A Manitoba-based consulting firm is rolling out what it says is the first municipal-focused artificial intelligence training program of its kind in the province, aimed at helping local governments use AI tools safely and practically without major costs or technical expertise.
THE WOA CONSULTING GROUP Ltd. announced the launch of its new 100 AI Municipal Solutions program on Jan. 9, a four-hour, hands-on workshop designed specifically for Canadian municipal staff and leaders.
The program responds to mounting pressures facing municipalities, including staffing shortages, aging infrastructure, tight budgets and rising service expectations, while AI tools such as ChatGPT become increasingly common in everyday workplaces.
WOA founder and president Anna Mondor said municipalities across Manitoba are not lacking interest in AI, but are struggling with capacity.
“The feedback from the last few months of 2025 is stark: it’s not about a lack of interest; it’s about a lack of capacity,” Mondor said. “Municipal leaders tell us they simply don’t have the staffing resources to manage infrastructure applications, let alone learn complex new technology.”
Mondor pointed to the Manitoba Water Services Board as one example, noting it is currently oversubscribed by dozens of times, with more than 100 municipalities applying for funding far beyond available budgets.
“They want tools that help them clear that infrastructure backlog now, not theoretical tools for five years from now,” she said. “They need AI to help draft grant applications and optimize public works schedules because they physically cannot hire enough staff to do it manually.”
Mondor said the program differs from broader AI conferences and summits by focusing on immediate, day-to-day municipal needs.
“Most AI events focus on the big picture of making the province an AI powerhouse, which has value,” she said. “But that’s not what a CAO in a rural RM needs on a Tuesday morning. This isn’t ‘Beyond ChatGPT’ — it’s ‘Right Now with ChatGPT.’”
The training is built around real municipal workflows identified in the Association of Manitoba Municipalities Winter 2026 Special Report on AI, including council reporting, bylaw drafting, grant writing and summarizing large technical documents.
“While others debate hypothetical futures, we’re teaching staff how to draft a water waste bylaw or summarize a 200-page engineering report in 30 seconds,” Mondor said.
The workshop introduces more than 100 low-risk AI use cases across finance, administration, planning, public works, human resources and communications. Participants test real examples during a guided “prompt lab,” adapting tools for reports, emails, frequently asked questions and council materials.
The program was developed in partnership with senior AI consultant Garrett Wasny, an award-winning educator who has trained professionals in more than 60 countries.
“AI is no longer a distant trend for municipalities — it’s a working tool that can save hours every week in every department,” Wasny said. “Our goal is to translate global best practices into the Canadian municipal reality so even small and mid-sized communities can see real benefits without big systems or big budgets.”
Mondor said safeguards around privacy, security and responsible use are built directly into the training, drawing on the Government of Canada’s updated Guide on the Use of Generative AI and the federal Directive on Automated Decision-Making.
“We don’t just talk about ethics; we operationalize them,” she said. “Every use case includes a human-in-the-loop workflow so no AI tool makes an administrative decision without human verification.”
She added the program is designed to help municipalities prepare for the June 24, 2026 federal compliance deadline under the directive.
WOA deliberately designed the program so municipalities can implement it immediately without new systems, IT teams or additional staff.
“If we walked in requiring a new IT procurement or a data scientist, we’d fail,” Mondor said. “By focusing on general-purpose tools that run in a browser, a single administrator in a small office can start automating tasks like council report summaries right away.”
Mondor said the fastest time savings tend to come from routine administrative work, such as drafting and summarizing documents, procurement writing and responding to common public inquiries.
“The biggest wins are in the drudgery of administration,” she said. “Reducing call volume by answering basic service questions or cutting hours spent summarizing meetings can have an immediate impact.”
Looking ahead, Mondor said AI has the potential to level the playing field between small communities and large cities.
“We’re moving from reactive repair to proactive prediction,” she said. “Over the next five years, AI will allow a town of 2,000 to have the data analysis capabilities of a city of 200,000, especially when it comes to grant applications and service delivery.”
In addition to the workshop, WOA offers optional follow-up packages for municipalities ready to move toward implementation, including AI readiness assessments, roadmaps, pilot project design and an accelerated “AI-ready in 60–90 days” option that produces council-ready plans.
WOA said participants leave the workshop with a toolkit of use cases and prompts, access to a municipal AI dashboard and a custom ChatGPT notebook, along with an implementation manual to support next steps.
“This isn’t just awareness training,” Mondor said. “It’s about choosing the right use cases, designing low-risk pilots and making AI a trusted everyday tool in municipal operations.”
