Coming at the end of a tumultuous year for Canada and immediately following the State of Canada’s Cities Summit, this session situates housing within the broader economic and infrastructure agenda, examining what it will take to align public investment, institutional capital, and industry capacity.

This event is essential viewing for public officials, housing providers and developers, investors, and community leaders who need a clear picture of where Canada’s housing system is headed and how emerging institutions like Build Canada Homes and the CIB intend to deliver results.​

Learn more about the Ontario Bike Summit here.

Report author Jacquelyn West also discussed key findings with Bridget MacIntosh, a Toronto-based cultural strategist and contributor to the report. 

Download a copy of Let's Talk About Placemaking here. 

See and hear more about the Summit at citytalkcanada.ca.

See and hear more about the Summit at citytalkcanada.ca.

See and hear more about the Summit at citytalkcanada.ca. 

Canadian Urban Institute CEO Mary Rowe chats with Heather Hachigian, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Management at the School of Business at Royal Roads University in Victoria BC about the 'five pillars' of community wealth building solutions.

See and hear more about this program at citytalkcanada.ca

See and hear more at citytalkcanada.ca.

Dan Kelly is the CEO and Chair of the Board of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), whose thousands of members' economic activity represent 50 percent of Canada's GDP. Host Mary Rowe chats with Dan about the ways small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are reinventing themselves and how we can all support the socio-economic vitality they bring to our main streets. 

See and hear more about CUI's place-making initiatives at canurb.org.

This episode's two featured panels, recorded at CUI's State of Canada's Summit in December 2024, explore those elements - culture and social equity -  in the context of Infrastructure. Some of the featured voices include Isabelle Mondou, deputy minister of Heritage Canada, Brian McBay of Vancouver's 221A and Cathie O'Toole, CAO of the Regional Municipality of Halifax.

You can see and hear more from the Summit at citytalkcanada.ca.

And to wrap up the day's proceedings, host Mary Rowe moderates a panel of blue-ribbon 'distillers' of ideas to summarize the gleanings from this second-annual gathering in Ottawa.

You can see and hear more at citytalkcanada.ca.

In this episode, media and communications advisor Anne-Marie Aikins speaks with Carol Bélanger, City Architect for the City of Edmonton... the first such position in Canada.  In a similar vein,  research associate Léandro Santos caught up with Mathieu Grondin, the newly-appointed Nightlife Commissioner for the City of Ottawa.  Later, Anne-Marie returns to chat with Alex Bozikovic, columnist and architecture critic for The Globe and Mail about the relationship between design and infrastructure.

See and hear more from the Summit at citytalkcanada.ca.

Featured upfront, host Mary Rowe shares a pre-lunch chat with Leila Ghaffari, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Planning & Environment at Montreal's Concordia University, and Sarah Rosen Wartell,  president of the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C.

Later, Sadhu Johnstone, former City Manager for the City of Vancouver, drops by the studio to talk about his current role as a Climate Lead with the Climate Ready Infrastructure Service, a new CUI initiative in partnership with Housing and Infrastructure Canada.

You'll find more resources and details on the Summit at citytalkcanada.ca.

This episode features two discussions recorded at the State of Canada's Cities Summit in Ottawa last December, both dealing with bricks-and-mortar aspects of infrastructure; a session on securing real estate and lands needed to address the housing gap, and another on perhaps the most urgently needed resource - climate-ready infrastructure. 

You can see and hear more from the Summit at citytalkcanada.ca.

This episode recorded in December 2024 at the State of Canada's Cities Summit in Ottawa features a panel discussion titled Mental Health Matters: Building Supportive Main Streets & Downtowns, as moderated by Paul Johnson, City Manager for the City of Toronto. 

And CUI vice-president Robert Plitt chats with Andrea Barrack, vice-president of Sustainability and Impact at RBC, the Summit's presenting sponsor, about her takeaways from the sessions.

You can see and hear more from the Summit at citytalkcanada.ca

CUI CEO and event host Mary Rowe presents two featured panel discussions: fhe first is titled Infrastructure for Growth and is focused on innovative solutions for local economies of every size; and the second looks at AI and whether it can serve these same communities in processing the data needed for smart, future-proof management. 

You'll fine more info and resources from the Summit at citytalkcanada.ca.

Host Mary Rowe introduces highlights from the plenary sessions and other special events in this and upcoming episodes, beginning with the keynote presentation on Canada's infrastructure gap from Karen Chapple, director of the School of Cities at the University of Toronto...followed by a 'continental context' discussion on Making Canada Matter More, moderated by Andrea Barrack, VP of Sustainability and Impact at RBC.

You can see more about the Summit at citytalkcanada.ca.

For this third and final preview of CUI's State of Canada's Cities Summit, host Mary Rowe speaks with Don Iveson, whose civic and public sector career touches on the many components of urban infrastructure requiring healthy measures of investment and innovation.

Don will also be a featured guest at the Summit, which you can learn more about here.

This episode features host Mary Rowe in conversation with Fanny Tremblay-Racicot,  professor at l'École nationale d'administration publique (ENAP) in Québec and expert in local governance models. They discuss many of the innovative solutions emerging around Canada's infrastructure challenges. 

Learn more about the State of Canada's Cities Summit here.

To set the stage, host and CUI president/CEO Mary Rowe has invited some thought-leaders appearing in Ottawa to preview some of the core topics on the aganda...all coming back to why infrastructure matters - for innovation, equity, resilience, and more.

For this episode, Tracy Hadden Loh, a fellow in the Brookings Institution (Washington, DC) Metro program, joins Mary in conversation on what turned out to be a very consequential day for urban advocates on both sides of the border. 

Learn more about The State of Canada's Cities Summit here.

In developing 'A Living Capitol,' the downtown revitalization action plan CUI co-developed with many of Ottawa's civic and governmental leaders, some of the most informative views came courtesy of the directors of its Business Improvement Areas (BIAs). 

You'll hear from two of them, as Mary Rowe chats with Kevin McHale, executive director of the Sparks Street Community Improvement Association, and Nathalie Carrier, executive director of the ZAC Quartier Vanier BIA.

See and hear more at citytalkcanada.ca.

Mary and Jessie discuss the future of local, independent business in the capitol, and how it can benefit all corners of the community. 

See and hear more about the Ottawa Sessions, and 'A Living Capitol,' CUI's recently-released action plan for revitalizing the downtown core, at citytalkcanada.ca.

From soon-to-be vacant federal buildings to iconic public spaces like the Byward Market, the city has tremendous assets, along with its share of modern urban challenges, to influence a new action plan, 'A Living Capitol,' which CUI has co-developed with the Ottawa Board of Trade, Invest Ottawa and many other regional partners. 

Joining CUI president and CEO Mary Rowe at the table are Toon Dreessen, President of Architects DCA, along with Kaite Burkholder-Harris, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa and Zac Dayler, executive director of the Byward Market District Authority.

You'll find more to hear, see and read about CUI's Ottawa projects at citytalkcanada.ca

To set the stage from a 'big picture' perspective, CUI president and CEO Mary Rowe speaks to Tobi Nussbaum, CEO of the Natonal Capital Commission, and to Sueling Ching, President and CEO of the Ottawa Board of Trade and her colleague Hugh Gorman, CEO of real estate developer Collanade BridgePort. 

See and read more about these sessions and the action plan at citytalkcanada.ca.

In this final of four CityTalk episodes recorded at CUI's State of Canada's Cities Summit in Ottawa on November 30th, host Mary Rowe presents highlights from afternoon conversations around innovative, uplifting solutions that build community.

See, hear and read more about the Summit at canurb.org.

In the third of four CityTalk episodes recorded at CUI's State of Canada's Cities Summit in Ottawa on November 30th, host Mary Rowe presents highlights from afternoon sessions featuring local and national experts offering practical, street-tested solutions.

See, hear and read more from the Summit at canurb.org.

In the second of four City Talk episodes recorded at CUI's State of Canada's Cities Summit in Ottawa on November 30th, host Mary Rowe presents more highlights from morning sessions focussed on the key challenges and opportunities faced by every sector of urban life, and where collaboration can make all the difference.

See, hear and read more about Summit findings at canurb.org.

In this first of four CityTalk episodes recorded at CUI's State of Canada's Cities Summit in Ottawa on November 30th, host Mary Rowe presents highlights from morning panel conversations exploring both the global context for Canadian urban issues, and challenges shared with American cities.

See, hear and read more about Summit events and reports at canurb.org.

Read more about Patti's work here. 

For this episode, host Mary Rowe welcomes noted academic and author Seth Kaplan (Johns Hopkins U.) to CityTalk Canada to explore the findings in his latest book, Fragile Neighborhoods: Repairing American Society, One Zip Code at a Time and how they apply to communities in Canada and elsewhere. 

Get more information about Dr. Kaplan and his book at sethkaplan.org.

In Canada, top-level conversation about housing starts at the desk of Romy Bowers, president and CEO of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).  Host Mary Rowe talks to Ms.Bowers about how CMHC is adapting, collaborating and innovating to meet that challenge for all Canadians. 

Find more conversations on housing at citytalkcanada.ca.

On this episode, the topics of conversation sits at the intersection of mental healthcare and homelessness, with that crossroads now found in the downtown core of communities across Canada and beyond.

Host and CUI president Mary Rowe takes a deep dive into this complex topic with Dr. Andrew Bond, Medical Director of Inner-City Health Associates in Toronto and national co-chair of the Canadian Network for the Health and Housing of People Experiencing Homelessness.

Find more details at citytalkcanada.ca.

In the evolving post-pandemic economy, topping every city's 'what's next' list is a strategy to revitalize downtown by converting half-empty or vacant office space into multi-use buildings that can include housing. CUI has been researching the challenges and possibilites across Canada, and recently released a comprehensive report and 'toolkit' to support those strategies.

In this episode. host Mary Rowe introduces the key findings of The Case for Conversions report, and discussed it with its participants and reviewers, including Steven Paynter (Gensler Architecture, Calgary, AB); Joe Nickerson (Sidewalk Real Estate, Halifax, NS); Melissa Román Burch (EDC, NYC); and Tracey Hadden Loh (Brookings Institute, Washington, D.C).

The report is available for free download at the CUI website. Get more details on the podcast at citytalkcanada.ca.

In part two of The COVID Dividend, host Mary Rowe is joined by leading urbanists from across the globe to discuss what was learned during the pandemic about making better shared places and smarter decisions.  Participants include Dorian Moore (Archive Design Studio, Windsor, ON); Åsa Kachan (Halifax Public Libraries, Halifax, NS); Jennifer Angel (Evergreen Brickworks, Toronto, ON); Dan Hill (Melbourne University, Melbourne, AS) and Rosanne Haggerty (Community Solutions, NYC).

Find more details at citytalkcanada.ca.

Hosted by CUI president and 'lead talker' Mary Rowe, this program series begins with two episodes devoted to The COVID Dividend i.e. the core learning gleaned by civic officials, urban planners, community organizations and other key stakeholders during the pandemic; these takeaways offer an essential primer on the best steps forward in addressing the challenges shared by cities across Canada and beyond. 

Joining Mary are Kate Graham (Colliers, London, ON), Alicia John-Baptiste (SPUR, San Francisco); Peter Sloly (CUI Fellow, Ottawa); Graham Singh (Trinity Foundation, Montreal) and Bruce Katz (Drexel University, Washington, D.C.). 

Find more details at citytalkcanada.ca.