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The Township in Ontario automates processes for its building department with CityView’s municipal land management and community development solutions.

Prior to CityView, Loyalist Township used an older software system that relied heavily on manual data input and processes. Looking to improve efficiencies when it came to inspections, the Township relied on its neighbors to provide references.

Loyalist Township joins a wide array of municipalities within Ontario that use CityView’s municipal land management and community development solutions to automate processes. Despite a global pandemic, CityView was able to implement several modules for the Township on its browser-based platform, Workspace, in just six months after contract signing.

CityView was the only vendor that was able to meet all of Loyalist’s requirements. “It’s almost a no-brainer,”  says Stephen Mailloux, Deputy Chief Building Official for Loyalist, regarding the software selection process. “CityView provides proven, trusted software.”  The Township selected CityView’s out-of-the-box version as it met nearly all needs, with just a few minor tweaks.

The old way of doing things generated massive amounts of paper, which created thick files the Township had to store. The old system didn’t have any built-in workflows or automation and relied on manual input by staff. With its transition to CityView Permits & Inspections, almost everything is now electronic, not to mention automated. “We’ve easily saved 15 minutes per inspection with CityView,”  says Stephen. “The difference has been night and day. Once I put info into the CityView database, it’s live; I don’t need to worry about saving it elsewhere and uploading it later.”  

Loyalist also implemented CityView Property Information and CityView Mobile, along with CityView’s unique Microsoft Outlook Add-in and Word Add-In tools. The Microsoft add-ins allow staff within the Township’s building division to leverage MS Outlook tasks, appointments and to-do lists from right within CityView and merge CityView data seamlessly into its letter outputs with MS Word.

“The best thing about CityView Mobile,”  Stephen says, “is that we can add comments on the spot, change the inspection to pass or fail and then email the results and move on to the next inspection.”  This saves a considerable amount of time for inspectors, having the ability to input results directly from the field, thereby boosting their productivity. The end result is more inspections are completed in less time.

The Township is enjoying CityView’s automation and tracking features, which were lacking in their old, paper-based and manual system. “CityView allows for better visibility into all permit and inspection applications coming in and now we can track their progress and status,”  Stephen comments. With the old system, the team didn’t have a way to manage activities or automate inspector scheduling.

Thankful for CityView’s advanced technologies, Loyalist is happy to have transitioned to CityView in time for the resurgence of construction and permit/inspection requests, which the province had halted for a time in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus. As soon as construction re-opened for the province, “We were flooded for permit and inspection requests for pools, decks and the like,”  Stephen says. Handling the demand rush was not a problem for Stephen’s department, since they were able to process all permit applications and inspections via CityView.

Finally, Stephen praised the CityView implementation team for their dedicated and quick work. “The whole process, from data collection to configuration went smoothly,”  Stephen relays. “The entire CityView team has been on-point and professional; everyone on the project team knew their roles and any issues were either dealt with on the spot or corrected very quickly - within one to two days.”

Loyalist Township’s building division is grateful that the CityView software is making their jobs much easier, so they can get more done in less time. They no longer have to worry about making copies, storing massive paper files or being able to keep up with demand or inspection scheduling. Transitioning to electronic processing positions the Township to be able to handle future growth, expand staff productivity and increase customer satisfaction.

As a result of the building department’s experience, the Township is now considering the use of CityView Planning and CityView Electronic Plans Review. Loyalist is a perfect example of a smaller community that adopts CityView in stages. Once the value is seen in one department, it is easy to imagine the same benefits in others. Every department’s business processes and data are in one system and the tools and user experience are identical for all.

About Loyalist Township

Loyalist Township is a growing community of 15,000+ people situated on the north shore of Lake Ontario between the Town of Greater Napanee and the City of Kingston. The Township is a blend of rural and urban areas with a number of smaller hamlets throughout, including its very own island community, accessible by ferry. The Township offers a wide range of amenities for visitors of all interests and ages. Loyalist Parkway (King’s Highway 33) runs along the lakefront, a defining feature of the Township, between Amherstview and the western boundary of the Township. By car, the Township is two to three hours from Ottawa and Toronto and less than four hours from Montreal.