Saskatchewan Professional Planners Institute

Moving Saskatoon Forward: Getting Inspired by Sustainable Transportation
2022-11-24 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Regina)
Author and urbanist Taras Grescoe will be providing a free public presentation on Thursday, November 24th at the Roxy Theatre, at 7 pm.
Taras Grescoe is the author of Straphanger and other books/articles on sustainable public transportation and good urbanism. The event is funded by the college’s Role Model Speaker fund, the Department of Geography and Planning, and the RUP program

Creating Inclusive and Livable Communities Through Mapping and 3D Analysis
2022-11-30 12:00 - 13:00
Join ESRI Canada for this free webinar and earn 1 CPL Unit! Esri Canada and SPPI are pleased to partner to deliver this webinar focused on inclusive and livable communities.
Topics will include housing affordability initiatives, both at the National and Provincial level, and discuss the relevance of these strategies for planners as they work towards creating sustainable and socially equitable communities. Discover the latest tools to quantify future planning scenarios and gather practical information about future planning areas and subsequent housing (and other) needs.
REGISTER HERE

Climate Change Adaptation Training for Prairie Region Planners
2023-01-16 10:00 - 11:30
Registration Now Open! Course starts January 16th
The Climate Risk Institute (CRI), in partnership with the Canadian Institute of Planners, All One Sky Foundation and Wallace Insights, developed a training program that brings in-depth climate change adaptation and resilience training to the Professional Planning audience in the Prairies Region. This online training is broken up into five Modules over five weeks with a mix of live sessions (1 per week) and recorded content. The purpose of the training is to increase planners’ capacity to incorporate climate change adaptation into practice. For more information and to register, please visit the CRI website

Meewasin Valley Authority & A National Urban Park
2023-07-05 12:05 - 12:50
The Professional Development Committee of the Saskatchewan Professional Planners Institute will be hosting a Lunch Time Virtual Speaker Series throughout the summer and fall months. The series will feature presenters from the 2022 SPPI Conference, in case you missed their presentation. The first session will be next Wednesday, July 5th.
Additional presentations will be advertised throughout the summer leading up to the 2023 SPPI Conference in Saskatoon on September 25th and 26th
Date: July 5, 2023, 12:05- 12:50pm, 1 LU
Speaker: Mike Velonas, RPP, MCIP
Mike’s presentation will provide a fascinating deep dive on the Meewasin Valley Authority, one of the most unique non-governmental agencies in the world, with a mandate to Conserve, Develop, and Educate. With development control and powerful legislation, Meewasin is the steward of the Meewasin Valley centered in the City of Saskatoon, and a uniquely-governed, quasi-municipal agency with a 100 Year Conceptual Master Plan. Since its creation in 1979, Meewasin, within its 67 km2 jurisdiction, has built over 105 km of Meewasin Trail, educated thousands, and protected significant areas of native prairie, one of the most imperiled ecosystems on the planet.
Meewasin is now embarking on an exploration of a potential national urban park and is poised to transform the Saskatoon region again with this generational opportunity. Partnering with Parks Canada, guided by the steering committee (Government of Saskatchewan, City of Saskatoon, RM of Corman Park, Saskatoon Tribal Council, Métis Nation of Saskatchewan, Wanuskewin Heritage Park, University of Saskatchewan), Meewasin is conducting engagement with key decision makers on Vision, Boundaries, and Governance for the designation of a potential national urban park, which may be the first of its kind in Canada.
This presentation will provide insight into the Meewasin Valley Authority, a one-of-a-kind entity, as it explores the creation of another one-of-a-kind, a potential national urban park in the Saskatoon region.
Join us through the meeting link below at 12:05 pm on Wednesday, July 5!
https://us06web.zoom.us/s/83405413791#success

2023 SPPI Conference
2023-09-25 - 2023-09-26
Registration Now Open! Head to our Annual Conference Page for more info!

Evaluating and Protecting Neighbourhood Character
2023-10-18 12:05 - 12:50
Date: October 18, 2023, 12:05- 12:50pm
LUs: 1 LU
Speakers: Alan Wallace, Aastha Shrestha and Adefemi Adegeye from the City of Regina will be available for the Q&A session at the end.
The Professional Development Committee of SPPI is hosting another Lunch Time Virtual Speaker event as part of a series of events that began in summer 2023. The series features some of the presenters from past SPPI Conferences, in case you missed their presentation or attended a concurrent session instead. The 3rd presentation of the series on October 18th, 2023, will feature Alan Wallace presenting on Evaluating and Protecting Neighbourhood Character, using the historic Cathedral neighbourhood in Regina as a case study. Aastha Strestha and Adefemi Adegeye from the City of Regina will also be available for questions.
We look forward to engaging with you. Please keep an eye out for future presentations as part of this series. Don’t forget, these sessions are a great way to obtain continuous learning units.

Climate Change Adaptation Training
2023-11-16 08:00 - 17:00
The Climate Risk Institute, the All One Sky Foundation and Wallace Insights, are excited to deliver this training program that brings in-depth climate change adaptation and resilience training to the Professional Planning audience in the Prairies Region. Training modules have been customized for Planners across the Prairies presenting regional information on climate change trends and impacts and outlining the policy framework as well as adaptation solutions while integrating communication strategies and approaches throughout. The purpose of the training is to increase planners’ capacity to incorporate climate change adaptation into practice.
Training is divided into five modules over five weeks. The course is a blend of synchronous sessions (One 1.5hr live Zoom meeting per week, on Thursdays) and asynchronous content where instructors have recorded lecture content and readings that you can complete on your own schedule. Visit the Climate Risk Institute website for more information and to register. Module Training Days as follows:
November 16
November 23
November 30
December 7
December 14

NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY PRESENTATION
2024-06-21 11:00 - 12:00
The SPPI Professional Development Committee is pleased to announce the next Virtual Speaker Series Lunch and Learn will be on June 21 from 11 am – noon. We are honoured to have Dr. Theodore Jojola with the University of New Mexico present to our members and will provide more information on this presentation soon. For now, please save the date in your calendar for this event.
Date: June 21, 2024
Time: 11 am – Noon
Format: Zoom – Register Here

HOUSING ACCELERATOR FUND PRESENTATION
2024-07-16 12:00 - 13:00
The Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) is a $4 billion-dollar Federal funding program for Canadian municipalities to speed up the delivery of new housing units and create the conditions for additional housing to be built in both the short and long-term. It is part of the Federal Government’s response to the national housing crisis. The HAF pushes municipalities to be proactive and remove barriers to housing development and increase certainty in the approvals and building process. While we often hear about housing issues in larger cities, Regina and Saskatoon are no different and we see an increasing need to support housing availability in our cities. This presentation will provide background information on the HAF program, the approach that each city took to developing their action plans and progress to date on policy changes intended to support additional housing development
Date: July 16, 2024
Time: 12:05-12:55pm
Format: Zoom – Register Here!

2025 SPPI ANNUAL CONFERENCE
2025-10-01 - 2025-10-02 | Hotel Saskatchewan, 2125 Victoria Avenue, Regina, Saskatchewan, S4P0S3, Canada
The 2025 SPPI conference will take place on Wednesday, October 1st and Thursday October 2nd, 2025 at the historic Hotel Saskatchewan located in the heart of downtown Regina and situated in Treaty 4 Territory. Our annual conference will provide a platform for learning, professional networking, and celebrating our member’s accomplishments. Stay tuned for program and session information coming soon.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS & SPONSORSHIP
The 2025 Call for Proposals and Partners is now open! Proposals for the conference must be received by May 31 to info@sppi.ca. Get brand exposure and participate in the annual conference through partnering with the SPPI.
Go to our Annual Conference Page for all conference information.

SPPI Virtual Workshop - QGIS for Planning and Local Government
2026-09-16 09:00 - 2026-09-17 12:30
This workshop is a hands-on, tutorial-based training workshop designed to help municipal and regional staff harness the full potential of QGIS, a free, and open-source desktop GIS application used by local governments around the world. Through a combination of guided instruction and practical exercises, participants will learn how to perform common spatial analysis tasks, create and manage data, and produce high-quality maps and reports tailored to municipal needs. This workshop emphasizes real-world applications—such as mapping demographics, analyzing urban walkability, identifying suitable sites for development, and assessing environmental hazards—to demonstrate how QGIS can support data-driven decision-making across.
Part 1: September 16, 2026
Part 2: September 17, 2026
Time: 9 a.m. – 12: 30 p.m. each day
CPL: 7 Structured Learning Units
Fees:
SPPI Member: $200 + GST
SPPI Non-Member: $250 + GST
Limited to 15 participants.

Registration in this workshop is intended for one person only. Virtual and AI recording is not permitted.

Register Here

2026 SPPI Conference
2026-10-05 08:00 - 2026-10-06 17:00
The 2026 SPPI conference will take place on October 5 – 6 at the Sheraton Cavalier located in the heart of downtown Saskatoon and situated in Treaty 6 Territory. Our annual conference will provide a platform for learning, professional networking, and celebrating our member’s accomplishments. Registration Now Open! Head to our conference page for more information.
