Overview
The field of planning has long been recognized as a professional field in Canada and the world. UBC's School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) is one of the larger graduate planning schools in North America. Its Vision is “Knowledge in action - planning in partnership", and in achieving that Vision, SCARP's Mission commits, "through education and research, to generating and transforming knowledge into action by planning in partnership to improve lives and communities and the quality of built and natural environments".
SCARP’s dual-accredited Master of Community and Regional Planning (MCRP) program provides students, through cutting-edge content and innovative pedagogy, with essential theory, skills, methods, and critical thinking and analytical tools to address and keep pace with a rapidly-changing world and the range of problems that planners try to solve. The updated program addresses some of the biggest challenges facing society today, including climate change, systemic injustice, and planning for more resilient communities; as well as ongoing efforts to repair relationships with Indigenous people and decolonize planning in Canada.
This program is intensive and professionally oriented, and students emerge as well-rounded, critical, creative agents of equitable change.
What makes the program unique?
The MCRP program offers an innovative curriculum that draws upon the expertise of SCARP faculty as well as practicing planners, across a wide range of sub-fields, including housing equity, indigenous community planning, environment and climate change, transportation, and numerous more. These are not treated as separate sub-fields but integrated concerns in a transdisciplinary cross-examination of how to create healthy communities for everyone. This is reflected in the specific requirements for the MCRP degree, as well as the research, professional practice, and service activities of the faculty, staff, and students.
The MCRP program is accredited in both Canada and the US, by the American Institute of Certified Planners and the Canadian Institute of Planners. By creating an enhanced professional curriculum meeting their comprehensive learning outcomes, graduates of MCRP leave as accredited experts in the field of planning. SCARP is (by last count) one of only two schools in Canada with a master’s program fully accredited by both the Canadian and American planning organizations.
MCRP's curriculum goes beyond theoretical learning and applies its projects to real-world problems in the community. Students, consultation with faculty, intensively partner with community, municipal, and private-sector organizations as consultants, in a joint venture to identify problems and formally propose feasible solutions.
The School is highly regarded within the international profession of planning, and its setting in Vancouver, which attracts world-wide attention and acclaim for excellence in urban planning, enhances the educational experience of SCARP students.
Quick Facts
Program Enquiries
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