Assessing asset management capacity and needs of local governments in New Brunswick

This study assesses the asset management (AM) maturity, implementation challenges, and capacity-building needs of local governments in New Brunswick, Canada, following updated provincial AM reporting requirements introduced alongside the 2023 Local Governance Reform. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected through a province-wide survey of municipalities (53% response rate) and eight follow-up interviews with municipal staff. The findings indicate that while AM is widely endorsed in principle, most municipalities, particularly smaller and rural governments, remain at early stages of AM maturity and report limited organisational capacity to meet evolving provincial expectations. Key barriers include weak integration between AM plans and capital budgeting, low AM awareness among elected officials, fragmented guidance, and constraints in financial and human resources. Municipal respondents identified a strong need for practical and scalable support mechanisms, including standardised core asset management plan components, targeted funding for external expertise, regional shared-service models, and short-format, risk- and climate-informed training. Based on these findings, the paper advances evidence-based recommendations aimed at strengthening provincial AM support structures and improving the conditions for effective AM implementation across municipalities. The results underscore the importance of aligning diagnostic assessments of AM capacity with proportionate, context-sensitive policy interventions to advance sustainable municipal infrastructure management.