Community Stories

Innovations and Efficiencies

A story by The City of Red Deer

January 23, 2023

During today’s regular City Council meeting, Council had the opportunity to hear about some of the cool ways City staff have approached operations over the last year that have made a difference to our service delivery.

The report identified innovations and efficiencies from January 2021 to December 2022 and highlighted some of the work The City of Red Deer is doing as an organization to support a culture of innovative thinking and continuous improvement. It identified innovations and efficiencies by categorizing them into the four levers of change (below), and connected them to The City’s Value Framework, which explores the concept of “value” in the context of The City’s programs and services:

  • People and structure
  • Process and delivery
  • Information technology
  • Regulation and policy

“In many cases, efficiencies have created time savings for staff, enabling them to turn their attention to other priority areas of work,” said Tara Lodewyk, City Manager. “Through our improvements we add value to the service we provide the community and public. The report is just a snapshot of the work our staff do to improve value every day.”

Here are just some of the innovative ideas that City staff have come up with and implemented over the course of the last year.

  • Municipal Police added a downtown patrol unit to assist the RCMP Downtown Unit, and therefore enhance capacity of the RCMP Downtown Unit.
  • Combining the Parks and Public Works department, creating capacity and collaboration in staffing to support different crews and job types, providing internal coverage for staffing gaps.
  • Adding Activity Registrations to access recreation facilities. This new process for participating in programs was added during the pandemic and was maintained for operational efficiencies.
  • Last year, 215 on-street parking stalls were offered for temporary free parking options. Intended to increase frequency of visits to the downtown and reduce barriers to visiting.
  • Piloted the year-round outdoor patio on Ross Street in 2022/2023.

“Finding innovations and efficiencies is all about finding new ways of working, and embedding a culture of continuous improvement,” added Lodewyk.

The City has, and will continue to strive to be nimble, responsive and innovative in all that we do, and will report back to the community and to City Council regularly. If residents have ideas for us to consider, please visit www.reddeer.ca/reportaproblem and share your thoughts.

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