Council for Canadian Urbanism

Established in 2006 at the Vancouver World Urban Forum and World Planners Congress, CanU has successfully partnered with national and local professional organizations: Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) and the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI).

CanU has initiated a series of presentations under the banner “Canadian Urbanism from Coast to Coast.” Presented by a national panel of CanU members at various conferences and seminars in Canada and the U.S, the “Coast to Coast” was a means of showcasing not only best practices but also educating ourselves through sharing our experiences. Evolving from best practice examples of urbanism and urban design across the country, these presentations have raised the awareness of what we call “Canadian Urbanism” and started the debate around the key concepts and ideas that define it.

At the CIP Conference in Quebec City in 2007 the group organized a series of presentations expanding the Coast to Coast idea in more depth on a series of key issues in Canadian Urbanism – Big Cities issues, Urbanizing Suburbia, Urban design and Heritage, etc.

In 2008, at the Winnipeg CIP Conference the group organized an entire “Celebrating Canadian Urbanism” (CCU) stream touching on a whole spectrum of issues ranging from sustainable and healthy development, City-region, Prairie and Big Cities urbanism to Case Studies and Urban Design Methods and Tools.

In 2009, CanU held a 3 hour course on “Planning and Design for Sustainable and Healthy Development” at the Ontario Association of Architects Conference. A number of CanU members made presentations at the CIP/OPPI Conference in Niagara Falls.