Workflow Automation
The single process orchestration engine for the entire Civic platform — every module that needs approvals, SLA tracking, or escalation plugs into Workflow Automation.
Uptime SLA
State Transition
Active Instances
Transitions/min
Purpose-Built for Canadian Municipalities
How It Works
The identity journey, step by step
From first registration to golden record resolution — how a resident's identity evolves across the platform.
Design a Workflow
A business analyst creates a new permit approval workflow using the visual designer.
How it works
The analyst opens the no-code canvas, drags a Start node, adds a human Task for 'Application Review', connects it to a Decision gateway for completeness check, branches to either 'Request More Info' (loop back) or 'Department Circulation' (parallel gateway sending to Zoning, Engineering, and Fire simultaneously). After all three approve, it flows to 'Manager Approval' and then 'Issue Permit'. She binds forms-engine forms to each human task, sets SLA targets, and publishes the workflow after sandbox testing.
Step 1 of 5
Purpose & Scope
What this module owns
Clear ownership boundaries prevent duplication and ensure every capability has exactly one authoritative home.
Owns
10Delegated to
4Case lifecycle specifics
Notification delivery
Business rules / calculations
Audit log storage
These capabilities are handled by dedicated modules and consumed via stable API contracts — keeping boundaries clean and ownership unambiguous.
Core Capabilities
What it does
4 capability groups comprising 8 discrete capabilities — each with API surface, business rules, and data ownership.
Drag-and-drop no-code workflow builder accessible to municipal business analysts without developer involvement.
No-Code Canvas
Drag-and-drop workflow builder accessible to municipal business analysts without developer involvement.
Node Types
Start, End, Task (human), Task (system/automated), Decision (if/else), Parallel Gateway (split/join), Timer, Sub-Workflow, Notification, Integration Action.
Connectors
Sequence flow, conditional flow (expression-based), default flow.
Form Binding
Attach forms-engine forms to human task nodes for data collection at each step.
Variables
Workflow-scoped variables with type enforcement (string, number, date, boolean, entity reference, list).
Versioning
Workflow definitions versioned — running instances continue on their version; new instances use latest published version.
Templates
Pre-built templates for common municipal processes (permit approval, procurement, FOI request, bylaw investigation, budget amendment, contract approval).
Define states, valid transitions, and guard conditions per entity type with full transition logging and side effects.
State Definition
Define states, valid transitions, and guard conditions per entity type.
Guard Conditions
Configurable per transition — e.g., in_progress → resolved requires resolution notes; pending_info pauses SLA clock.
Transition Logging
Every state transition recorded with timestamp, user, and reason.
Side Effects
Transitions can trigger notifications, field updates, integrations, or sub-workflows.
Reopen Logic
Configurable reopen window (default: 30 days after closure); after window, new linked entity required.
Real-World Scenarios
Who uses this, and how
4 persona-driven scenarios showing how Workflow Automation works in practice — from resident registration to privacy compliance.
Planning Analyst
Multi-Department Permit Review
A major development application requires simultaneous review by Zoning, Engineering, Fire, and Environmental departments.
Steps
- 1Applicant submits a site plan application through the permits portal
- 2Workflow starts and creates a parallel gateway, sending review tasks to all four departments simultaneously
- 3Each department reviewer receives a task in their queue with the application package and a 15-day SLA
- 4Zoning and Fire approve within 5 days; Engineering requests revisions (decision: 'Request Changes')
- 5The workflow loops the applicant back with specific revision requirements from Engineering
- 6Applicant resubmits; Engineering approves on second review
- 7Environmental completes their review and approves with conditions
- 8All four parallel branches join; workflow advances to Manager Approval for final sign-off
Outcome
Four departments reviewed in parallel instead of sequentially, reducing total review time from 60 days to 18 days. Every review decision and timeline is logged for audit and applicant transparency.
View scenario
Finance Director
Annual Budget Approval Cycle
The municipality's annual budget moves through department submissions, finance review, committee deliberation, and council adoption.
Steps
- 1Finance triggers the annual budget workflow, creating submission tasks for all 12 department heads
- 2Each department completes their budget request form (bound via forms-engine) by the SLA deadline
- 3Finance consolidates submissions and runs variance analysis — workflow routes to CFO review
- 4CFO requests revisions from 3 departments; workflow loops them back with specific questions
- 5Revised submissions flow back to Finance for final consolidation
- 6Workflow advances to Committee of the Whole for deliberation
- 7Committee recommends amendments; workflow routes amendments back for recalculation
- 8Final budget flows to Council for adoption vote — approval logged with recorded vote
Outcome
End-to-end budget cycle orchestrated with full audit trail, SLA tracking on each step, and automatic escalation for late submissions. Total cycle reduced from 4 months to 10 weeks.
View scenario
Records Clerk
FOI Request Processing
A Freedom of Information request is received and must be processed within the statutory 30-day deadline.
Steps
- 1FOI request arrives via portal and workflow creates a case with a 30-day SLA
- 2Auto-assignment routes it to the FOI queue; a records clerk claims the task
- 3Clerk identifies responsive records across three departments and sends collection tasks in parallel
- 4At Day 20 (SLA 67%), a reminder notification fires to the clerk and departments with outstanding responses
- 5Two departments respond; the third requests a 5-day extension — clerk pauses the SLA clock on that branch
- 6Third department submits records; clerk compiles the response package and redacts per MFIPPA
- 7Workflow routes the response package to the FOI Coordinator for review and approval
- 8Approved response is released to the requestor on Day 27 — within the statutory deadline
Outcome
Statutory deadline met with automated SLA tracking, parallel departmental coordination, and clock pause/resume for legitimate delays. Full audit trail available for IPC oversight.
View scenario
Emergency Manager
EOC Activation Workflow
A severe ice storm triggers Emergency Operations Centre activation with resource deployment and damage assessment workflows.
Steps
- 1Emergency Manager triggers the EOC Activation workflow at Level 2 (partial activation)
- 2Workflow sends parallel notification tasks to all designated emergency response roles
- 3Resource deployment tasks are created for Roads (salt/plow), Hydro (power restoration), and Social Services (warming centres)
- 4Each department head claims their deployment task and updates progress through the workflow
- 5Damage assessment sub-workflow launches — field teams submit inspection forms via mobile
- 6Escalation chain activates when Hydro response exceeds SLA — notification sent to CAO
Outcome
Coordinated multi-department emergency response with real-time status tracking, automatic escalation for lagging departments, and complete incident documentation for post-event review and provincial reporting.
View scenario
Internal Architecture
How it's built
3 architectural layers comprising 18 components — from API gateway to data quality engine.
3 layers · 18 total components
Workflow Automation
Every module owns a single bounded context, exposes stable APIs, and can be composed into any Civic product — that's the architecture that scales.
Krutik Parikh
Creator of Civic
Data Model
Entity Architecture
7 entities with 6 relationships — the authoritative schema for this bounded context.
Entities
Select an entity to explore its fields and relationships
API Surface
Integration Endpoints
12 RESTful endpoints across 3 resource groups — plus 9 domain events for async integration.
/api/v1/workflows/{defCode}/start
Start a workflow instance for an entity
/api/v1/workflows/instances/{id}
Get instance status and current position
/api/v1/workflows/instances/{id}/cancel
Cancel a running instance
/api/v1/workflows/definitions
List all published workflow definitions
Ecosystem
Products that depend on this module
21 Civic products consume Workflow Automation — making it one of the most critical platform services in the ecosystem.
CRM
Case lifecycle state machine, case routing, case escalation, case approval
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Licences & Permits
Multi-department application review, approval chain, inspection scheduling
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Planning & Development
Statutory process (circulation, public notice, committee, council decision, OLT appeal)
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Building Inspection
Inspection lifecycle, orders to comply, unsafe building orders
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Bylaw Enforcement
Investigation lifecycle, compliance orders, appeal process
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ERP / Finance
Journal entry approval, budget amendment, period close
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Accounts Payable
Invoice approval, three-way matching, payment approval, segregation of duties
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Procurement
Requisition → PO → receiving → matching → payment; bid evaluation, contract award
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Budget Management
Department submission → review → council deliberation → adoption
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HR & Payroll
Leave approval, hiring requisition, payroll processing, performance review
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Council & Agenda
Staff report approval chain, agenda assembly, bylaw lifecycle
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Document & Records
Retention disposition, FOI request processing, records review
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Grant Management
Application → council resolution → award → milestone tracking → close-out
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Social Housing
Waitlist processing, tenant selection, income review, eviction process
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Property Tax
Tax sale statutory process, appeal management
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Court / POA
Trial scheduling, sentencing, collections workflow
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Work Orders & 311
Service request triage, work order lifecycle, preventive maintenance scheduling
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Asset Management
Inspection → assessment → work order → capital planning
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Emergency Management
EOC activation, resource deployment, damage assessment
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Elections
Nomination processing, candidate compliance review
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Tax Sale
Statutory notice workflow, cancellation, tender, vesting
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Technical Specifications
Performance, Compliance & Configuration
Availability
Latency
Throughput
Concurrent Users
Audit
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to Integrate
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