Covid-19

Cities in the time of COVID-19

This new CUI 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.

Upcoming Discussions

August 4

How can cities address the challenge of encampments?

Encampments are becoming more common across cities in Canada and around the world. It’s a challenging issue that city leaders, health care professionals, activists and communities are struggling with. Are cities resorting to stopgap solutions that seem useless to solving our current affordable housing crisis?
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What’s next on the urban agenda for Canadian youth?

Building off of the Urban Youth Impact COVID-19 Report that analyzes data from six of the largest Canadian cities and relevant census metropolitan areas including, Calgary, Edmonton, Montréal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Toronto and Vancouver, we’ll explore how current issues such as race and discrimination, health, employment, cost of living and civic engagement affect youth and hear about their priorities and hopes for the future as we begin the journey to recovery. What do we need to change? And how can we leverage the experience and expertise that youth bring to the table to build more inclusive cities?
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Big Ideas to Close Canada’s Urban Gender Gap

What are the big ideas and specific policy actions that will be needed to close Canada’s gender gap? This event provides a summary of what advocates, experts and policy makers in Canada are currently doing to improve the wellbeing of women and girls – and showcases efforts emerging out of COVID towards achieving gender equity.
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Addressing Canada’s Urban Post-Covid Gender Gap

The first event of “Leading Canada’s ‘shecovery’ from the ground up” virtual events establish the context for the day, providing a close and personal look at the gender gap in Canada’s cities as we emerge from a global pandemic and she-cession. This session takes an intersectional look at what groups of women and girls decision makers need to be most focused on today.
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Participatory Canada: How can everyday people make extraordinary change?

On June 22, 2021, The Canadian Urban Institute, in partnership with Participatory Canada and its partners hosted an extended edition of CityTalk Canada to explore creative solutions to our greatest urban challenges and share lessons learned in North End, Halifax, N.S., Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Montreal, QC and Regent Park, Toronto, ON.
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Indigenous Practitioner Perspectives on City Building

Featuring Eladia Smoke, Principal Architect, Smoke Architecture, Master Lecturer at Laurentian University’s McEwen School of Architecture; Tonii Lerat, Community Planner with Urban Systems, and a Board Member, Canadian Institute of Planners; Lorna Crowshoe, Aboriginal Issues Strategist with the City of Calgary and Board Member of National Trust of Canada; Danilo Caron, EIT, and Indigenous Student Engagement Coordinator at UBC Engineering Student Services; and Naomi Ratte, Landscape Architecture student, University of Manitoba, and co-editor of Voices of the Land: Indigenous Design and Planning from the Prairies.  Moderated by Hunter Cardinal, Co-Founder and Director of Story, Naheyawin. Based in Edmonton, AB, Hunter is a member of the Sucker Creek Cree First Nation.
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Lessons from the Local: How are Calgary and Edmonton responding to urban challenges?

Featuring Ashlyn Bernier, COO, SamDesk; Mohamed Elsaghir, Senior Manager C5 Northeast Community Hub; LeeAnne Ireland, Consultant, LeeAnne Ireland Consulting; Mayor Don Iveson, Mayor of Edmonton; Mayor Naheeh Nenshi, Mayor of Calgary; and Irfhan Rawji, Founder and CEO, Mob Squad.
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CityTalk Blog

Original insight, analysis and stories on how local government and communities across Canada are responding to the new urban reality under COVID-19.

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How can cities address the challenge of encampments?

Homeless encampments are becoming more common across cities in Canada. In this CityTalk, we’re exploring how cities are addressing this challenge.
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The democratic deficit in Canadian cities during COVID-19

Municipalities across Canada have been faced with some of the most challenging governance issues in the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the decisions most directly affecting the daily lives of Canadians have been made by municipalities. By Anneke Smit, Hana Syed, Aucha Stewart, Terra Duchene, and Michael Fazzari Read the full report here.
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A Call to Courage: An Open Letter to Canadian Urbanists

Jay Pitter, award-winning placemaker and CUI Senior Fellow, Equity-Based Placemaking, releases A Call to Courage: An Open Letter to Canadian Urbanists, with a toolkit of resources for responding to anti-Black racism in urbanist practices and conversations.
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