FUSION Montréal: Confident planners delivering resilient outcomes

Bart Shirm is a Senior Planning Policy Officer at Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. He is the 2025 West Midlands and National RTPI Young Planner of the Year.

Montréal, the largest city in Canada's Québec province, is always adapting to change. The indigenous lands were colonised by the French, seized by the British then enriched by waves of inward migration which shaped the city into the multicultural metropolis it is today. Frigid winters drive its inhabitants into a subterranean network that connects shops, offices and attractions. The city’s streets come alive in the summer’s heat becoming an epicentre of culture, alfresco dining and jazz.

Reoccurring periods of volatility and regular change are becoming as commonplace on the international stage as the inevitability of Montréal’s extreme seasons. Planners are regularly exposed to these extremes and their effects. Planners need to remain confident in their professional ability and continue to strive to deliver resilient outcomes in the public interest.

The FUSION conference in Montréal brought together almost 1,000 planners from across Canada as well as delegates from across the world. I had the privilege of being part of the RTPI delegation attending the conference and meeting with other international delegates. There was a clear sense of solidarity at the conference with planners remaining positive despite the shared challenges facing the profession.

The conversations that took place at the all-female International Presidents Panel struck a chord with me. The extent of commonality across the global network was remarkable and highlighted the value of international dialogue. The slow delivery of housing due in part to constrained land supply is a shared issue, be that due to insufficient infrastructure or political decisions.

Turbulence in politics and elected leaders perceiving “planning as the problem” are re-occurring themes internationally, and the panel shared advice on how to overcome this. Development projects are collectively impacted during periods of global instability and restrained investment, and we are all finding new solutions to deliver resilient outcomes when financing doesn’t match the expectations of planning. The rapid rise of AI and the normalisation of digital practices have huge potential but must be managed intelligently, and we need to learn from international trends and use cases being developed abroad.

Lauren Driscoll (President Elect of the American Planning Association) spoke of planners needing to rise above the crisis of the moment and focus on our immediate wins. We are all advocates for our profession. We need to stop being humble and start celebrating great planning.

Jan Bessell (President of the RTPI) reminded us of our fundamental skills as planners, including critical thinking, making evidence-based decisions and collaborating across the divide. We need to act as diplomats and tell a compelling narrative about what good planning will achieve. We need to focus on outcomes and remember that the language we use is so important particularly when logic and truth are readily rejected by others.

I had the unique opportunity to talk to the international presidents and chief executives one-on-one to learn more about the planning context in their countries and the challenges and opportunities their members are facing. I met countless enthusiastic individuals at the conference who are passionate about what they do and are delivering great outcomes for their communities.

Remaining confident in our professional ability and delivering resilient outcomes in the public interest resonated as a theme throughout the conference. I heard how Toronto is adapting to extreme weather by considering thermal comfort as a fundamental design consideration for new public spaces. I visited a last mile logistics hub that is taking trucks off Montréal’s suburban streets and replacing them with cargo bikes. I learnt how Naawi-Oodena Urban Reserve is setting a precedent as the largest indigenous-led community development being delivered collaboratively by Treaty One Nations and the Canada Lands Company.

I’ve returned feeling inspired and confident that planning has the power to deliver public good. I’m grateful to the RTPI for providing me with this experience and I know it will remain with me for my entire career.

To any young planner reading this blog, I hope you take that chance and push yourself. You never know where you might end up.