The Canadian Urban Institute is a not-for-profit organization based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is mandated to pursue both national and international urban issues. The institute operates in several fields related to urban planning and is involved with specific issues such as affordable housing, the competitiveness of city regions, smart growth, energy and water solutions, age-friendly communities, and

brownfield In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...

reclamation.

History

The institute was established in 1990 by the

Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, which ...

and the City of Toronto and led by veteran Toronto city councilor Richard Gilbert. Former Toronto mayor and federal cabinet minister, the Honourable

David Crombie David Edward Crombie (born April 24, 1936) is a Canadian former academic and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Toronto from 1972 to 1978. Crombie was elected to Parliament following his tenure as mayor. A member of the Progressive Cons ...

, served as its president and chief executive officer from 2001 to 2007. Crombie was followed in the position by former

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

mayor Glen Murray. Murray stood down following his election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 2010 and was succeeded by former

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

mayor

Fred Eisenberger Fred Eisenberger (born September 3, 1952) is a Canadian politician and former real estate agent who was the 57th mayor of Hamilton from 2014 to 2022. Eisenberger previously served as chair of the Hamilton Port Authority prior to his first ele ...

, who formally took office on February 7, 2011. Its current president and CEO is Mary W. Rowe.

Programs

CUI holds conferences and seminars, conducts research, and produces publications on social and economic issues that impact the urban sector including social development, infrastructure, and sustainable housing. The organization presents annual Brownie Awards to groups that demonstrate leadership, environmental sustainability, and innovation. In 2020, CUI created three online platforms to provide information about the COVID-19 pandemic: CityWatch Canada, CityShare Canada, and Bring Back Main Street. In 2021, the institute launched My Main Street, a two-year program to revitalize cites' economies by providing small businesses with market research and $10,000.

International partnerships

Over the course of its history, the institute had an active international program that works in partnership with cities and regions around the world to improve planning, urban management, service delivery, environmental management, and local economic development. CUI has been active in a range of countries including the Philippines, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Cuba, Honduras, Peru, Paraguay, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and countries within Central and Eastern Europe such as Ukraine, Poland, and Latvia. The CUI is helping to advance regional economic development in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, local economic development in the Philippines, local government reform in Jamaica, and improved urban management in Ethiopia.{{Cite web , url=http://www.canurb.com/international/programming/current/ethiopia# , title=CUI in Ethiopia | Canadian Urban Institute , access-date=2011-08-31 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002092746/http://www.canurb.com/international/programming/current/ethiopia# , archive-date=2011-10-02 , url-status=dead

References

National institutes of urbanism Non-profit organizations based in Toronto Urban planning organizations 1990 establishments in Canada