OTTAWA, May 29, 2024 – The Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) is pleased to announce its newest Honorary Member: Alan DeSousa, Mayor of Saint-Laurent, City of Montreal since 2021.
Election as an Honorary Member of the CIP is the highest honour the Institute can bestow upon a non-planner. This distinction acknowledges the important roles non-planners can have on the planning profession, as well as recognizes the contributions an individual has had on a community’s resilience, vitality, and sustainability.
Dan Huang RPP, MCIP, President of CIP proudly announced, “It is with great pride that CIP welcomes Mr. DeSousa as an Honorary Member. His leadership in sustainable development, environmental preservation, and green building as a city councillor and Mayor of Saint-Laurent has left a lasting positive impact on the City of Montreal. CIP is proud to count him as an ally and a friend to planners.”
Alan DeSousa
Alan DeSousa has been a strong advocate for planning over his career in government. He has been Mayor of Saint-Laurent, City of Montreal since 2001, providing leadership in the promotion of sustainable development, environmental preservation, and green building through policies, plans, and programs. In addition to his sound administration in Saint-Laurent, he actively supported initiatives related to heritage protection, creative architecture, public transit, active transportation, and the role of enlightened planning at the provincial, metropolitan, and local levels. He has been a long-time advocate for a provincial-wide planning and architecture policy and, after much consultation, such a policy was adopted in Québec in 2023.
During his many years in public service, Alan spearheaded the adoption and implementation of the Montreal Sustainable Development Plan, the Montreal Economic Development Strategy (including an Urban Design Policy), and the Montreal Metropolitan Community Policy on Protecting Natural Areas for 17% of the metropolitan area. He stewarded a number of development projects that embodied innovative planning practices including Bois-Franc, a successful New Urbanist, transit-oriented development, considered among the 50th best projects in Québec, according to Ordre des urbanistes du Québec, and transit-oriented developments appropriate to their locations around the Bois-Franc and Du Ruisseau train stations. He also advocated for an extensive component dedicated to the preservation of natural areas within the first high technology business park in Canada.
Saint-Laurent is a highly diversified community from a racial/ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic point of view. Much of Saint-Laurent was originally developed in the mid-20th century with a focus on accommodating large volumes of vehicular traffic. Saint-Laurent does not have the social composition and urban form that are typically associated with strong environmental agendas. One of the ways Alan has raised his community’s awareness of environmental issues is by influencing the blending of environmental and other urban planning objectives with the day-to-day concerns of the residents of Saint-Laurent, in ways that stress the relevance and importance of these objectives to their community.
Alan has received many awards over his career, among them two awards which pertain most directly to his planning, environmental and heritage preservation initiatives: the Jean-Paul-L’Allier prize from the Ordre des urbanistes du Québec in 2015 and the Frederick-Todd prize from the Quebec Association of Landscape Architects in 2023.
About CIP Honorary Membership
Created in 2019, this prestigious distinction recognizes individuals working outside of the planning profession who have made a significant contribution to the promotion or enhancement of planning practice, the profession, or both. This honour acknowledges an individual’s extraordinary contribution to the vitality, resilience, and sustainability in one or more communities across Canada and/or around the world.
Nominations Process: An eligible individual must be nominated by a CIP member in good standing, providing evidence that all criteria to become an Honorary Member have been met or exceeded. All nominations are brought before the Jury, which provides their recommendations to the CIP Board of Directors for review and approval.
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Media contact:
Lauren Murray (she/her)
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800.207.2138 x 207
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The Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) works on behalf of over 9,000 diverse planning professionals and has served as the voice of Canada’s planning community since 1919. Planners safeguard the health and well-being of urban and rural communities by addressing the use of land, resources, facilities, and services with consideration to physical, economic, and social efficiency.