The City of Hamilton has developed Guidelines for holding events outside on city property and, in some cases, events on private property that have a significant impact on City services, to ensure that the event is healthy and safe for the organizers, participants, the corporation and other citizens. The review of these outdoor events is done through the Special Events Advisory Team or SEAT, a team comprised of City staff representing various municipal departments and divisions, who ensures that all of the necessary permits, permissions and insurance are in place.
SEAT applications and the internal review process are administered by the Tourism and Culture Division’s Events Office. Over the last two years, the resources allocated for this administration have increased from 0.5 FTE to approximately 2.0 FTE across three staff positions. In 2015 the Events Office received 400+ SEAT applications with over 50% of the applications for small (less than 500 attendees) event. The growth in applications for small events, the increasing complexity of large events and expanding regulation requirements continues to put pressure on internal capacity.
The City of Hamilton, Tourism and Culture Division wishes to examine the current events approval process, currently known as SEAT. The purpose of the process review is to provide recommendations for change and implementation to which will make the process more efficient to administer and easier for applying event organizations. This will require a shift in how the process is positioned to the public and change the focus from who does the approving (e.g. the Special Events Advisory Team) to the outcome (e.g. event permit or approval).
**CORRECTION: The RFP incorrectly states Monday as the closing date. Submissions will be accepted until end of day Wednesday, January 6th.**
Download RFP
Closing date: 01/06/2016