2026 Conference Program
Conference Quick-Links:
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 12:30pm–4:30pm | Mobile Workshop #1: Take a Walk on the Summerside Session Description: Summerside is the only municipality in PEI that owns and operates its own electric utility. We have a 68 acre solar farm and four windmills that have brought the City to over 62% renewable generation. We're constantly looking for new ways to decrease our greenhouse gas emissions and increase our efficiency. Come learn about the history of the utility, and how we're looking forward through our recent collaboration with BluwaveAI to help us better plan our energy consumption and generation. We'll also stop on the recently opened Cairns Boulevard. Partially funded by HAF, this project has been decades in the making. Summerside had been planning for an east-west transportation corridor since 2001, when the initial study was completed that identified the need and the ideal route. Completion of Cairns Boulevard has opened up approximately 300 acres of developable land. We'll talk about the foundational work for this transportation corridor, and the steps we're taking to ensure sustainable development in the future. Summerside is also an example of how history can inspire without ruling modern planning and engagement. We'll talk with some of our folks in the Culture Department about how they're helping to preserve and celebrate Summerside's heritage. |
| 1:00pm–4:30pm | Mobile Workshop #2: Reimagining Food Systems Through Place-Based Planning Session Description: From a 110-year-old Experimental Farm to one of Canada’s largest urban farms, the Legacy Garden tells a powerful story of land, community, and change. This session explores how that history can inform a new approach to planning—one that integrates food systems into the heart of our communities. Participants will discover how place-based strategies can strengthen food security, support resilient local economies, and help reimagine the future of agriculture in a time of global uncertainty—while inviting reflection on practical opportunities for building more resilient food systems in their own communities. |
| 1:00pm–4:30pm | Mobile Workshop #3: Abegweit First Nation Tour – Land Use Planning Overview Learning Tour Description: Abegweit First Nation is one of the two Mi’kmaq First Nations located in Epekwitk (PEI). Abegweit has three non-contiguous reserves located outside the City of Charlottetown: Scotchfort, Morell, and Rocky Point. Abegweit is a signatory to the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management and is a Developmental First Nation currently developing a Land Code. This tour will provide an overview of the community’s land use planning initiatives including the 2018 Comprehensive Community Plan, 2023 Conceptual Land Use Plan, and 2026 Community Land Use Plan. This event will include a tour of Scotchfort and a presentation on Land Management initiatives taking place across all three of Abegweit's reserve land. |
| 6:00pm–6:30pm | New Members Welcome |
| 6:30pm–9:00pm | Opening Reception |
Thursday, October 8, 2026
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 7:30am–8:00am | Morning Run |
| 8:00am–9:00am | Breakfast |
| 9:00am–9:15am | Welcoming Remarks |
| 9:15am–10:30am | Opening Keynote Speaker: Eleanor Mohammed |
| 10:30am–11:00am | - - - Break - - - Sponsored by:  |
| 11:00am–12:00pm | Session #1: Public Lands to Planned Community Growth: How Fredericton is Aligning Infrastructure, Funding, and Planning to Deliver Development-Ready Neighbourhoods Session Description: Municipalities across Atlantic Canada are under increasing pressure to accelerate housing delivery and continue to rely on planning frameworks and private land development, while addressing the realities of infrastructure, land economics, and implementation. This session explores how the City of Fredericton is advancing a proactive model for growth by leveraging publicly owned lands, integrated servicing strategies, and federal infrastructure funding opportunities to deliver development-ready neighbourhoods. Focusing on the Southeast Fredericton and Cliffe Street / Brown Boulevard growth areas, this session will highlight how secondary planning, planning approvals, and infrastructure feasibility were aligned early in the process to remove key barriers to planned growth. Through coordinated planning and engineering efforts, and correlating federal funding support, these areas are being positioned for efficient and cost-effective growth for up to 10,000 new residents across both areas. This approach enables the City to bring fully serviced, development-ready lands to market, creating opportunities for a range of providers across the housing spectrum to contribute to this planned growth. The session will move beyond a traditional case study format, combining a concise project overview presentation, with a moderated panel discussion featuring representatives from planning, engineering, and municipal leadership. Panelists will reflect on key challenges, trade-offs, and lessons learned in aligning land ownership, infrastructure, and policy to achieve implementable outcomes. Attendees will gain practical insights into how public-sector-led land strategies can support housing delivery in growing communities, with a focus on how this model can be adapted and scaled across other Atlantic Canadian municipalities. |
| 11:00am–12:00pm | Session #2: The North End's Next Chapter: Secondary Planning for a Historic Saint John Neighbourhood Session Description: The first point of landing for many immigrants, once an independent city, and one of the oldest and most historic neighbourhoods in Canada’s first incorporated city, the North End has long played a defining role in the story of Saint John and New Brunswick. Today, like many Maritime neighbourhoods, it faces familiar challenges: aging infrastructure, low incomes, rising costs, and a shortage of adequate housing. With funding from CMHC and support from Fotenn Planning + Design, the City of Saint John has prepared a new Secondary Plan for the North End that prioritizes growth within the city's existing infrastructure footprint. The plan charts a 25-year vision for growth through gentle intensification, infill, and redevelopment, while preserving the unique history and character of a neighbourhood that is emblematic of Atlantic Canada. The plan area is further organized into six distinct “character areas” with tailored policy guidance that respects the varied history and needs of the neighbourhood. From the start of the process, the project team prioritized a plan that was actionable for planning staff and accessible to the community. In this session, members of the project team will share lessons from the planning process, how they engaged the community, and how they created a Secondary Plan that both honours the past and looks toward the future. |
| 11:00pm–12:00pm | Session #3: Exploring Climate Action in Charlottetown: planning, transportation and adaptation efforts Session Description: In the past 3 years, Charlottetown has updated and adopted their Official Plan, Climate Action Plan, and both Public Transit and Active Transportation Plans. This panel will explore how these three plans interact to support climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the major themes and challenges of each plan. Staff will share both Charlottetown's greatest strengths in climate action, and the areas that require improvement. The session will start with three 15-minute presentations, followed by 10-15 minutes of audience Q&A, concluding the presentation with break out group activities and networking led by each panellist. Stephanie MacDonald, Planner I, will present how the recently adopted Official Plan’s goals and objectives will help the City of Charlottetown adapt to our changing climate and guide future growth towards climate resiliency. Kristen Gore, Climate Action Officer, will present an overview of the key climate risks facing the City and will highlight how the goals and actions outlined in the City’s Climate Action Plan are designed to reduce these risks, strengthen community resilience, and support a more sustainable, climate ready future for residents, businesses, and municipal operations. Anna Keenan, Sustainable Transportation Officer, will present key concepts from the City's 10-year Transit Plan, and Active Transportation Plan. The presentation will share how the City is currently performing, and where they intend to go, against Canadian and international standards and essential 'transportation nerd' concepts, such as modal share, service levels per capita and transit service efficiency, and safety standards and connectivity for Active Transportation Networks. |
| 12:00pm–1:00pm | - - - Lunch & Learn - - - Session #4: Professional Standards Board Session Description: Aspiring and current RPP candidates seeking certification as Registered Professional Planners (RPPs) in Canada, Mentors, and Sponsors are invited to join us on a journey through the certification process. In this presentation, we’ll explore the pathways to becoming an RPP. With a focus on both the accredited degree pathway and Prior Learning Assessment Recognition (PLAR) pathway. From the requirements for admission through to obtaining your RPP designation to the final exam, we’ll demystify the certification process. We’ll delve into the role of the mentorship in the certification journey, expectations and best practices for mentors, and resources to support you on your journey. Whether you’re a fresh graduate, or seasoned planner working in Canada, this session will provide valuable insights into obtaining your RPP designation. Join us as we pave your path toward excellence in planning! |
| 12:00pm–1:00pm | - - - Lunch & Learn - - - Session #5 (Starting at 12:30 pm): Planning as a key to climate change adaptation…or is it the other way around? Examples, perspectives, questions, and optimism from a regional climate services organization Session Description: Climate change adaptation is a relatively new and constantly evolving field. With a focus on the future, it spends considerable time and effort convincing decision-makers of the new and changing climate risks they should be preparing for. Engineers and land use planners were among the first professions in the Atlantic region to incorporate adaptation into their practices. As more professionals integrate adaptation into their work, the field has become more multi-disciplinary. As adaptation practitioners support communities and sectors move from awareness and planning to action, they frequently face barriers to adoption. Immediate pressures of day-to-day responsibilities make commitments and investments into future resilience seem like a luxury. The false dichotomy of meeting today’s needs “versus” preparing for tomorrow’s challenges leads to under-adaptation, if any. This challenge is not unlike those faced by planners. Using on-the-ground examples across Atlantic Canada, this presentation will highlight how collaborations between planners and adaptation practitioners have unlocked new and better ways to build climate resilience. It will also reveal how similarities between the two fields are leading to attempts to unblock long-standing barriers at the system level. This begs the question - what more can we accomplish together? |
| 1:00pm–2:00pm | Session #6: Introducing the HNA Blueprint - New methods and resources for conducting housing needs assessments Session Description: Across Canada, persistent challenges and political urgency have made Housing Needs Assessments (HNAs) an increasingly common and important tool. Yet, traditional HNAs have significant shortcomings: they are resource-intensive to produce, often underutilize available data, are difficult for smaller communities to undertake, and leave a fragmented, inconsistent picture that limits their usefulness at the regional or provincial scale. Through the federal Research and Knowledge Initiative, and in collaboration with the Government of Prince Edward Island, we undertook an applied research project to update and consolidate best practices, data resources, and processes to make HNAs more practical, scalable, efficient, and impactful. The project was informed by engagement with stakeholders across Prince Edward Island, and included a province-wide pilot test. The result is the HNA Blueprint: a comprehensive package of guides, datasets, templates, and automation tools, all freely and publicly available for use and adaptation. This session introduces the Blueprint and the insights behind it. Attendees will learn about the project that produced it, gain an overview of its contents and key innovations, and see how it can streamline processes and standardise outputs. The HNA Blueprint provides a foundation for more effective, timely, and evidence-based responses to housing challenges throughout Atlantic Canada. |
| 1:00pm–2:00pm | Session #7: More than a Check Box: Designing Purposeful Community Engagement and Closing the Loop Session Description: Community engagement is a core part of planning practice and a critical tool for strengthening the public interest and trust in planning processes. When thoughtfully designed, it improves decision making, deepens community understanding and ownership, and helps inform the priorities and desires that shape places over time. Effective engagement moves beyond procedural requirements to support informed dialogue and better outcomes for communities. This interactive session invites attendees to rethink engagement as a deliberate, end to end practice. Participants will be guided through the full engagement cycle, starting with clarifying why engagement is needed and selecting approaches that fit the overall objectives, audience, and project context. The session places particular emphasis on closing the loop by intentionally showing communities how their input influenced outcomes or explaining why it did not, moving beyond reliance on formal approval processes as the primary way of reporting back. Drawing on real world examples from municipalities of varying sizes and planning contexts, the session combines practical tools, decision frameworks, and hands on exercises that planners can apply immediately in their work. It also explores how planners can design engagement that remains credible and constructive while navigating competing interests, misinformation, and polarized perspectives. Participants will leave with practical strategies to design engagement that is purposeful, inclusive, and resilient, and to close the loop in ways communities can clearly see and trust. |
| 1:00pm–2:00pm | Session #8: Protecting the Chignecto Wildlife Corridor Session Description: Many human activities – like development, forestry and agriculture - reduce wildlife habitat connectivity by introducing fragmentation making it harder for plant and animal species to move between natural areas. This can reduce genetic diversity and population health of wildlife. Fragmentation also reduces the ecosystem services such as flood mitigation and drought protection that these natural areas would provide. The New Brunswick and Nova Scotia border area, known as the Chignecto Isthmus, has been recognized regionally, nationally and internationally as a critical corridor for both wildlife and humans, as it is the only terrestrial connection between Nova Scotia and the rest of North America. In addition to fragmentation, risks to both wildlife and humans have increased in recent years because, with increased development, there is increasing traffic. As a result, there have been a growing number of traffic fatalities along the north-south highway corridors in the isthmus. These collisions have implications for wildlife management, public safety, health system and insurance sectors. Using the expertise of several people who have worked on the Chignecto Isthmus in recent decades, this session will consider perspectives and initiatives around wildlife movement and public safety and will consider what it will take to establish a protected wildlife corridor along the Chignecto Isthmus. |
| 2:00pm–2:30pm | - - - Break - - - Sponsored by:    |
| 2:30pm–4:00pm | Session #9: Facilitating Growth - A Round Table for Problem Solving our Biggest Challenges Session Description: As economic growth and development pressures reshape maritime communities, historic cities face increasingly complex challenges in protecting their character while supporting economic vitality. This session explores how the City of Charlottetown is managing these challenges through recent updates to its Heritage Conservation Bylaw and related changes to its Zoning and Development Bylaw. The session will provide an overview of key changes to Charlottetown’s Heritage Conservation Bylaw, designed to better balance growth pressures with the conservation of the port city’s historic character. Central to these updates is a more integrated approach to heritage policy and land-use planning, offering greater clarity and consistency in decision-making. The presentation will also highlight new approaches developed to manage competing priorities. These include tools to guide infill and redevelopment involving heritage properties, mechanisms to support property owners, and strategies aligned with emerging best practices and current trends in heritage policy. Drawing on Charlottetown’s experience, this session offers insight into how thoughtful policy design can bridge conservation and growth priorities, ensuring the city’s past remains a vital part of its future. |
| 2:30pm–4:00pm | Session #10: Balancing Growth and Conservation: New Approaches to Charlottetown's Heritage Policy Session Description: Many of Atlantic Canada’s municipalities are experiencing significant growth, which is driving the need to plan for additional housing and non-residential development, and associated infrastructure needs. There are numerous economic benefits associated with population and employment growth, however, new development can also create challenges associated with infrastructure requirements, municipal service delivery, urban land needs, and environmental protection. Local municipalities play a key role in addressing the opportunities and challenges in planning for growth through effective local policies, planning and programs. This session will highlight the range of demographic and economic trends that are influencing population growth across Atlantic Canada’s municipalities, including shifts in economic growth opportunities, an aging population, and immigration. The session will explore how Atlantic Canada municipalities can embrace growth strategies to guide decision-making and policy development, specifically related to planning and growth management, housing, and long-range master planning for municipal services. Further, strategies to maximize financial sustainability, such as efficiently utilizing municipal services and infrastructure, implementing development charges as a tool for “growth paying for growth”, and balancing risks and opportunities, will be explored. The session will provide a case study of the City of Miramichi, New Brunswick, and how that community is planning for long-term growth through its new City Growth Plan. The session will explore how the City is addressing long-term housing and non-residential land needs within a broader growth management framework, reflecting population, labour, market/economic considerations, servicing/infrastructure needs and growth potential, through a planning, economic, and fiscal lens. |
| 2:30pm–3:30pm | Session #11: Engaging on Shoreline Management Planning in PEI Session Description: Atlantic communities are no strangers to coastal hazards. Extreme weather events such as post-tropical storm Fiona have inspired increased interest for shoreline hardening and other measures to protect land-based features, particularly from private landowners. In 2025, the Government of PEI initiated a pilot Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) project for southeastern PEI, Lennox Island First Nation, and the Pituamkek National Park Reserve in response to recommendations from the Interim Coastal Policy Recommendations Report by UPEI’s Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation. The development of SMPs involves assessing coastal hazards and identifying appropriate shoreline adaptation options for different areas based on hazards and climate projections, local priorities, and human and natural features. The pilot began in the spring of 2025 and will continue into 2027, with a second phase addressing the remainder of PEI’s shorelines launching in 2026. Project lead CBCL has assembled a team of coastal experts to undertake modelling and analysis and to develop options to address coastal hazards on PEI’s shores, with the We6 Planning Group leading the engagement component of the SMP process. This session will explore how the SMP process combines modelling and analysis with community engagement in the project areas, seeking to ensure that recommended shoreline management options reflect both the science and the values and priorities of coastal communities, while also working to increase public awareness on the challenges and opportunities associated with adaptation options, ranging from no active intervention (including avoidance), managed retreat (including some forms of adaptation), and resistance (including hardening). |
| 4:30pm–6:00pm | Dal Alumni/Networking Event |
| 6:00pm–6:30pm | Reception (Cash Bar) |
| 6:30pm–10:00pm | Conference Banquet/Awards |
Friday, October 9, 2026
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 7:00am–7:30am | Yoga |
| 8:00am–9:00am | - - - Breakfast - - - |
| 9:00am–9:30am | Session #11: Halifax's Most Quiet Neighbours: The Lively Politics of Planning with the Deceased Session Description: They say dead men tell no tales, but in urban planning, they are some of our chattiest stakeholders. Deep beneath the feet of coffee-sipping Haligonians on Spring Garden Road, the most pedestrianized street east of Montreal, lies an eerie tale that has remained buried for centuries. But as our cities grow upward and inward, how do we balance the needs of the living with the vacant (and sometimes hidden) grounds hosting our ancestors and past loved ones? This 10-30-minute session digs into the complex legacy of urban cemeteries, including Halifax’s “Old Library” burial grounds. Join us as we navigate the intricate web of heritage protections, the "not in my backyard" politics of the afterlife, and the creative opportunities to integrate these historic anchors into a modern urban fabric, before bringing it back home to Atlantic Canada. Delivered as a snappy, lighthearted look at (spooky) infrastructure, this presentation promises to be anything but grave. It’s time to talk about the ultimate long-term residents and the footprints they leave behind! |
| 9:30am–10:30am | Session #12: It’s Time to Make Big Plans Session Description: Atlantic Canada's growth has necessitated both incremental infill AND large master-planned communities. These urban villages present an opporutnity to create new development that houses are growth while creating new places that allow for community to flouish. We will explore the complexities of designing and gaining approval for three large projects across three provinces: the Moncton Vision Lands Secondary Plan, PEI Hillsborough Social Housing, and the Bedford Commons Master Plan. Attendees will go behind the scenes of these diverse projects (ranging from public-sector affordable housing initiatives to private-sector opportunity sites) to examine how planners can create density in community in ways that support positive evolution of services and uses over time. We will discuss using GIS-based land analysis and form-based codes to provide certainty in built-form, the lessons learned from navigating partnerships between municipal governments and multiple private landowners, and our methods for translating feedback from public open houses and design charettes into master plans that prioritize community input and ownership of the plan. The presentation moves beyond show and tell by analyzing the friction points encountered when translating the demands of multiple groups into a cohesive final design. By comparing these three provincial contexts, we provide a roadmap for practitioners to manage large-scale growth while protecting the public interest and creating opportunities into the future, long after plan approval and ribbon cutting. |
| 9:30am–10:30am | Session #13: Taking action to meet housing demand: Impacts of the Housing Accelerator Fund and Next Steps Session Description: One hour session with 2-3 speakers, presentation and Q&A. In 2023, the Government of Canada launched a $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) to incentivize local governments to implement structural and lasting reforms to increase the supply of housing. As an incentive program for municipalities and Indigenous governments, HAF aimed to modernize planning practices, legalize housing, remove barriers, and streamline development approvals using an approach outlined by each municipality based on their priorities. The second annual reporting period for the program has wrapped up for governing bodies selected in the first round of funding, with many of the planned initiatives being completed. Outcomes from the actions taken have accelerated unit development and delivery through the streamlined approaches, system changes and leveraging HAF funding to help reduce development costs. Success stories will be shared on local initiatives completed and the results in the development of affordable housing and improved processes. In addition to the work completed under the HAF program, the Government of Canada is committed to driving housing supply up to bring housing costs down. The Housing Design Catalogue helps add more homes to our neighbourhoods with plans focused on infill development and gentle density. More municipalities are adopting the Catalogue and becoming Local Partners. Hear how municipalities proceeded through this journey. |
| 9:30am–10:30am | Session #14: Cultural Heritage to Public Space: Year-Round Cultural Placemaking as a Planning Strategy Session Description: As cities navigate growth and change, there is an increasing need for approaches that honor cultural identity while creating inclusive and meaningful public spaces. This project demonstrates how intangible cultural heritage can be respectfully adapted and integrated into new contexts to activate public spaces and strengthen community identity. Through the development of Día de los Muertos in Saint John, a cultural festival becomes a platform for inclusive engagement, transforming streets, theatres, and gathering areas into spaces of shared memory and participation. This approach supports planners in balancing cultural preservation with contemporary community needs while offering alternatives to traditional consultation methods. Public art is often approached as a temporary or event-based intervention; however, it can also function as a continuous tool for community engagement and cultural placemaking. This session explores how year-round public art activation can support planners in creating inclusive, culturally responsive, and dynamic public spaces. Using Día de los Muertos Saint John as a key case study within a broader annual framework, this presentation demonstrates how seasonal programming, including murals, workshops, performances, and temporary installations across summer, fall, and winter, can activate public spaces throughout the year. These layered interventions create ongoing opportunities for participation, strengthen community identity, and foster a sense of belonging. Attendees will gain practical tools to design year-round activation strategies, build cross-sector partnerships, and implement scalable approaches to public space engagement that reflect local identity while responding to evolving community needs. |
| 10:30am–11:00am | - - - Break & Session - - - Sponsored by:  Session #15: Start Small, Plan Big: From Community Work to Policy Impact Session Description: Planning and Community Development are often treated and viewed as two separate processes, while in Atlantic Canada communities, this dynamic is beginning to shift. As working groups form to address the complex social challenges facing society, such as poverty, food insecurity, access to benefits, and broader social determinants of health, experience shows that planners are increasingly being invited into these spaces to provide the needed technical insight, policy context, and long-term perspective. This fast-paced and engaging session will explore how community-driven working groups, originally formed outside of the formal planning process, are creating new and unexpected opportunities for collaboration. As these groups evolve, they are not only identifying local needs but actively seeking planning input to help translate grassroot priorities into implementable solutions. In New Brunswick, through local governance reform, the mandate was given that community development be established to create a stronger cooperative approach to ensure investments in infrastructure and programs are effectively delivered. Through this approach, community development has created a group which works to foster creating relationships, trust and cross-sector initiatives to lead to a more inclusive and practical outcomes, and through the addition of planning, planners can become more embedded in the community-led process. Through this conversation, attendees will leave with practical strategies for fostering inclusive, collaborative approaches and a clearer understanding of how “starting small” can lead to scalable, policy-level impact. |
| 11:00am–12:00pm | Closing Keynote: David Campbell |
| 12:00pm–12:15pm | Closing Remarks |