‘I’ve chosen the best career possible’: Regional and urban planning grad reflects on her profession

By Shannon Boklaschuk

As a registered professional planner, Kelley Moore believes she has made the perfect career choice.

The University of Saskatchewan alumna studied regional and urban planning through the College of Arts and Science, earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2000. She later completed a Master of Arts degree at the U of S in 2013, focusing her research on participatory democracy and land development.

“I honestly believe I’ve chosen the best career possible,” she said. “I have had so many different experiences. My partner and I own a small planning boutique and you can do social research, you can do physical planning, housing studies, watershed planning, waste management planning—the whole gamut.”

Because regional and urban planning is an interdisciplinary program, Moore said she learned about economics, political studies, human geography, sociology, agricultural economics and development and more.

“There are so many parts to it that it allows you to adapt to many different environments,” she said.

Since completing her undergraduate education, Moore has worked with the Town of Martensville and with the City of Saskatoon’s city planning branch. She has served on the boards of the Meewasin Valley Authority and the Canadian Institute of Planners, breathing new life into the national organization through her leadership.

Moore also has years of experience working with the Government of Saskatchewan. This includes a recent role as director of Community and Client Services with the Ministry of Social Services, in which she was responsible for managing a $150-million budget and overseeing numerous capital projects. She currently serves as the executive director of Property Management North in the Ministry of Central Services.

“I oversee all the buildings and lands owned by the Government of Saskatchewan for central and north Saskatchewan—so that would include all the provincial office buildings, the provincial courthouses, the various facilities and easements and so forth,” she said.

Through her employment at the City of Saskatoon, Moore had the opportunity to work on a number of diverse planning projects, including leading, facilitating and authoring several long-term neighbourhood plans. Moore said one of the highlights of her professional life was working with core neighbourhoods in Saskatoon, such as Pleasant Hill, noting that research has shown the importance of involving the neighbourhood’s residents in planning.

“That’s really the role of the planner is to look at the public interest,” she said.

Moore’s commitment to her community prompted her to take a run for the mayor’s seat in Saskatoon’s 2016 civic election. She remembers attending a planning conference during which it was suggested that planners should step into elected office because of their knowledge around land development and development processes and “the inherent respect and regard for the public interest” that they possess, she said.

“That’s what gave me the confidence,” said Moore.

Today, Moore continues to mentor emerging young professionals and volunteers with the Saskatchewan Professional Planners Institute and the United Way of Saskatoon and Area. She has been the recipient of a number of honours and awards throughout her career, including the Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Public Service in 2013.

Professor Ryan Walker, a faculty member in the U of S Department of Geography and Planning, said Moore is widely known in Canada “as one of the most influential planners to transform our national planning organization into one of the most well-run national organizations among our international peer group.”

The regional and urban planning program at the U of S is celebrating its 50^th anniversary in 2018, and Walker noted the program’s successes are easy to measure: “hundreds of successful alumni with thriving careers building our communities.”

“We have a large roster of alumni that are, or have been, in the highest levels of leadership in planning departments, environmental conservation agencies, private-sector consulting firms (and) real-estate development companies. Many have made significant contributions nationally and internationally throughout their careers,” Walker said.

“I could run off a list of quite famous graduates from our program, but I won’t. I’m just as proud of the newest junior planner hired at a rural municipality or city after graduation as I am of the alumnus who created one of the most influential real-estate companies in our city, or the graduate who leads one of the most prominent planning consulting firms in the province,” he added.

When Moore meets current regional and urban planning students, she tells them that the way they conduct themselves throughout their studies is important. Relationships with fellow students and professors also matter, she said, since you may work with those people throughout your career. For example, Moore credits for her first job in Martensville to a recommendation that came from one of her U of S instructors.

“I have to say if it wasn’t for my professor, Dr. Randall here at that time at the university, who was very involved in the regional and urban planning program, I would have never even got that job,” she said. “Literally the Town of Martensville called and said, ‘Do you have any students who you would recommend to come and help us this summer? We’ve got a grant and we need some help.’ ”

Walker said the regional and urban planning program has two goals, which are weighted equally in priority.

“First is to prepare our graduates to step into the current state of planning practice with the disciplinary knowledge to meet the need in Saskatchewan, Canada and internationally for highly competent and creative practitioners,” he said.

“Second is to prepare them to challenge the current state of planning practice and bring their critical-thinking skills to bear on a profession that needs to continuously improve the quality of public and private development decisions affecting our environment and society.”

The regional and urban planning program will mark its 50^th anniversary with a banquet on Sept. 17, 2018, at the Sheraton Cavalier. The banquet will be held in conjunction with the Saskatchewan Professional Planners Institute annual conference.

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