2025 CACPT Conference Speakers

Ryan Dunham is a Planning Technician with the City of Kitchener. He holds a Masters in Environmental Studies in Urban Planning from the University of Waterloo and has extensive municipal experience working for other Ontario municipalities including the cities of Cambridge, Sarnia and Thunder Bay prior to joining Kitchener’s planning team.

Natalie Goss is the Manager of Policy & Research with Kitchener’s Planning Team. Over the past few years, her work has focused on championing new and innovative ways to engage community in key land use decisions. As part of the implementation of Kitchener’s Housing for All Strategy, she supports Kitchener’s Lived Expertise Working Group and furthers meaningful community engagement through projects like ‘Growing Together’ through the use of smart modeling as a tool to transform community input into informed policy recommendations.

Victoria Grohn has a decade of municipal planning experience working in both heritage and policy planning roles and has spent the last six years as a Heritage Planner with the City of Kitchener. Victoria has been involved in an array of adaptive reuse and rehabilitation projects through both the heritage permitting and development approvals processes. Victoria is passionate about developing thoughtful strategies to integrate heritage resources into development projects, ensuring the protection and celebration of culturally significant resources. Her work reflects a commitment to balancing progress with preservation, fostering sustainable and respectful growth. Victoria holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies in Planning and a Master of Planning, both from the University of Waterloo, and she is a Candidate Member with OPPI.

Janine Oosterveld is a registered professional planner with experience in Canada and the United States in private and public sectors. As part of the City of Kitchener’s Planning team, she is currently the manager of customer experience and project management where she leads a team that supports a range of policy and development initiatives including affordable housing incentives, streamlining development approvals, zoning services and climate policy. Janine’s professional vision focuses on collaboration to build engaging, healthy, and inclusive communities.

Zoë Morrison is a professional planner and the office leader for Stantec in Whitehorse. She has a Masters in Urban and Rural Planning and twenty years of experience working with communities, First Nations and local governments across the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Northern Ontario and Alaska. Zoë works on a wide range of projects including official community plans, neighbourhood design, land development, climate action planning, active transportation, and downtown revitalization. She is currently serving on the Board of the Planning Institute of BC and the Yukon. Zoë does her best planning work in the places where you have to wear snowpants.

Jasmin Brinovcar is a Senior Technician, specializing in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Jasmin joined the firm in 2017, holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography from the University of Guelph with a minor in GIS and a GIS and Urban Planning diploma from Fanshawe College. Jasmin’s GIS experience includes over 10 years of advanced analysis, cartography, database design and management, location analytics, dynamic web application design, data collection application design, land needs assessments, and visual impact analyses. Jasmin is also involved in a range of projects where she provides illustrative and technical design and drafting services to both private and public sector clients. She also contributes to the illustrative and graphic components of urban design briefs and guidelines. Jasmin also prepares visual evidence as part of OLT hearings. Jasmin’s experience prior to joining MHBC, involved working in GIS at a municipality completing mapping and database applications for various departments. Jasmin also supported users of GIS software while working in the Technical Support department at Esri Canada. Jasmin is a full member of the Canadian Association for Certified Planning Technicians, and also serves on the program advisory committee for the GIS & Urban Planning program at Fanshawe College.

Vanessa Hicks is a Senior Heritage Planner and Associate with MHBC. Vanessa joined the firm after having gained experience as a Manager of Heritage Planning in the public realm where she was responsible for working with Heritage Advisory Committees in managing heritage resources, Heritage Conservation Districts, designations, special events and heritage projects. Vanessa has been a full member of the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals (CAHP) since 2018 and graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Masters Degree in Planning, specializing in heritage planning and conservation. Vanessa provides a variety of research and report writing services for public and private sector clients. She has experience in historical research, inventory work, evaluation and analysis on a variety of projects, including serving as Team Lead on Heritage Conservation District (HCD) projects. Vanessa also completes, and oversees the completion of, Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs), Cultural Heritage Evaluation Reports (CHERs), Conservation Plans (CPs), Documentation and Salvage Reports, and Commemoration Projects (i.e. plaques).

Andrea Sinclair is a Partner with MHBC, specializing in land use planning and urban design. Andrea joined the firm in February 2006 after graduating from the University of Toronto with a Masters of Urban Design Studies and the University of Waterloo with a Bachelors Degree (Honours) in Planning (Urban Design Specialization). Andrea’s land use planning experience includes obtaining development approvals, project coordination and management, undertaking special studies and associated research, expert witness at the Ontario Municipal Board and Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and presentations to Committees, Council and the general public. Andrea also specializes in providing urban design services to public and private sector clients across Ontario. Her experience includes the application of urban design initiatives through policy preparation, site design analysis, community visioning, design briefs and design guidelines. Andrea has also conducted a number of design charrettes on behalf of both municipalities and private sector clients and has extensive public consultation experience. To continue her education in Urban Design related matters, Andrea completed CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) training and has applied this training towards the preparation of a number of CPTED reports on behalf of various clients. Andrea is a full member of the Canadian Institute of Planners and the Ontario Professional Planning Institute and is a Registered Professional Planner.

Jeff Biggar is an Assistant Professor in the School of Planning at Dalhousie University. His research and teaching focuses on land use planning and property development. He is particularly interested in how cities manage and plan for density to improve the quality of place for people, and how local governments recover value from private development for the public good. Through this focus, Jeff considers how planning policy and tools address spatial inequities in cities.

Rylan Graham is an Assistant Professor in the School of Planning and Sustainability at the University of Northern British Columbia. Rylan’s research focuses on issues related to growth management and the transition towards intensification, neighbourhood change and downtown revitalization, and with a particular focus on mid-sized Canadian cities. Rylan is a Registered Professional Planner (RPP) with the Planning Institute of British Columbia and a Full Member in the Canadian Institute of Planners (MCIP). Prior to entering academia, he practiced as a planner in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Kourosh Rad is the Director of Planning & Development at Evergreen, where he leads capital projects and public space development. Based in Halifax, Kourosh has directed the design and delivery of large-scale public realm and cultural infrastructure projects, including the 17-acre Evergreen Brick Works transformation, Toronto’s 72-km Loop Trail, and the Wije’Winen Friendship Centre in Nova Scotia. With a background spanning urban planning, real estate development, and construction, Kourosh has undertaken redevelopment of historic and underutilized sites into vibrant community assets. His recent work includes adaptive reuse projects in Ontario and Nova Scotia, such as the Brick Works campus in Toronto and the Green Lantern redevelopment in Halifax. He is passionate about blending heritage, sustainability, and design excellence to create inclusive, resilient spaces.