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Through the innovation of MPAC’s technologies and processes, we are elevating our data quality to ensure we can deliver market valuation and value-added insights.
Sharing our property insights
MPAC’s valuation experts maintain Ontario’s diverse property inventory, including the key features and values of every parcel in the province.
Our analysis of the changes within Ontario’s inventory helps municipalities and industry leaders identify emerging trends in how communities across the province continue to evolve.
To help keep a pulse on the changes in Ontario’s property landscape, MPAC established a new team focused on generating value-added insights to support overall corporate objectives.
Paris, Ontario
This year, we looked at residential home improvement building permit trends from across Ontario, which highlighted:
- For the first time in three years, Ontario saw the number of residential building permits drop after reaching all-time highs during the pandemic.
- Across Ontario, over 108,000 home improvement and new development building permits were issued, reflecting an approximate 11.6 per cent decrease from the previous year.
- Still, permit numbers exceeded 2019 levels by 22 per cent.
In cities with significant condominium concentrations,
self-storage growth is striking. Some insights gathered through our analysis include:
- The province now has 37.3 million square feet of commercial self-storage space. This equals the total ice surface of almost 2,200 NHL rinks!
- In the last three years alone, over 4.2 million square feet have been added to the storage footprint, marking an increase of about 11 per cent.
- Ontario condominiums are 35 per cent smaller on average than they were 25 years ago.
Paris, Ontario
Developing a new Corporate Data Strategy
In 2023, MPAC’s Board of Directors approved a new Corporate Data Strategy. To develop the new Corporate Data Strategy, MPAC held extensive municipal and taxpayer discovery sessions over 12 weeks, which helped us understand the needs of our partners and customers.
The goal of the Strategy is to position MPAC as a partner with property data users to answer the questions they are currently asking – from how much is my home worth, to how do I plan infrastructure for a new housing development?
In partnership with the Association of Municipalities Ontario (AMO), we engaged with Ontario’s municipalities through various strategies. We conducted surveys, interviews, and focus groups. At the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) Conference in the spring, we also hosted a live polling session.
Through the feedback, we gained a comprehensive understanding of the various perspectives and experiences within the municipal sector. We found challenges and opportunities, which will help our progress and evolution. For example, we heard about the types of business and planning problems municipal staff across numerous departments were trying to solve using property data.
To help solve some of the challenges identified through our discovery sessions, we established a robust data release framework that will help streamline our processes, facilitate joint efforts with our partners and expedite our ability to share information.
The message we heard was clear: property data is valuable and MPAC is here to partner with data users to meet their current and future needs.
Consulting with our partners
3,300
surveys distributed to municipal staff and Heads of Council across Ontario.
518
municipal survey participants, in collaboration with AMO.
11
focus group participants in the Western Ontario warden caucus.
5
focus group participants in the Eastern Warden caucus.
6
municipal interviews conducted.
1
live polling session at FONOM.
Modernizing our building
permit processes
As MPAC focuses on improving efficiencies through modernizing our data collection processes and accessing authoritative sources, our e-permitting pilot played a crucial role in enhancing our operations and our ability to update data in a timely manner.
By the end of 2023, nearly 340 municipalities sent digital building permits, and over 31 per cent of all permits are being received electronically, enabling MPAC to capture new assessment 150 days earlier, resulting in faster revenue generation for Ontario’s municipalities.
To further support municipalities through the building permit process, we also developed a new Building Permit Dashboard in Municipal Connect.
The new dashboard provides municipalities with greater insight into new assessment. It enables municipal staff members to review all building permits sent to MPAC.
The dashboard enhances transparency by providing a better understanding of the building permit’s status and it improves communication between municipalities and MPAC throughout the building permit review process.
Developing innovative technologies
MPAC has always been eager to integrate innovative technologies into the delivery of our products and services to property owners and stakeholders.
Over the past few years, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have entered the mainstream. As AI becomes more advanced, we recognize the potential to augment various aspects of our operations and we have begun exploring its use to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of our operations.
Some of the ways we are integrating AI and ML at
MPAC include:
- Modernizing how we assess residential properties.
- Testing Real Time Value time adjustments to improve our overall processes.
- Upgrading MPAC’s Automated Valuation Model, making it more accurate for our clients in Ontario.
MPAC is also modernizing our data visualization capabilities by developing an innovative new platform which reimagines geospatial visualization and will be able to offer insights ranging from sales market trends to property owner population movements.
Safeguarding our systems
MPAC’s ability to innovate our technology and deliver more value to Ontario would not be possible without the dedication and ingenuity of our IT department’s top talent, who are committed to meeting international standards in IT.
This year, we began developing an AI Policy that will encourage employees to bolster the power of AI and machine learning securely to protect our corporate assets and intellectual property.
In addition to achieving ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27017 re-certifications in 2023, MPAC also achieved ISO/IEC 27018, the first international standard created specifically for data privacy in cloud computing.
We are proud to be one of 100 companies in Canada to hold all three certifications. We also continue to maintain our IT Support HDI Certification.
The IT team also received nominations in six categories for the 2023 Technical Support HDI Awards, including:
- Best Service Improvement Initiative
- Best Service and Support Culture
- Best Customer Experience
- Best Service and Support Organization
- Best Service and Support Technician
- Best Use of Technology
“Being a cyber security professional fills me with pride because I can make positive contributions to our society by keeping MPAC’s data safe. Cyber security is very important at MPAC, and it is integrated into all our business processes.”
Muhammed U.
MPAC Employee
MPAC Success Stories:
Our achievements in mass appraisal
MPAC’s Assessment Standards and Mass Appraisal team was recognized as ‘highly commended’ in the 2023 Valuation Award category by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Americas, highlighting MPAC’s industry expertise and leadership.
This exceptional group leads the development and application of mass appraisal models, in support of MPAC’s commitment to innovation and the pursuit of quality. They are constantly working to maintain the balance between emerging technologies and best practices in valuation, so that we can deliver the highest quality products.