RPD Students attend 2025 OPPI Symposium
The 2025 Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) Symposium: 'Integrated Planning' was held Thursday, September 18 and Friday, September 19, 2025. Thursday was filled with informative panel discussions, with an optional guided excursion scheduled on Friday. The Symposium was attended by rural planning and development students from the University of Guelph, both virtually and in person at the Walper Hotel in Kitchener, Ontario.
The day began with the symposium’s host, Matti Siemiatycki, interviewing Claire Basinski, outgoing OPPI President. The pair discussed Claire’s time spent serving as President and her insights on the profession at large, including the capacity issues faced by planners across Ontario. The next panel discussed how integrated transportation planning, focused on enhancing the connectivity of each travel mode, creates safer and more vibrant communities. The following panel highlighted the differences between Indigenous consultation and engagement, urging planners to empower Indigenous voices in the land use planning process. During the Annual Members’ Meeting, the RPD students at the symposium in person were kindly led on a tour of Victoria Park by a member of the City of Kitchener’s Planning Department.
The first afternoon panel afterwards was centered around Community Planning Permit System (CPPS) implementation in Innisfil, Guelph, Huntsville, Oakville, and Waterloo staff representing each municipality shared their highlights and challenges with their respective CPPS. The final panelists discussed OPPI’s work with the province to advocate for enhancing the planning system and invited members to share suggestions for future advocacy work. The first day was full of valuable insights from industry leaders on the challenges and excitement in the planning profession.
On Friday, attendees met at the Walper Hotel before touring several significant spaces in Kitchener, including the Google buildings and the Station Park development, which attendees were invited to tour while one of the towers was under construction.
After a short trip on the ION light rail transit, attendees had lunch at the Kitchener Market in the afternoon, and the tour focused on downtown spaces, including Kitchener City Hall, Gaukel Block, and Victoria Park. This second day showcased Kitchener’s creative placemaking efforts in their downtown core and the talent within their private sector partners leading impressive developments.