Plan Canada Fall 2025 Issue

Imagining Canada in 2100

The range and extent of issues facing Canada – and the planning profession – in these turbulent times are unprecedented. This has blurred the lines between an urgent need to deal with today’s problems and the desire to better understand the longer-term trends affecting Canada’s future well-being. Planners may be trained to develop strategies and solutions, but determining a logical way forward in the current climate has rarely been so difficult.

Acknowledging these uncertainties, this special issue of Plan Canada challenges readers to look ahead to the year 2100. What role can planners play in delivering a quality of life that is economically, environmentally and socially sustainable for our diverse publics? How can we factor in commitments to Reconciliation and solutions for dealing with climate change? Do planners have the skills and expertise to answer such questions, and if not, how do we develop them?

Recent growth is straining our ability to provide affordable housing and invest in the physical and social infrastructure that shapes our environment. Having tripled our population since 1950, how should future growth be managed over the next 75 years? With an aging population and a declining birth rate, can we continue to attract – and retain – new immigrants?

As our population grows, should large urban areas be allowed to get even larger? Should we seek to reinforce rural communities or build mid-sized towns designed for a zero-carbon footprint to meet higher standards of mobility, sustainability and well-being? What role should federal and provincial governments play in supporting communities of all sizes?

The gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ is growing while social and political polarization is increasing. Can we devise planning strategies that will improve productivity, stimulate the economy while also addressing inequality? What new tools or approaches are needed to address public misinformation about planning objectives and the increasing opposition to ‘good planning’? How will the current state of international affairs influence the needs of Canadian communities and the way planning unfolds in the future? How will AI affect how we manage data, share information, or anticipate the future?

Are planners prepared to respond to these challenges? We want to hear from you.

The deadline for this special issue is July 18, 2025.

The co-leads for this issue are Glenn Miller FCIP and Jennifer Dean PhD, RPP, MCIP.

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