Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share CityTalk Canada
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
CityTalk Canada
CityTalk Canada episodes
- Jane's Ideas - Then & Again
Contemporary urbanists continue to find inspiration in the ideas crafted, tested and authored by American-Canadian activist Jane Jacobs more than fifty years ago.
Mary Rowe revisits some of Jane's visionary work with two fellow devotees - Toronto environmental writer Lloyd Alter and former Toronto mayor John Sewell - and how it's as timely as ever to Canada's rapidly-shifting economy.
- Carbon Upfront - Lloyd Alter on Substack
- The Story of Upfront Carbon - book by Lloyd Alter
- Books by John Sewell
- Solved - book by David Miller
- Books by Jane Jacobs
Talk to us from your city
52 min - The Economics and Politics of Place
This increasingly longer and larger 'moment' of economic and geopolitical upheaval impacts communities across Canada, though the extent is often hard to gauge at ground level. That's one reason the world gave us economists.
Veteran economist and columnist Armine Yalnizyan give Mary Rowe her wide horizontal view of fresh policies being added by the Carney government and their effects on the ground...here and elsewhere.
Talk to us from your city
30 min - Small is Still Beautiful
As global investors descended on Toronto recently to consider putting their money into Canada's infrastructure (and airports), Mary Rowe wanted to consider how to generate more investment in the independent businesses that represent the bulk of the local economies in most every community.
Joining in this considerate conversation are small business advocates Amy Robinson, founder of LOCO BC, and Chris Rickett, freelance consultant and member of CUI's Main Street Canada team.
Talk to us from your city
30 min - Carry-on Economics
This third week of September 2026 was filled with some extraordinary developments regarding Canada's future...from the billions expected to land via the first-ever Canada Investment Summit to a ground-breaking relationship with the European Union.
How all of this benefits the evolution of Canadian federalism and the economics of our communities is what's top-of-mind for both CUI's Mary Rowe and her guest Sean Speer, senior fellow at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and editor-at-large at The Hub Media Group.
It could be one of the most extraordinary conversations you hear this week.
FYI if you're keen to explore some of Sean's references, here's where to find them:
- Rowell-Sirois Commission
- Ideas Have Consequences - Richard Weaver
- Canada’s Constitution - Sections 91 & 92
Talk to us from your city
40 min - On the Front Lines
With the Canada-USA trade war escalating, there's a particular group of Canadians bearing the brunt of its impact, and whose livelihoods are in peril. They're the independent manufacturers, retailers and service outlets lining the main streets of communities across the country.
In this episode, CUI CEO Mary Rowe chats with Dan Kelly, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, one of this group's staunch defenders and advocates, about the policies and actions needed by government and consumers to support this critical contributor to our economy.Talk to us from your city
28 min - The Housing In Canada FAQ - part 3
More top-level answers to FAQs about the present and future of Canada's housing continuum delivered by leaders from every corner of the country, including real estate developers, bankers, not-for-profit and co-op associations as well as the federal Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, Gregor Robertson.
Join CUI's Mary Rowe for another 'lightning round' of helpful advice.
Talk to us from your city
35 min - The Housing In Canada FAQ - part 2
More smart, helpful answers to a wide variety of FAQs about the present and future of Canada's housing ecosystem...provided by many of the leading stakeholders attending CUI's Housing Future Summit in June 2026.
If you're planning to change your address this year, you'll want to hear what the experts are saying about your best options.
Join host and FAQ quizmaster Mary Rowe for another round.
Talk to us from your city
27 min - The Housing in Canada FAQ - part 1
Curious about what's really going on with Canada's housing system? Here's your answer... actually, many of them.
At its recent Housing Future Summit, CUI gathered the leading voices in the housing continuum to answer some FAQs about current challenges and opportunities, and the solutions in development across the country.
Host Mary Rowe is your guide and quiz mistress.
Talk to us from your city
27 min - Barrie’s mayor on declaring an emergency over encampmentsAcross the country, people are increasingly turning to encampments for shelter. These informal communities spotlight many complex challenges, from housing affordability to substance use and mental health issues. Encampments also present challenges to the social and economic functioning of neighbourhoods and downtown areas.For the last few years CUI has been very involved in convening a broad range of stakeholders - with lived experience, community leaders, civic organizations, business operators – to look for mutually respectful, effective solutions to ensuring our cities are accessible, safe and equitable for everyone. We are continuing to work with partners from coast to coast to coast to identify the best approaches, as communities try different ways to address these challenges.The mayor of Barrie, Ontario, Alex Nuttall, reached a tipping point and has chosen to declare a state of emergency to address it there. He talks to host Mary Rowe about what led to this decision, how he intends to move forward, as well as the limits of the city’s power.CityTalk will be featuring a variety of voices and perspectives on this topic in the coming months, as communities of every size continue to grapple with how to ensure their places are equitable, safe, desirable and productive for everyone.
Talk to us from your city
30 min - Rethinking Vancouver’s Downtown EastsideVancouver’s Downtown East Side has long been associated with high levels of homelessness and substance abuse, issues which many cities across the country are now facing. Host Mary Rowe speaks with two people who help deliver services and housing supports to people in the neighbourhood, and share lessons that other communities can learn.Donna-Lynn Rosa is CEO of Atira Women’s Resource Society and Corey McCallum is Atira’s Director of Outreach Programs. They talk about how to engage respectfully with people experiencing homelessness, addiction and mental health challenges, misconceptions about the Downtown East Side, and why they encourage people to not think of homelessness and substance use as “problems” with a clear solution. This is part of an ongoing series on CityTalk about how to address the interconnected challenges of substance use, mental health and homelessness that many cities are facing.
Talk to us from your city
31 min
About CityTalk Canada
From the publisher's feed
What's working, what's not and what's next for Canada's cities. Presented by noted urbanist Mary Rowe, president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute.