Vancouver has entered a new year with new local and provincial housing policies, but not a new chief city planner.
Since the departure of previous director of planning Theresa O’Donnell in September 2023, the city has been left without a permanent head of planning to fill an “important job at a critical time,” said Andy Yan, director of Simon Fraser University's City Program.
“It's a statement about the city in terms of where it is now and the leadership underneath it,” he said.
“You have a mayor and council that was indeed elected in terms of offering a different direction of where the city is going and a mayor that is on paper stating that part of his skills is management. This is one of the opportunities to see that management in action.”
Vancouver is in the midst of one of the most “pivotal” moments in the city’s planning history, while also lacking a leader or “captain of the ship,” said local builder Bryn Davidson.
Further compounding this is the recent announcement of multiple provincial housing legislations that overlap with new City of Vancouver housing policies, according to Yan.
“I find that council has been kind of quiet on this, which seems weird. This is a mayor who prides himself in thinking that he's bold,” said Davidson, who acts as co-owner and design lead at building firm Lanefab Design/Build.
“It seems like Vancouver is just quietly working in the background, which leaves us, other practitioners, owners and everybody else wondering what the heck's going on?”
In a statement to Glacier Media, the City of Vancouver said it is actively recruiting for a general manager of planning, urban design and sustainability, the position of previously known as director of planning.
“Once we have finalized the appointment, we will share more information,” the statement said.
A job posting on the city website has an application closing date of Jan. 14 with a salary range of $233,060 to $302,678.
Matt Shilito, who acts as director of the special projects office is the current interim director of planning, according to this LinkedIn profile.
“The characteristics for the City of Vancouver’s director of planning is one that is best served as a maestro assembling and directing a wide – and at times at odds – orchestra of highly skilled urban professionals and never as a one-person band. The best directors can produce beautiful compositions through diplomacy, dialogue, and grace,” said Yan, in an email.
Vancouver city Coun. Pete Fry said that the job of chief planner is a “tough role” and that the high turnover rate in previous years is indicative of that.
Since the departure of co-directors of planning Ann McAfee and Larry Beasley in 2006, there have been four chief planners, including Theresa O’Donnell.
“The absence of a permanent role does send a signal, intentional or unintentional or otherwise, that this isn't a priority. I think it is a priority, and it deserves for the sake of everybody some clarity on where this role is going,” said Fry.
Vancouver is not the only major Canadian city in search of a new chief planner.
Toronto’s head of planning Gregg Lintern announced in November 2023 he would be leaving city hall after six years in the role. Yan said that this further complicates matters for the City of Vancouver as they compete for talent.
Since Beasley’s departure, other chief planners have been “eaten up by politics,” said Michael Mortensen, a director of Liveable City Planning Ltd. and adjunct professor at the University of B.C.
A successful head of planning has to toe the line between planning bureaucracy and city politics, said Mortensen, who interviewed for the job of chief planner in 2016.
“If you want to get to the source of it, I think it is this critical growth question about how the city's going to grow and evolve,” he said.
“That job is somebody who can connect ideas about how neighbourhoods and cities should grow to the pragmatic reality of how you actually get that done. How is it financed? How does it or doesn't make economic sense?”
Mortensen said that the city should consider returning to a “co-director” approach, citing that there is “too much on the table for one person.”
