Program Overview

About the Program

The Master of Community Planning is a 2-year full-time professional program (Sep-Apr) that is designed to give aspiring students the knowledge, experience, and skills to become Registered Professional Planners with the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP).

The primary focus areas of the program are:

  • small-city and town planning
  • urban design
  • rural and urban interface planning
  • First Nations planning
  • sustainable economic issues
  • building community resiliency to climate change

Emphasis is placed on issues relevant to coastal BC communities and on Vancouver Island.

Graduates of the program can expect to gain:

  • A broad, interdisciplinary knowledge of the task of the planner in rational decision-making and in working to enhance the quality of life for residents in rural and small communities
  • Skills in urban design and visually representing community planning
  • An advanced ability to understand sustainability concepts for issues facing planning today, from the small to the large scale, including changing demographics, climate change, peak oil, food security, and globalization
  • The ability to take a wide lens approach to integrating social, environmental, and economic perspectives into questions in planning
  • Advanced competency in applied research, data collection, and analysis on a specific and relevant issue in planning that is of current importance to the profession
  • A new or renewed interest in planning through an expanded contribution to its profession and practice

MCP Student Aaron, dismayed by the counter reading.

VIU Master of Community Planning Students engaged in a Design Charette.