top of page
PRE FORUM - WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 21st 2026
DAY 1 - THURSDAY OCTOBER 22nd 2026
9:30 - 11:00 am
A capital city is never just a city. It's a reflection.
Ottawa-Gatineau carries a double mandate few regions ever face: G7 national capital and a metropolitan region racing toward 2 million people. It just ranked number one in North America for livability. But rankings capture a moment, not a trajectory, and the transformations ahead are big.
This panel unlocks how urban design can find the synergies and surface the tensions between public and private interests, clarify who's actually responsible for what, and catalyze the interventions still to come. Our panelists explore what it takes to plan a capital that carries national identity and federal function, while still delivering the complete, livable neighborhoods residents actually live in.
What does the future of the Capital look like, and how do we get there? That's the question this room is built to answer.
T2 - The Capital-City Duality
Moderator: Stephen Willis
Senior Principal, Stantec
Emmanuelle van Rutten
Partner, Moriyama Teshima
Patrick Bunting
OALA, CSLA
Landscape Architect, Senior Urban Designer, National Capital Commission
11:15 am - 12:30 pm
Design isn't the markup on built projects. It's the multiplier.
For too long, urban design has been treated as a cost center: the line item cut when budgets tighten, the first thing sacrificed in the name of "getting units built." This panel flips that logic. Our panelists explore the true ROI of leading with design, making the case that high-quality urban design isn't an added expense to affordable housing delivery or municipal budgets, but the mechanism that makes them perform - financially, socially, and over time.
The conversation digs into how financial frameworks can be reshaped to recognize what design actually returns: higher occupancy, lower long-term maintenance, stronger community buy-in, faster approvals, greater asset value. And it's grounded in the real, drawing on case studies of realized projects that prove design and financial return aren't a trade-off. They're the same outcome.
Good design isn't what you pay for after the numbers work. It's what makes the numbers work.
T3 - The Design Dividend
12:30 - 1:30 pm
T4 - Lunch Presentation: CanU Working Groups Update
Dan Leeming
BA, Dip CP, MES, FCIP, RPP
Senior Advisor, Resiliency Planning, The Planning Partnership
Alex Taranu
FCIP, FRAIC
Sr. Advisor, Urban Design, City of Brampton
David Gordon
FCIP, RPP, AICP
Professor, School of Urban and Regional Planning at Queen’s University
1:30 - 2:45 pm
The center of the room is never fixed. Neither is the conversation.
This session runs as a fishbowl: a small circle of experts at the center, working through real problem statements out loud, while the wider room listens in and lines up its own questions. Every seat at the center carries a clock. When your time is up, you leave, and the seat sits empty until someone new claims it. The conversation belongs to whoever's willing to sit down.
Potential topics on the table: true resiliency, housing, transportation, and more. Register and add the topic you care about most. The room will build itself around what the group brings.
This isn't a panel that talks at you. It's a structure built to keep making room.
T5 - Cross Country Check-up : The Pressing Issues of Canadian Urbanism
Moderator : Eric Schertzer
Associate, Cities, Planning & Design, Arup
Geeti Silwal
Americas Cities, Planning and Design Lead, Arup
Sylvain Ducas
OUQ Emeritus Member and CIP member
2:45 - 4:30 pm
A walking tour through the historic Glebe district will take participants to the most recent evolution of Lansdowne park and redevelopment. Learn how the next phase of development will contribute to this urban destination, and what that means for the surrounding neighbourhood.
T6 - Tour 1 : Lansdowne in the Glebe
2:45 - 4:30 pm
A bike tour will lead participants along the Kichi Zībī Mīkan riverfront park, stopping at notable locations to explore how the masterplan is coming to life. Explore the newly renovated Westboro Beach pavillion and transformation of the historic Strutt towers.
T6 - Tour 2 : Kichi Zībī Mīkan Mikan to Westboro Beach
2:45 - 4:30 pm
Tucked away, minutes from downtown - Greystone village provides the best of mixed-use urban amenities and access to nature and parkland. A walking tour will showcase the various phases that have turned this project into an award-winning master planned community.
T6 - Tour 3 : Greystone Village
2:45 - 4:30 pm
Explore a series of projects that demonstrate the impact of women-led design on the National Capital Region. This walking tour will visit a selection of notable projects, sharing the stories behind their design and the professionals who brought them to life.
T6 - Tour 4 : Women-led Design Projects
2:45 - 4:30 pm
A walking tour of Zibi and the islands will explore the most recent buildings and public spaces at the very heart of the Capital. Learn how district energy is being deployed, and post-industrial lands are being re-opened to the public for the first time in generations.
T6 - Tour 5 : Zibi Development and Riverfront
Taryn Glancy
Development and Operations Manager, Zibi Canada
Miguel Tremblay
MCIP, RPP
Partner, Fotenn
5:00 - 6:30 pm
Feature presentations from CanU's 'Vanguard' program, which elevates ideas from innovative practitioners in the first ten years of their career. Please visit canu.ca/forum2026/vanguard to learn more, and apply to share your ideas in Ottawa this fall.
T7 - Rising Urbanists : CanU Vanguard
DAY 2 - FRIDAY OCTOBER 23rd 2026
9:00 - 10:15 am
F1 - Why do we draw? Examining the sketch effect
A drawing is never neutral. It's an argument, made visible.
This panel explores how drawing and visualization remain relevant to how we might imagine, debate, and shape cities together. Long before a policy becomes a place, someone has to draw it: to move it from aspiration to option, from option to something a room full of stakeholders can actually argue about and choose. Every image carries assumptions: about who belongs, what's possible, what's been left out of frame. AI and digital tools are making that visualization faster, sharper, and more polished than ever. Is the urban designer empowered or undermined by this shift? As the tools accelerate, how does the role evolve?
Join our panelists as we draw on new ideas, and on paper, in this creative and interactive session.
10:30 - 12:00 pm
F2 - The Great Urban Design Debate : Life after Death?
Urban design is under fire.
It is blamed for slowing approvals, criticized as arbitrary, and accused of applying rigid standards without regard for context and economic considerations. Has urban design lost its legitimacy, or has its value simply been misunderstood?
Join a provocative conversation with influential city-builders as they debate the future of the profession. Our panellists will confront the successes and failures that brought us to this moment, examine the risks of abandoning design principles, and ask whether urban design can be reinvented for a new era.
Can urban design regain its credibility and relevance? Will its ambitious city-building goals survive, or are we witnessing the end of an era?
For design professionals, policymakers, and political leaders, this session promises bold perspectives on the life, death, and possible rebirth of urban design in Canada, and what is at stake for our communities.
Eric Turcotte
RPP, FCIP, OAA, OAQ, FRAIC, LEED® AP
Partner, Urban Strategies Inc.
1:30 - 3:30 pm
F3 - Tour 1 : Kìwekì Point & Lady Grey Drive
This walking tour will showcase the exceptional panoramas and transformation of Kìwekì Point into one of the Capital's iconic landmarks. Participants will also learn how ongoing infrastructure projects like Lady Grey Drive are being positioned to reimage the waterfront.
Janet Rosenberg
FCSLA, AALA, AAPQ, APALA, BCSLA, SALA, OALA, FASLA
Founding Partner, Landscape Architect, Janet Rosenberg & Studio Inc. (JRS)
Nicholas Gosselin
MLA
Senior Associate, Janet Rosenberg & Studio Inc. (JRS)
Valérie Rouette
Chief of Landscape Architecture, National Capital Commission
1:30 - 3:30 pm
F3 - Tour 2 : LeBreton Flats Library District
The new Ādisōke public library and archives is nearing completion and is bringing new life and energy LeBreton Flats. This walking tour will explore the various phases of the emerging mixed-use neighbourhood, and insights into what comes next.
1:30 - 3:30 pm
F3 - Tour 4 : Gatineau and the Alexandra Bridge Replacement
This walking tour will lead participants through the lively historic downtown of Gatineau to discover the hidden corners and transformations underway. Explore Rue Aubry and the la Place Laval, visit the waterfront to learn about the Gatineau shoreline and Alexandra Bridge Replacement.
Andrew Sacret
MCIP, RPP
Chief of Planning and Design, National Capital Commission
1:30 - 3:30 pm
F3 - Tour 5 : Parliamentary Precinct & ESAP
A walking tour through the Parliamentary and Judicial Precincts, will showcase the generational investments taking place to update our national institutions. See how major building rehabilitations, swing spaces, and the new District Heating Plant will deliver federal functions while improving the public realm over the decades to come.
Sandrine Thibault
Senior Project Manager, Parliamentary Precinct Landscape
Erin Pietersma
Landscape Architect, Public Services and Procurement Canada
Derek Hardy
Architect & Project Director, bbb architects Ottawa Inc.
4:00 - 5:00 pm
F4 - Canadian Urbanism Coast to Coast
A presentation of the latest examples of good urban design from Coast to Coast, presented in Pecha Kucha style. Leading urbanists will present best practices and award-winning projects from BC, the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic, and Northern Canada. Join us for this perennial favorite!
Moderator: David Gordon
FCIP, RPP, AICP
Professor, School of Urban and Regional Planning at Queen’s University
Ontario West/Hamilton –Katherine Perrot
PhD, RPP, MCIP
Assistant Professor, School of Planning, University of Waterloo
Alberta - Geoff Dyer
MEDes. (Urban Design), CNUa
Partner, Urban Design Lead, CIMA+(B&A Studios)
Atlantic – Sarah Anderson
RPP, MCIP
Director, Planning and Development, City of Moncton, New Brunswick
Ontario GTA – Brent Raymond
OALA, FCSLA, ASLA, MCIP, RPP
Partner, DTAH (Toronto)
BC – Josh White
General Manager, Planning, Urban Design, and Sustainability, City of Vancouver
Quebec – Criag Skelnar
Principal, Urban Design, Arcadis
Prairies – Tyson McShane
RPP, MCIP
Manager, Long Range Planning, City of Saskatoon
DAY 3 - SATURDAY OCTOBER 24th 2026
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
The CanU Ottawa 2026 edition wraps up with a Saturday tour of two leading urbanism projects in the Ottawa-Gatineau region:
Hendrick Farm , a purposefully designed community that rejects today’s automobile-dependent, cookie cutter suburbs, by reclaiming traditional village design. Hendrick Farm showcases design at is best and how it shapes communities. Founder, Sean McAdam will be hosting CanU attendees through a livable, thought provoking walk of the community.
Canevas, a study on urban retrofit of a suburban mall, the new apartment community envisions a carefully crafted mixed use, pedestrian friendly future. Despite its urban energy, Canevas maintains a close connection to nature and outdoor living while enjoying the convenience of having daily essentials nearby. The neighbourhood encourages active transportation and walkability, allowing residents to move through their daily routines with ease while reducing reliance on the car. Brigil representatives will introduce CanU attendees to the overall vision and visit built components.
The tour will convene at the Andaz Hotel Ottawa ByWard Market - 325 Dalhousie St at 9:00am and return to the same address by 4:00pm. Lunch will be provided.
S1 - Bus Tour
bottom of page