Interpreting the Capital Planning Toolkit

The Capital Planning Toolkit released in Ontario in November 2010 has clarified the roles and expectations of the LHIN and Ministry in the review and approval process and added rigour to the submission requirements for the “approval to plan” stage (the Pre-Capital Submission). Like all toolkits, it is interpreted and improved through the experience of users. Some of Agnew Peckham’s key learnings  include:

Pre-Capital Submission and Stage 1 Planning:

• To prepare the Pre-Capital Submission for a larger project requires completion of several Stage 1 planning elements (volume projections, program and service planning, current and future major space elements and  space projections). Questions regarding alternative service delivery models considered in planning are also more efficiently addressed if this work has been done in a service delivery model/master program context;  while the investment may be difficult to make, in our experience it proves to be less costly overall.

• Consult before you begin and throughout the process. Speak with your LHIN about how they would like to be involved in the process, their expectations and whether they will review a draft that can be refined prior to going to the LHIN board.

Stage 2 Planning

• CEO involvement is required:

• The funding available for programming services for MOHLTC approved projects is 1 per cent of capital costs; This funding is intended to cover the costs of both stage 2 and stage 3 work by the programmer. We suggest that organizations include the 1 per cent of construction costs in their budgeting process to cover programming services you may require in subsequent stages.    

Stage 3 Planning

• The functional programmer’s role  is to review the drawings, comment on whether the drawings are consistent with the intent of the functional program, make suggestions for change and provide a report of the assessment. In our experience, clients find that assisting the users to review and interpret the drawings contributes to the improved functionality of the space.

For more information, please contact Lucy Brun, Partner.