In July 2007, our project team began preparing the 2007 FCM-McGill municipal infrastructure survey. The survey questionnaire was developed following a review of past municipal infrastructure surveys undertaken internationally and in Canada. A draft survey questionnaire was developed and circulated for review by a group of municipal finance, engineering, and infrastructure planning professionals across Canada. English and French versions of the final survey were then developed.
A list of target municipalities was identified to provide a regionally balanced set of potential respondents, ranging in size from smaller communities (less than 10,000) to the country's largest urban centres (more than one million). The survey was also made available to other interested municipalities upon request. In total, 166 surveys were distributed, beginning on October 6, 2007.
Participating municipalities were asked to answer six broad questions by November 6, 2007. These questions dealt primarily with current budgeting practices, existing and projected upgrading and new infrastructure (capital) needs, and factors compounding local infrastructure deficits.
The survey was developed in two basic formats: (1) an online format that enabled municipalities to submit information directly into a central database for collection and analysis by the project team; and (2) a version of the survey in Microsoft Word format that enabled municipalities to submit their responses by fax or e-mail to the project team, who subsequently entered the results in the central database on behalf of municipalities.
Where required, questions included an accuracy scale, where respondents could indicate the relative accuracy of their responses. The survey also included detailed instructions and a glossary of key terms. Throughout the response period, the project team was available to respond to participants' inquiries by telephone and e-mail.