Two small neighbourhood experiments sparked a national network and a global conversation.

Placemaking Canada Network

Context
Placemaking Canada emerged from a desire to support communities in shaping the public spaces they love, starting with pilot initiatives in Halifax neighbourhoods. Colab led early projects to demonstrate the power of community-led design to activate neighbourhoods, strengthen civic engagement, and inspire lasting municipal support. Building on this momentum, there was a need to connect local placemaking efforts across Canada and foster a national network of civic innovators.

Our Role
Colab partnered with Future Cities Canada and other national partners to help envision and co-create the network. We led research and interviews with community builders, designers, artists, and public servants, surfacing stories of grassroots innovation and identifying barriers to scaling local initiatives. We also designed and facilitated a Placemaking Labs in Montréal and Vancouver, bringing together hundreds of participants to co-design a network that would be locally rooted, nationally connected, and globally relevant. Throughout, we focused on creating conditions for emergence: trust, peer learning, shared language, and the space to prototype ideas.

Outcome
Placemaking Canada has grown into a distributed network of city builders and civic innovators, with active local chapters in Montréal, Vancouver, Toronto, and beyond. The initiative catalyzed municipal programs, fostered peer learning, and amplified community-led placemaking across the country. Its impact has also reached an international audience, with Colab invited to the White House Placemaking Summit in recognition of the project’s role in strengthening democratic and civic life.