If you live in Nanaimo and have a reno planned, your life may have just become easier. The city has selected the Community Development Software developed by Vancouver-based Clariti to replace its current system. Implementation of the new platform is underway, led by Clariti’s partner Avocette Technologies.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Nanaimo to provide an easy-to-use system that will help the city meet its performance targets and development goals, said Cyrus Symoom, Clariti's co-CEO.

Currently, the city relies on a 20-year-old land management system that Clariti’s centralized community development platform will replace, enabling a fully online experience for customers and staff. It couldn’t come at a more opportune time. Nanaimo documented its second-busiest year on record for development activity in 2022, with total building permit values surpassing $410 million.

Overall, the city’s goals for the project are fourfold. First, it hopes to simplify and accelerate the permit application process for customers. Secondly, it aims to increase staff’s visibility into the approval and review process, with real-time reports and dashboards to help stay on target and clearly display areas of responsibility. Thirdly, it will streamline the plan review and approval process to reduce the time between submission, acceptance, and approval, and help the city meet its performance targets. Finally, it will modernize the inspections process using a mobile app that allows inspectors to take their office into the field. Once live, the city’s planning, building, engineering, and GIS departments will all use the system.

It’s also not the first time that tech from across the Straight of Georgia has been tapped into the city of Nanaimo. UrbanLogiq, a software company that arms its clients with ultra-specific data to help them make decisions on things like traffic or economic development, linked up with the region earlier this year. The company used the work as a case study and caught up with Nanaimo’s manager of transportation Jamie Rose and assistant manager Barbara Thomas to share their experiences.