TORONTO (July 20, 2021) – A late spring fundraising initiative, led by two former ULI Toronto Chairs, Rob Spanier and Les Klein, has enabled ULI Toronto to welcome 300 new university and college students into the local District Council. The effort has also propelled ULI Toronto to a membership of 2,500, becoming the largest in the global district council network.

“This milestone demonstrates the strength of the ULI mission in the Toronto Region” says Rob Spanier, President of the Spanier Group, a leading mixed-use development and placemaking advisory firm. “The growth of membership year-over-year in Toronto is a remarkable achievement and a huge asset for our industry, both locally and internationally.”

Motivated by a desire to open the industry pipeline to the broadest range of talent in the continent’s most dynamic real estate market, the initiative is one of many ways that ULI Toronto is seeking to ensure that the industry sector reflects diversity of the urban region that it serves.

“My hope is that this effort will go beyond ensuring that our industry continues to diversify its workforce by making our industry more inclusive,” commented Les Klein, Principal, BDP Quadrangle. “We need everyone to be at the table and ULI is one of the best vehicles to achieve this.”

The addition of these new members pushes the student demographic to become 20% of the total Toronto membership, a fact that has propelled ULI Toronto Chair, Emma West, to push for governance reform at the local district council.

“I am pleased to announce that at our management committee meeting last week, we formally adopted a reform that will elevate our student sub-committee to full standing committee status, effective immediately.” said Ms. West, Partner at Bousfields Inc. “A process to appoint two co-chairs is now underway.”

-30-

For more information, interviews or images please contact:
Jen Sapkowski
ULI Toronto
647-258-0017
[email protected]

About ULI Toronto
Our mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. We provide our members with independent forums for discussion and debate about city building issues and best practices. ULI Toronto carries forth that mission, while helping to shape a sustainable and thriving future for the Toronto Region. We are supported by over 2500 public and private sector members.