Canadian Urban Institute

DAVID AMBORSKI

Municipal Finance

David Amborski holds Master's Degrees in Economics and Urban & Regional Planning. His research and consulting interests are in the areas where urban planning interfaces with economics, especially in the field of municipal finance and land/housing markets. More specifically, he has undertaken a number of fiscal impact analyses including development charge and TIF studies for municipalities and the Provincial government. Recent publications and reports include; “Ryerson University Dundas Square Metropolis Project” in The University as Developer, and “Current Issues and Planning for Canadian City Regions” in Studia Regionalia. He has been involved in teaching seminars for in-career government officials both in Ontario and internationally. In Canada, this includes seminars for new municipal councillors and staff offered by the Ontario Municipal Management Institute and the Local Government Program delivered by the University of Alberta and Dalhousie University. Internationally, this includes a variety of seminars delivered in the Baltic States, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, and the Ukraine. In addition to work in the Ukraine, he has organized and delivered a number of internships and study tours for Ukrainian officials in Canada. Currently he serves as president of the Association of Canadian Urban Planning Programs (ACUPP). He also serves on a number of international editorial boards and committees including being on the advisory committee of the Institute for Finance and Local Governance, Munk Centre University of Toronto and being selected as a member of Lambda Alpha (honorary economic society). Locally, Professor Amborski has served on a number of planning committees in the Town of Aurora, and is vice-president of the Ontario Municipal Management Institute. Current research activities include a study of the Public Private partnerships that helped to develop Toronto’s PATH system, funded by Infrastructure Canada: and a study of urban restoration in historic districts (NEXOPOLIS) funded by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada under the North American Mobility Grant.

PAUL BEDFORD

Planning

Paul Bedford is an Adjunct Professor of City Planning at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University and an Urban Mentor with Paul Bedford & Associates in Toronto, which includes proactive involvement in a wide variety of public planning issues in numerous capacities primarily within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

He is a member of the Waterfront Toronto Urban Design Review Panel, a member of the National Capital Commission Planning Advisory Committee in Ottawa, and a futures columnist in the Ontario Planning Journal and a Senior Associate of the Canadian Urban Institute. He is also a member of the CAMH Property Committee guiding the long-term redevelopment of the Queen Street Mental Health and Addiction Facility.

Mr. Bedford was the former Chief City Planner for the City of Toronto and is a passionate advocate of transit and city building throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

BEATE BOWRON

PHILIPPA CAMPSIE

Professional Writing

Philippa Campsie is an adjunct professor in the graduate planning program at the University of Toronto, an affiliate of the Neptis Foundation, and deputy editor of the Ontario Planning Journal. Her company, Hammersmith Communications, provides research, writing, and editing services to public-sector and private-sector clients. Since 1995, she has conducted workshops to introduce the techniques of plain language writing and editing to students and working professionals. Before starting her own business, she was editor-in-chief at Macmillan Canada. She has written on planning and communications for Municipal World and the Ontario Planning Journal and on infrastructure renewal for ReNew Canada. In 2008, she wrote “Food Connects Us All” for the Metcalf Foundation, on local food and agriculture in southern Ontario.
Email: pcampsie @ istar.ca

MARNI CAPPE

PAULINE COUTURE

Strategic Communications

GARY DAVIDSON

IAIN DOBSON

Commercial Real Estate

Mr. Dobson is the co-founder of Real Estate Search Corporation and co-founder of ReSRC.  He is highly regarded within the commercial real estate industry for his knowledge of market conditions and pioneering of the use of information to facilitate better real estate planning. He is responsible for the development of industry leading standards and definitions.  He has received numerous industry awards and has spoken at many of North Americas leading industry associations,  including NAIOP, SIOR, Canadian Land Economists, Real Estate Forums and Radio and TV programs, Metro Morning, Cross Canada Check Up, etc. 

He brought his many years of commercial real estate industry experience to the task of building the state of the art information company. The company resources are focused on delivering accurate and reliable data on the dynamics of employment, mobility and functionality.  The database has the capability of relating built form to functionality and the dynamics of tenant growth.  It details the growth of every tenant of every commercial office building in the GTA on a monthly basis for over 10 years. The company provides consulting services to many industry participants including the provincial government, municipal governments, pension funds, property management companies, real estate brokerage companies and major employers in the GTA.
Email:  idobson @ re-searchcorp.com

GORDON HARRIS

TODD C. LATHAM

Media, Publishing, Communications

Todd is a media entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in business publishing, marketing and communications. He is President of Actual Media Inc. a specialized business publishing, research and creative design company that produces ReNew Canada – the infrastructure renewal magazine as well as Water Canada magazine.

Todd is a business communicator with broad industry knowledge and an extensive network in the environment, infrastructure and government sectors. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Public Works Association (OPWA) and Integrated Media Group Inc.. He is co-founder of the Canadian Brownfields Network, a senior associate of the Canadian Urban Institute, a member of the University of Toronto Environment Finance Committee and serves on the Infrastructure Committee of the Toronto Board of Trade. Most recently, he was appointed to the Places To Invest Advisory Council in Washington, DC, a global restorative development initiative led by author Storm Cunningham.

Email: todd @ renewcanada.net

STEVEN NICHOLS

DANIEL NIXEY

Planning, Value Uplift, Land Value Capture

A municipal planner by training and practice, Daniel Nixey is an accomplished project leader and communicator. Daniel's experience includes ten years with the planning department of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, now City of Ottawa, ending that part of his career as Manager of Urban Policy. For the past twenty years, Daniel has been operating as a research director, consultant and senior project advisor, responsible for producing a very wide range of study deliverables. As part of this experience, Daniel has developed a strong consulting practice in the areas of strategic assessment, land use planning and development, real property investment analysis, asset rationalization, value uplift and capture, and projects related to real property business transformation. Daniel also brings to the CUI team strengths in data modeling, GIS, and on-line surveying techniques. Daniel has formerly held positions of Chair of the Commercial Council of the Canadian Real Estate Association, Canadian Chair of the Counselors of Real Estate, Treasurer and Co-Chair of the Canada Dance Festival Society, and President of the Civic Institute of Professional Personnel.
Email: danixmanagement@gmail.com

NICOLE SWERHUN

Public Engagement

Nicole Swerhun, BSc, MBA, designs and delivers multi-stakeholder decision making processes. She works for towns and cities across the GTA, the US, and internationally to help build relationships between leaders and the constituencies they serve. Her services include strategic planning, public engagement, communications, and consultation. In particular, she focuses on getting the public, key stakeholders and public sector decision makers the information they need to provide good advice and make informed decisions. Nicole has been doing this work for over 14 years, and is respected for her ability to make complex, often controversial and high profile projects constructive and manageable.
Email: nswerhun@canurb.org

JOHN WARREN

Civil Engineering

JOHN SEDLEY

Economist