Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations would like to thank everyone who has expressed an interest in this year's Municipal Internship Program. The host municipality for this year will be the Municipality of hte County of Kings in the Annapolis Valley, and our newest intern, has been hired and has begun to work with the municipality.

If you are interested in this program, please check back again next spring for information on next year's internship positions.

About the Municipal Internship Program

The internship program is designed to attract recent post-secondary graduates to the field of municipal government administration. The objective of the program is to assist Nova Scotia’s municipalities in attracting, training and development of competent, well-rounded senior municipal administrators with leadership capacity as a means of assisting municipalities with their succession planning. It is expected that upon the successful completion of the municipal internship program, interns will be prepared to enter municipal administration careers in Nova Scotia’s municipalities. SNSMR, the AMA, and Nova Scotia’s municipalities, are providing this opportunity for municipalities to look at future vacancies in their management structure and to participate in recruiting university graduates to train for potential or expected vacancies.

The Nova Scotia Municipal Internship Program will provide between 50% to 75% of the cost, up to a total of $25,000 to municipalities to hire and support the training of an intern for a 12 month period. The intern will be an employee of the municipality for the term of the internship and participating municipalities will be expected to provide additional financial resources to cover the cost of salary, employment expenses, registration for workshops and conferences and related expenses.

During this period, the intern will be exposed to a variety of different aspects of managing a municipality. The interns are to be personally mentored, and coached by the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) or the senior administrative officer of the host municipality, and supervised by the senior management team.

The scope of the program is broad so that the intern will have an opportunity to explore each of the key functions of their host municipality. The training will include orientation sessions sponsored by Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations, the AMA Annual Conference, and the AMA Spring Workshop, the annual Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities conference, and the Nova Scotia Planning Directors Association Conference. These sessions provide a valuable opportunity for the intern to network with administrative staff of other municipalities and to gain a perspective on matters relevant to municipal government in Nova Scotia. As well, these sessions provide an opportunity to learn about provincial services and to meet and become familiar with provincial personnel.

Introduction to the Municipal Internship Program (for Interns)

The purpose of the internship position is to receive training from a municipality, SNSMR, the AMA, and the UNSM, in key aspects of municipal management. Interns will follow a workplan prepared by Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations and customized by the host municipality. Interns will work and train with the host municipality’s CAO or their designate in the prescribed functional areas to learn about municipal governance, management and service delivery. The workplan provides a basic outline of the kinds of experiences the intern will be expected to receive during their term with the municipality, however, in addition, the intern will be working with the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities and the Association of Municipal Administrators of Nova Scotia on committees and projects as they may become available. The
internship program is a partnership between Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations, the Association of Municipal Administrators and the host municipality. (While the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities is not a formal partner in the Municipal Internship Program, the union represents an important aspect of the intern’s experience and training. Opportunities may arise for the intern to participate in projects sponsored by the UNSM during their term as intern.)

The Workplan

The intern and host municipality and SNSMR work collaboratively to determine the most effective method of completing the prepared Workplan. The Workplan is to be used mainly as a guide to allow flexibility in timelines and to allow the municipality or Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations to include additional activities as deemed appropriate. While it is hoped that interns will receive experience in all areas outlined in the workplan, it is understood that not all municipalities are in a position to offer such experiences in every area. When the host municipality is not able to provide experience in a particular area of importance, SNSMR will work with the CAO and each intern to ensure that such exposure and experience maybe gained by partnering with other municipalities.

In addition to learning the key functions of municipal government, you as an intern will have an opportunity to develop networking, leadership, and teambuilding skills by observing, experiencing and practicing such skills throughout the duration of the program. Networking with other interns either currently or previously in the program is one of the best ways for an intern to expand their learning opportunities. Other interns can arrange site visits to neighboring municipalities for learning opportunities, can involve new interns in committee and project work that will also provide unique opportunities to gain experience in municipal governance and administration. Networking may involve site visits to other municipalities to observe how things are done in other municipal units, attend council meetings in other units (as not all councils operate in quite the same manner), and frequent exchange of ideas and involvement in a variety of opportunities for learning and gaining experience. Interns are often asked to work on committees for the Association of Municipal Administrators, the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities or Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations or a joint committee of these stakeholder groups during their term.

Examples of exercises and activities you may be involved in as an intern include:

Identifying the roles and responsibilities of council and administration;
Assisting with the preparation of operating and capital budgets;
Reviewing/drafting bylaws;
Preparing the agenda for the regular council/committee meetings;
Interacting with department heads;
Interacting with various boards and committees;
Leading or being part of a team working on projects for the UNSM or the AMA or Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations
Handling public and research inquiries;
Researching policy issues,
Organizing or working with others to organize and hold public consultation sessions,
Presenting at UNSM or AMA conferences or sessions sponsored by SNSMR,
Attend Regional AMA meetings (in their own region and if possible in other regions)
Networking with other interns on projects either by telephone, email or in meetings arranged for networking purposes,
Attending conferences sponsored by the UNSM, the AMA, SNSMR or the Nova Scotia Planning Directors Association whenever possible; and
Participating on interview panels for future interns

Journal writing

To further enhance their learning, the interns are expected to maintain a journal of activities describing training progress, things learned and observed, and questions they may have. Monthly reports based on the journal are submitted to Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations. A journal will be provided to the intern SNSMR and the intern should maintain their journal on a daily basis so that when SNSMR representatives visit, the intern will be able to go through the journal with them to describe the number and types of experiences the intern has had the opportunity to become involved with.

Challenges

Municipal administration is an ever-changing environment. Interns will be faced with a wide variety of tasks and shifting priorities. It will be challenging for interns and host municipalities to remain focused on achieving the goals of the Workplan in addition to the variety of other tasks interns will be expected to become involved with. Meeting this challenge require regular check-ins, reviewing goals and expectations, and open and honest communication between the intern, the CAO of the host municipality and Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations.

Contacts

The nature of the position requires that the intern be in contact with many different people; however, the intern will be responsible for reporting to the host municipality’s CAO or their designate. Interns can expect to have regular contact with:
Senior municipal managers;
Mayor/Warden;
Municipal councillors;
Community representatives;
Committee/board chairpersons and members;
The Association of Municipal Administrators of Nova Scotia;
The Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities;
Other interns working on projects in Nova Scotia
Staff from Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations; and,
The general public.

The Nova Scotia Municipal Internship Program will be receiving applications for next year's internship program starting in January. If you have questions about the program, or if you are interested in seeking an internship position, please contact Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations through askus@gov.ns.ca .