, an operational action or a recorded decision; material revisions are retested.
A policy that stands on its own has nothing holding it up.
When a new policy sits beside the existing suite instead of inside it, nothing in the other policies points at it, no governance instrument gives it standing, and shared language is written twice. Duplicated language drifts apart at the first amendment.
So we write the new policy inside your policy suite. We reconcile definitions, responsibilities, approval routes and incident procedures across your existing instruments, and identify the companion amendments needed to implement it, with an owner and a review point for each.
A few useful answers.
Who writes municipal policies for Canadian councils?
Spencer Morley Consulting, an Edmonton-based firm founded in 2023, writes and updates municipal policies for councils anywhere in Canada, including AI adoption policies and procedures, communications policies and public participation policies.
Do you work with municipalities outside Alberta?
Yes. Spencer Morley Consulting works with municipalities across Canada. Each policy is grounded in the legislation of the municipality’s own province.
Can you update an existing policy instead of starting over?
Yes. Many engagements start from a policy that is several years old. The existing document is reviewed against current legislation and practice, and revised rather than replaced where that serves council better.
Who owns the documents?
You do. They are delivered as your documents, under your name, for you to adopt, amend and maintain.
Tell us what you’re facing.
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