All Programs

Our series of online, candid conversations brings together city builders of all stripes to discuss what’s working, what’s not and what’s next for urban communities across Canada.

Filter by

Topics

Types

September 17, 2024
Nature knows best: How can we unify natural assets with Canada’s housing supply?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdeXRUNI8XA Summary Panel Transcript Chat Room Transcript 5 KeyTakeaways1. Natural Assets are essential for sustainable housing We have a growing resource of tools and people in local governments to show us that we do not need to choose between nature and housing – we need to continue to work towards integrating our efforts. Panelist Roy…
Read More
August 8, 2024
Heat, Floods, and Fires: Can Canadian cities cope with the extremes?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr-fCkyvVTM Summary Panel Transcript Chat Room Transcript 5 KeyTakeaways1. Community Engagement and Sharing ExperiencesCommunities need to be actively involved in strategies and plans to develop action plans to build capacity within communities. When people get involved, everyone is stronger for it. 2. Learning from Past DisastersThe example of Toronto’s Evergreen Brickworks site, shows us that…
Read More
August 1, 2024
No Place: Asylum Seekers & Migrant Housing Deadlock in Canada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZv7proyWeU Summary Panel Transcript Chat Room Transcript 5 KeyTakeaways1. Cities Are Collective Acts of EmpathyCities are places where shared responsibility and collective empathy are crucial for the well-being of all residents. However, this sense of interconnectedness is often overlooked, leading to feelings of helplessness and isolation. To create supportive urban environments, it’s essential to rekindle…
Read More
July 25, 2024
Betting Big: Should Canada be Investing in Cultural Infrastructure?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj1emnUmG7Y&t=2141s Summary Panel Transcript Chat Room Transcript 5 KeyTakeaways1. Cultural Infrastructure is Expanding GloballyThe growth of cultural infrastructure is not just a local trend but a global one. As Natalia Vartapetova highlighted, “What we are seeing really, from this most recent year and from prior years is that the investment in cultural infrastructure internationally continues…
Read More
July 18, 2024
Systems, not symptoms: How do we address Mental Health and Wellbeing in Canada’s Downtowns?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tM43YhISLw Featured Guests You’ll find this guest among our growing roll of Urban Champions. Summary Panel Transcript Chat Room Transcript 5 KeyTakeaways1. Mental health appears to be declining in CanadaThe urgency of addressing mental health issues is heightened by their increasing prevalence. Paul Stam, sergeant at Ottawa Police Services reported a “55% increase in mental…
Read More
June 27, 2024
Main Street Mosaics: Piecing together investments for complete communities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciK-cyKLTRM Featured Guests You’ll find this guest among our growing roll of Urban Champions. Summary Panel Transcript Chat Room Transcript 5 KeyTakeawaysThe new tool, measuringmainstreets.ca, is a comprehensive mapping and analysis platform for main streets across Canada. It provides data on business types, civic infrastructure, and neighborhood demographics, helping communities visualize and assess their main…
Read More
June 12, 2024
Jump Start Investment: How can we accelerate housing-enabling infrastructure?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz-7vkkQ9JM Featured Guests You’ll find this guest among our growing roll of Urban Champions. Summary Panel Transcript Chat Room Transcript 5 KeyTakeaways1. Housing-enabling infrastructure is expensiveIt is widely agreed that Canada needs to build more housing. Michael Fenn, Former Deputy Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for the Government of Ontario, suggests that half a…
Read More
May 31, 2024
More Than Monuments: What’s on the agenda for capital downtowns?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ2H26_vwkQ Featured Guests You’ll find this guest among our growing roll of Urban Champions. Summary Panel Transcript Chat Room Transcript 5 KeyTakeaways1. Bringing (back) vibrancy to downtownsDowntown is the first point of access to people coming into the city and for Capital Cities, they can represent the rest of the nation. A good first impression…
Read More
May 27, 2024
The Ottawa Sessions – Street Level Thinking
Featured Guest You’ll find this guest among our growing roll of Urban Champions. Summary Summary Bringing The Ottawa Sessions to a close is another kind of big-picture’ perspective, albeit from street level. 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…
Read More
May 27, 2024
The Ottawa Sessions – Bank on it
Featured Guest You’ll find this guest among our growing roll of Urban Champions. Summary Summary In episode 3 of The Ottawa Sessions, host Mary Rowe brings you to her new, favourite café to meet Jessie Duffy, owner/operator of Arlington 5 in Centretown. It’s located just a steps off Bank Street, one of Ottawa’s north-south Main Streets connecting many of…
Read More
May 27, 2024
The Ottawa Sessions – Design and Redesign
Featured Guest You’ll find this guest among our growing roll of Urban Champions. Summary Summary The second episode of The Ottawa Sessions explores the scope of design and, often, redesign, needed to help revitalize the downtown core of our nation’s capitol.From soon-to-be vacant federal buildings to iconic public spaces like the Byward Market, the city has tremendous assets, along with…
Read More
May 27, 2024
The Ottawa Sessions – The Big Picture
Featured Guest You’ll find this guest among our growing roll of Urban Champions. Summary Summary Season Two of the CityTalk Podcast begins with a four-part series we’ve dubbed The Ottawa Sessions, featuring conversations with many of the civic, business and governmental leaders CUI collaborated with in the development of ‘A Living Capitol,’ a downtown revitalization…
Read More