Since the UrbanPlan program was initiated in Toronto, members of ULI have continued to join workshop training to volunteer their time in classrooms as team facilitators and mentors, which concluded in final team presentations with volunteers acting as city council members. 2019/ 2020 was looking to be the strongest and largest program year but all things came to pause in March 2020 with the declaration of the global pandemic.  ULI Toronto created two career videos that were shared with schools and ULI continued to provide resources (speakers) to schools during these uncertain times.

Thank you to the following schools who ran UrbanPlan in 2019/ 2020 and the teachers who helped champion this program in their classrooms:

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, TDSB (Gr. 9 AP Geography – Sadhan Hirdaramani) – Fall 2019
Bishop Allen, TCDSB (Gr. 9 Geography Enriched – Joanna Powell) – Fall 2019
Bishop Allen, TCDSB (Gr. 9 Geography Enriched – Patrick Duggan) – Fall 2019
Loretto Abbey Secondary School, TDCSB (Gr. 12 Urban Issues – Howard Cappadocia) – Spring 2020 (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
Central Toronto Academy, TDSB (Gr. 12 Urban Geography – Rhiannon Weismiller) – Spring 2020 (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
Bishop Allen, TCDSB (Gr. 9 Geography Enriched – Joanna Powell) – Spring 2020 (Cancelled due to COVID-19)

We are always looking for more volunteers to get involved with UrbanPlan and help advance ULI’s mission. If you are interested, please contact [email protected] who will provide upcoming opportunities for volunteer training.

DX PROGRAM – Youth Challenge 2019

ULI Toronto worked with the Design Exchange to recruit mentors to this exciting program

The program was a design workshop that took place on May 31st, 2019 for Gr. 9 Geography students where students created and presented ideas for ‘ My Toronto in Ten Years’. This is the first one leading up to EDIT (Expo for Design, Innovation & Technology) which is their week-long Expo in June 2020. Here’s the link to EDIT 2017.  The winning students would have their ideas/ projects showcased at this event. ULI Toronto members volunteered to be a table mentor for this one-day program.

Youth City Lab – October 10, 2019

Ryerson University conducted a one-day interactive field trip to Ryerson’s School of Urban and Regional Planning for high school students attending schools in Toronto’s Neighbourhood Improvement Areas. Schools were selected by the RUaP team based on difficulty reaching schools located outside of the downtown core based on geographic barriers and accessibility for facilitators. In an effort to achieve greater equity, diversity, and inclusivity through our programming, we hope that the Youth City Lab will help to bring urban planning education to these students. ULI recruited 6 mentors that helped with Youth City Lab Day to facilitate short discussions with high school students (from Weston Collegiate) on their preferred area of planning expertise at Ryerson University.

RU a Planner – Partnership with Ryerson University: November 4 – November 8, 2019

This past year ULI Toronto partnered with Ryerson University to deliver RU a Planner, an organization of graduate students from the School of Urban and Regional Planning that facilitates workshops about urban planning to classrooms across Toronto. Every year during World Town Planning Week, Ryerson partners with City of Toronto planners (and this year ULI!) to give students from grades 6-12 a peek into the work that planners do, while also providing them the opportunity to engage in the decision-making process planners use to tackle complex problems. The following schools participated in this program in 2020/2021 Loretto Abbey Secondary School, Harbord Collegiate, and Central Toronto Academy!

CAREER IN REAL ESTATE: Building Tomorrow’s City Builders

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/aZ3iKsicTj4
Architect: Dev Mehta – Senior Associate, Quadrangle
Planner: Habon Ali – Planning & Policy, Sidewalk Labs
Marketing: Rachel  Tang – Marketing Director at Bayview Village, QuadReal
Planner: Michelle Rowland – Planner, Urban Strategies Inc
Construction: Témo Cruz – Prefabrication & Modular Coordinator, EllisDon

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/j0y-iiWJyOw
Engineer: Elizabeth Dawe, Senior Project Manager, Arup
Marketing : Michelle Luk: Marketing Specialist, Dream Unlimited
Development: Abigail Moriah – Senior Development Manager, New Commons Development
Marketing: Robert Fiorino – Vice President, Market Strategy, LeMay