CityTalk Canada cover art

CityTalk Canada

CityTalk Canada

By: Canadian Urban Institute
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 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.2023 Science Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Rethinking Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

    Rethinking Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside
    Oct 23 2025
    Vancouver’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.
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    30 mins
  • Barrie’s mayor on declaring an emergency over encampments

    Barrie’s mayor on declaring an emergency over encampments
    Oct 9 2025
    Across 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.
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    29 mins
  • Libraries: the last shared space?

    Libraries: the last shared space?
    Sep 25 2025
    Many of our cities’ biggest challenges right now are playing out inside public libraries. Library staff come face-to-face daily with issues relating to homelessness, substance use, mental and physical health, and, of course, education. As they continue to adapt to their communities' increasing needs, their funding is not growing. Two library CEOs from opposite ends of the country join host Mary Rowe to talk about the reality of running a library in 2025. Åsa Kachan is the CEO and chief librarian for Halifax Public Libraries. Pilar Martinez is the CEO of Edmonton Public Libraries. You can read more on this topic in CUI’s report, Overdue: The Case for Canada’s Public Libraries. https://canurb.org/wp-content/uploads/CUI_Overdue_report_10.04.23.pdf
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    35 mins
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