The re-launch of Ontario ’ s premiere municipal management and leadership designation
By Garth Johns
THE NEW CMO
AMCTO recently announced its plan to re-launch the Certified Municipal Officer ( CMO ) accreditation in June 2015 as a management-and-leadership-focused designation for municipal professionals . The new CMO will be Ontario ’ s only municipal management designation that maps onto and accredits the specific professional skills and knowledge required to be a successful local government manager , regardless of operational area .
Why should we care about the new CMO ? There has been a great deal of confusion over the past few years regarding the many municipal professional designations available in Ontario . What is the perceived value of each in the sector ? Which one will best help to advance my career ?
One of the professional designations in question is the CMO . AMCTO ’ s current CMO program has been in place since 1998 , and of AMCTO ’ s roughly 2,200 members , 300 have attained the CMO . That ’ s a reasonably healthy percentage for a designation that ’ s not a mandatory requirement for membership . But you would expect more uptake for an accreditation that has been with us since 1998 , especially one that is consistently recognized as the most highly regarded municipal professional designation in Ontario . In addition , consider that there are approximately 300,000 municipal professionals working in Ontario , and , using a factor of 10 per cent , approximately 30,000 are tasked with management responsibility . That is the total potential market for the CMO .
Why aren ’ t more municipal managers clambering to become certified ? At the 2014 AMCTO Conference , President Michelle Smibert , CMO ,
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