Stakeholder engagement in building performance standards policy development

As with any new policy, engaging stakeholders is critical to its successful design and implementation. Engaging stakeholders early in the process – and throughout all stages – can help provincial, territorial, and municipal governments align policy objectives with community priorities, gather input directly from affected stakeholders, understand the needs of all concerned groups, and secure buy-in. Engagement ensures that stakeholders can provide input on the decision-making process and helps establish a successful approach and achievable outcomes.^{Footnote 1} By engaging and strengthening relations with the community, governments can build support for the adoption of a benchmarking or BPS policy.

Here are key considerations when facilitating stakeholder engagement opportunities to support benchmarking and/or BPS design or implementation:

• Identify interested stakeholders
  Assemble a comprehensive list of internal and external stakeholders who should be involved in the process. Prioritize inclusion over selectivity to avoid excluding interested community members. Creating an open process early in the policy design can facilitate information sharing and provide a contact list of interested stakeholders to keep informed throughout the policy development process.
• Create a structure of engagement
  Consider the resources and availability of stakeholders when choosing a structure for engaging the community. Allowing for flexibility (for example, holding in-person meetings with virtual components, varying the meeting times to accommodate work schedules and responsibilities, and sending meeting notes to all interested stakeholders) and providing more than one opportunity to engage can increase participation. Generating a contact list of interested stakeholders can help to streamline communication throughout the policy development process.
• Allow for ongoing engagement
  Consider developing a working group or board to help guide decision-making and tailor needs throughout the rulemaking and implementation process. Creating a benchmarking help desk to offer support and resources for those required to benchmark can help with continued relationship building and information sharing with stakeholders.