The calendar year end marks the mid-point of my first year as Chair of ULI Toronto, and I am very proud of the amazing level of energy and activity that we’ve already delivered as we embark on a new chapter for ULI in the Toronto Region. It is a chapter focused on community engagement and impact across the region, leveraging the recent growth in capacity of the organization achieved through the tremendous support of our volunteers, partners and sponsors.

Our plan calls on us to more deeply engage in public policy debate, energize our leadership development focus, and reach out beyond our core professional audience to reach leaders of civil society and communities across the region. We also committed to delivering even greater member value. And, as always, we go about achieving our goals having some fun along the way!

Our annual summer social got things rolling, with over 600 attendees (biggest ever) taking over an exciting new ground floor retail space in the Canary District, a great symbol of our city’s amazing growth story. It proved to be one of several significant summer activities in what had in the past been a quiet period for ULI Toronto. These included tours to Detroit and Chicago, an industry roundtable on the City’s new tall building by-laws, and a premier member only event with Harvard University development guru Richard Peiser.

I was pleased to moderate ULI’s first ever debate (free to the public), which focused on the growing tension between growth plan policies oriented at urban containment and spiking housing prices. More recently we collaborated with Ryerson’s City Building Institute and the Toronto Association of Business and Economics to present an expert panel to further explore the complexity of economic, social and environmental issues related to the current growth plan. We also hosted industry roundtables that tackled a range of issues from the City’s Tower Separation by-law review, Inclusionary Zoning, to the provincial Growth Plan review.

We presented a rich array of Member Only events that, in addition to the Professor Peiser event included: a session with Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig; our Women’s Leadership Initiative “Women on Boards” lunch; a tour of the Karma condo project; an Inclusionary Zoning in the United States presentation (in addition to our roundtable); and a full day bike tour of the waterfront and Humber River valley led by Toronto’s Chief Planner, Jennifer Keesmaat.

A record number of ULI Toronto members joined us down in Dallas for the annual Fall Meeting, which included our, now famous, roof top patio party!

Our two major annual events were smash successes, including our “905 Event” that featured Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie moderating a panel of 905 Waterfront development experts from Durham to Hamilton, and the lead waterfront planner from the suburban City of North Vancouver. Our Annual Trends in Real Estate event and report release (co-authored by PwC), moved to its new home at the Carlu to accommodate our expanding audience that this year surpassed 600.

Finally, I am proud to report the launch of two very exciting new leadership development programs. The first is our Urban Leadership Program helmed by former Toronto Chief Planner, Paul Bedford, which takes 30 mid-career industry professionals (selected across the diversity of our multi-sector membership) through an intensive six-day course that will expose them to the full spectrum of city building led by the city’s foremost urban leaders. The second is the launch of UrbanPlan, ULI’s sophisticated high school focused program that brings a new generation of potential city builders into the world of planning and development.

It’s a dizzying record of accomplishments in just six short months! And while we look forward to a short break over the holidays, all this activity has put new wind in our sails and we are energized to deliver more member value and community impact in the new year!

Sincerely,

Derek