The Canadian Association of Certified Planning Technicians is governed by a Council, consisting of the Executive Committee and additional Council members, including student members, who meet periodically throughout the year to tend to the business of the Association.
President
James Warren, CPT
James is a Certified Planning Technician through the CACPT and is currently the Senior Urban Designer / Design Studio Supervisor at Landwise (Formerly known as T. Johns Consulting Group Ltd). He has previous experience as a Part-Time Instructor at Mohawk College, as well as a Planning Technician at Quartek Group Inc. He has 16 years of experience designing and reviewing conceptual plans and technical drawings for Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments, Site Plan Approvals, and Committee of Adjustment applications. He gained Diplomas as an Architectural Technologist, as well as an Urban and Regional Planning Technician (GIS) from Mohawk College in Hamilton, Ontario.
Vice President
Jared Marcus, CPT
Jared is a graduate from Mohawk College and a Certified Planning Technician through the CACPT. He started his career with Arcadis (formerly IBI Group) in 2005 as a Planning Technician providing technical drafting services and working his way up to his current role as an Associate and Manager, responsible for project management duties and technical and quality control review for design drawings. Jared has 19 years’ experience in consulting and has previous experience as a Part-Time Instructor at Mohawk College.
Registrar
Joan Keating, CPT
Joan is a graduate of Mohawk College in the Municipal Planning Program and has a degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo. Joan worked in consulting for four years and served as Planning Technician for the Town of Dundas for nine years. Joan joined the faculty at Mohawk College in 1989 serving as Professor, Class Advisor and Program Coordinator. Joan retired in 2017.
Treasurer
Kris Orsan, CPT
Kris is a graduate of Fanshawe College’s GIS and Urban Planning program and is in his 17 consecutive years as a member of the CACPT and Council and is currently holding the Treasurer position. Kris has been active in the planning industry for over 17 years and has worked throughout various municipalities in Ontario. Kris is currently working with the Municipality of Dysart et al as a Manager of Planning and Land Information where he currently processes and over sees many development and policy projects and applications within the municipality. Previously to the public sector Kris also worked for many years in the private sector as a planning technician where he provided subdivision, condominium and site plan designs, aggregate resource plans, visual analysis mapping, GIS analysis and was actively involved with preparing planning material for many land tribunal files. Outside of work, Kris enjoys spending time with his family, playing various sports, learning guitar, and working on house renovations.
Secretary
Jillian Richards, CPT
Jill is currently a Planner and Project Manager for Mountainview Building Group based in Thorold, Ontario. In this role she works on development projects from start to finish, starting with land acquisitions and concept development, through the planning process, the design of services and utilities, and finishes off with buildout, final inspections, and assumption. Prior to Mountainview, Jill worked as a Location Analyst and Planning Technician in both the public and private sector. Her collective experience has taken her around the country collecting data, creating various mapping for corporate decision making, Official Plans and Zoning By-laws, drafting concepts and site plans for public and private sector clients, interpreting planning policy, preparing planning reports, assigning municipal addressing, and maintaining municipal land use data.
Jill is a proud graduate of Mohawk College’s Urban and Regional Planning – GIS program, and holds an Honours Degree in Geography and Art History from the University of Toronto.
Councillor Emeritus
Diane LeBreton, CPT, MCIP, RPP (Ret)
Diane is a graduate of the Mohawk Community Planning Program and has a degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo. Diane is proud to be one of the founding members of CACPT. After working as a Planning Technician at a rural municipality she accepted a planning position at the Wentworth County School board and then as a Planner with the Halton District School Board. It was in school planning where Diane found her calling and worked for over 25 years. She was involved with the founding of the Planning Committee of the Ontario Association of School Business Officials (OASBO). As an OASBO Planning Member she represented school boards on a number of projects and committees with various Ontario Government Ministries and other agencies. Following an early retirement from school planning, Diane was honoured to hold the position of Executive Director of CACPT for ten years and then as the Association Registrar until 2020. These positions at CACPT have allowed Diane to expand her planning horizons; she is always impressed by our members and their abilities and is glad to have had the opportunity to meet and get to know so many great people through this association.
Councillor at Large
Laura Drennan, CPT
Laura is a full member of the Canadian Association of Certified Planning Technicians (CACPT) and is currently a Planning Technician at UrbanSolutions Planning & Land Development Consultants Inc. in Hamilton, Ontario. She has been a planning technician since 2019 after graduating from Mohawk College Urban & Regional Planning – GIS Program and hold a Degree in Geography from Brock University. Her responsibilities include managing projects at various stages of the planning application process, preparing document books and supporting materials for Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) hearings as well as preparing various drawings, sketches, and images to be included in submissions to the City, presented at Council/Committee meetings or neighbourhood public meetings.
Councillor at Large
Stephen Erickson, CPT
Stephen is a Certified Planning Technician through the CACPT and is currently a Senior Planning Technician at UrbanSolutions, an urban planning and land development firm in Hamilton, Ontario. Stephen’s work includes designing Concept Plans, Site Plans and Draft Plans of Subdivision, completing due diligence investigations for clients and project management. Although not by birth, Stephen is a proud Hamiltonian who moved to Hamilton in 2011 to attend McMaster University where he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Geography and minoring in GIS. Following graduation from McMaster, Stephen completed the Urban and Regional Planning Technician program at Mohawk College where he learned important drafting and design skills that he uses in his day-to-day work.
Councillor at Large
Mohammad Kamruzzaman, CPT
Since his graduation in 2016 from Mohawk College’s Urban & Regional Planning – GIS Program, Mohammad has been working in the planning and land development fields. Mohammad is currently woking as a Technician with Better Neighbourhoods Inc., a large development consultant based in St Catharines, Ontario. He is main responsibilities are to draft the concept plan, site plan, draft plan of subdivision, draft plan of condominium and landscape plan. He assists in the submission of different development applications and researching the planning policies, zoning and title search for the potential development sites for clients. Mohammad worked with IBI Group in Hamilton as a planning Technician Intern where he provided drafting services. This is his first year as Councillor at large at CAPT. Mohammad is an internationally trained professional and a loving father.
Councillor at Large
David Scott, CPT MPLAN ACST
David is a full member of the Canadian Association of Certified Planning Technicians (CACPT) and is currently a Planning Technician at the Township of Wainfleet, Ontario. He has been a planning technician since 2011; first in Haldimand County, and now for Wainfleet. He has a Masters of Planning from the University of Guelph as well as a Degree in Geography from Brock University. He is also the Secretary-Treasurer for the Wainfleet Committee of Adjustment. His responsibilities include managing applications at various stages of the planning process, coordinating public inquiries and notifications, municipal addressing, preparing maps, property information and supporting materials for Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) hearings as well as preparing various drawings, sketches, and images for various projects, and attending Council/Committee meetings. David enjoys reading, writing and is very interested in the evolution of the planning process in Ontario and Prince Edward Island.
Councillor at Large
Justin Sharp, CPT
Justin is a Planner and Planning Technician with focus on Urban Design. His years of experience includes the design of large scale subdivision projects, draft plans, block plans, site plans, streetscapes, planning justification reports, and urban design guidelines. His academic and professional career includes work in several non-profit organizations wherein he gained experience for development strategies, critical-thinking, personal interaction, and engaged team collaboration. Several years of related planning and external volunteer experience have granted him the ability to evaluate necessary planning documents, work exceptionally well with the public, and allowed him to sustain continued growth in planning theory and practice. Justin holds a University of Waterloo in Honours Planning (with a focus on Urban Design), a double major in Film and English from Wilfrid Laurier University, and Diploma from Mohawk College in Urban and Regional Planning. His strive for creative solutions has been articulated through the range of technical drawings, 2D and 3D drafting skills, and multiple platform artistic renderings – resulting in multiple awards for his submission work. Justin is also heavily involved within the planning community, being Vice Chair of OPPI Toronto District as well as on the board of CACPT. His current interests have been exploring the hidden and forgotten areas of Toronto while on bike, recording his exploration with photography.