The Municipality of Middlesex Centre, a municipality in southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a population close to 20,000 residents (about the seating capacity of Madison Square Garden), has been partnered with Cloudpermit since 2019.
“Exploring new and innovative ways of working has always been a priority at Middlesex Centre,” shared Michael Di Lullo, Middlesex Centre’s Chief Administrative Officer. “With Cloudpermit’s team, we were able to configure the software to work best for our internal and end user needs. It has been accessible and easy to use for our staff – it didn’t take long for them to embrace and utilize the software.”
During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic this past year, Cloudpermit enabled the building department with less than 5 staff to continue operations, and over the last few years, Middlesex Centre’s staff and residents have benefited from an automated, digital, and paperless permitting solution.
“With Cloudpermit, our residents and local builders have benefited from an enhanced, online service and we’ve been able to take on additional responsibilities and services in neighbouring municipalities,” said Di Lullo. “Cloudpermit has given us consistency among our communities.”
Middlesex Centre’s council has shown its support for the e-permitting software.
“From a council perspective, they understand the value of an automated system,” Di Lullo explained. “With Cloudpermit, we’ve been able to keep up with the growth demands of our municipality and have realized substantial growth.”
In 2019, Middlesex Centre had 159 new dwellings built, and in 2020, increased its numbers of new dwellings built by 62.3% with 258 new dwellings, increasing permit value by 41.6% from $101 million in 2019 to $143 million in 2020.
“Cloudpermit was definitely beneficial in helping us achieve these new heights and enabling us to offer our services to neighbouring, smaller municipalities,” Di Lullo revealed. “As we are poised for continued growth demands, Cloudpermit will enable us to move above and beyond.”
When asked if Di Lullo had any advice to share with other Chief Administrative Officers, pushing for innovation came to mind:
“The biggest message I can send to my peers is to try new ways of working and new systems. The nice thing about e-permitting right now is that it is not reinventing the wheel – it has been tried and tested. It’s much easier to adopt a system when you know it’s being used successfully in a neighbouring municipality, so I encourage others to look into what works for their surrounding communities.”