Ryan Mounsey

Ryan is a professional urban planner, urban designer, and is a Manager of Economic Development with over 18 years of experience in the private and public sectors.  Ryan has specialization in development approvals, urban design, special projects, project management and economic development.  He received his undergraduate degree in urban planning from UW and a master’s degree in urban design studies from UofT.

 

Ryan started in the private sector working for GSP Group on a broad range of development projects.  Following this Ryan worked for the City of Kitchener as a senior planner managing special projects such as The Mixed Use Corridors Design Briefs and The School of Pharmacy in Kitchener's emerging Innovation District.  

 

In 2007 Ryan accepted a senior planning position at The City of Waterloo.  During this period, he was the Chair of Site Plan Review Committee where he facilitated $1.8B of development, he was the author of the City’s first urban design manual and worked on a broad range of city-building projects.

In 2013, Ryan moved into Economic Development as Manager of Expansion and Retention Services to expand business growth and investment.  Some select projects have included working on innovative Community Improvement Plan strategies to attract small companies, worked on the Communitech Data Hub initiative and worked on the Two-Way Go Toronto-Waterloo Region Innovation Corridor Business Case linking Toronto to Waterloo as the next silicon valley to compete for talent on the world stage.  With this project, he was part of the Mayor’s Delegation to California last year and became immersed in the Waterloo Region startup ecosystem.  He is currently working on zoning reforms in The Uptown to stimulate job growth and managing the sale of several city owned properties. 

 

 

Ryan is a registered professional planner (RPP) and is a member of Economic Developers Association of Canada.  He is also a member of the Council for Canadian Urbanism and was a long term member of the OPPI Urban Design Working Group and course instructor for the OPPI Urban Design Course.  Ryan has, and continues to provide guest lectures at UW, WLU, Conestoga College, and York University talking about city building, professional development and economic development.  Ryan has written numerous articles in The Ontario Planning Journal and is currently writing a book on Waterloo Region.