Dal's school of planning seems to be pretty well-regarded on a national level. There is a very large undergraduate program and a small (~20 students/year) masters program. Focus is very much locally-based - Halifax Peninsula gets a TON of attention, then larger HRM, then Canada, then international. There is unfortunately a lack of focus on Atlantic Canada outside of NS. There are a number of transportation planning classes; from what I understand they are crosslisted as engineering classes so they tend to be fairly technical. There seems to be a good balance between design, policy, and what I would describe as "urban studies" - city-related stuff that is not directly within the realm of land-use planning. Coastal/environmental planning is a major area of focus, and despite the frustration over red tape often expressed on this forum, Halifax seems to be on the leading edge of 21st-century planning initiatives in terms of mid-sized Canadian cities, so even living here for a couple years could be a useful experience if you are considering working as a planner in a Canadian city in the 200,000-1,000,000 range. That said, Halifax has some odd cultural and geographical quirks that force different approaches than more "straightforward" cities like London ON, Saskatoon or Moncton. There is also quite a bit of interaction between the School of Planning, the municipality, and the planning/development sector. There is unfortunately very little collaboration between the Schools of Planning and Architecture even though they are technically the same faculty.
Based on what I've heard, Dal's program falls midway on the "practicality" scale between UBC (very theoretical) and Ryerson (very practical), and the location of the school at Dal's Sexton (downtown) campus means that students are fully immersed in the urban environment. Graduates seem to get jobs and get published.
Last edited by Hali87; Jun 10, 2014 at 5:41 PM.
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