News

On June 11^th, the School of Planning celebrated the accomplishments of our 2024 Graduates during the annual Graduation Luncheon. This event marks a tradition for the School of Planning to honour the time our graduates have spent with us, and to provide final words of encouragement as they prepare to move forward in their future endeavours.

Waterloo Region has seen a rise in serious pedestrian injuries from being struck by cars in comparison to this time last year. There have been 38 incidents, many involving multiple injuries, in the past 67 days between November 1 and January 7, with 10 of those incidents resulting in serious injury to 16 pedestrians.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) recently held rallies across several Canadian cities regarding tenants' experiences of higher rents and poorer maintenance in units owned by real estate investment trusts.

The School of Planning's Dr. Brian Doucet spoke about these concerns, stating that Canada has focused largely on building new housing stock, while "losing sight of the housing that is already affordable."

This housing is often lost through demolition, or through the process of "renoviction", where tenants are evicted, so units can be renovated and rented at higher rates. 

The School of Planning's Dr. Martine August's 2022 report on TheFinancialization of Housing in Canada states that the largest financial firms in Canada hold an estimated 20-30 per cent of multifamily rental units, with that number increasing each year. 

More information on this issue and ACORNS concerns can be found in the original article, featured on CTV News. 

To learn more about affordable housing models and how Canada can apply them, please refer to Dr. Brian Doucet's August 2023 research report with the Canada Research Chairs. 

Chen Yang will be receiving his Doctor of Philosphy (PhD) in Planning at convocation this weekend. 

On September 30^th, 2023, the School of Planning hosted its Welcome to Planning ceremony. This event provided an opportunity for our incoming students and their supporters to connect with the School of Planning community and engage with issues relevant to the Planning community that will shape their educational journey going forward.

School of Planning Alum Samantha Biglieri (PhD, 2019), in collaboration with the School of Planning’s Dr. Jennifer Dean, has been awarded the 2023 PlanON Award for Innovation in Research at this year’s OPPI Annual Conference.  

The School of Planning's PhD Candidate, Cloé St-Hilaire, has been award the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship for her research proposal into the effects of financialization and digital technologies on the Canadian rental housing market.

Professor Moos from the School of Planning collaborated with Skye Collishaw and Professor Tara Vinodrai from the University of Toronto on new research that shows people living in subsidized housing having more sustainable commutes (defined as the shorter distance travelled and lower car use) than otherwise similar renters. The findings have important planning and policy implications for the role of subsidized housing in terms of meeting housing affordability and climate change goals. The findings provide support for policies that promote investment in subsidized and affordable housing near transit as a housing affordability and sustainability strategy, particularly benefiting lower-income earners.

The research relies on Statistics Canada census data and is published in Housing Policy Debate.

For those of you who were unable to attend this year's Futures Forum 2023 event, or would like to see it again, a recording of Bianca Wylie's keynote presentation "Public Engagement, Technology and the Art of Living Well Together" is now available on Youtube at the link below.

The School of Planning's Dr. Leia Minaker has recently published a report in partnership with Heart & Stroke which details how food and beverage companies employ dozens of tactics to market their products directly to children at point-of-sale locations across Canada, such as grocery stores and restaurants.