About the Black Planners and Urbanists Association (BPUA)
The Black Planners and Urbanists Association (BPUA) is a national, not-for-profit, membership-based organization comprised of a collective of planners, architects, urbanists, artists, designers and community leaders dedicated to reshaping the built environment through justice and equity representation, and radical imagination.
We support professionals and students while partnering with Black communities to address systemic barriers in land use planning, development, and public policy. Through mentorship, advocacy, and collaboration, we strengthen professional networks and promote planning practices that are inclusive, accountable, and community-informed. BPUA works to ensure that Black communities are not only considered – but centered – in all decisions about the future of our cities.
Our mission
We exist to build community, support professional growth and advocate for more just and inclusive cities.
Our Pillars of Work
- Professional development and mentorship
- Network building and knowledge sharing
- Community partnership and engagement
- Policy advocacy and systems change
- Excellence, ethics and integrity in professional practice
- Advancing Black representation in planning, architecture, policy, and development
- Building platforms that amplify Black excellence
- Promote positive forms of urbanism that improve health and wellness
Guiding Principles
We are a network of 40+ Black professionals in Canada working in planning, design, and real estate development. We connect and support Black planners and students to help them expand career opportunities and build community.
Support
Change
Interdependence
Spiritual Strength
Endurance
Create Circles, Not Lines
We dismantle hierarchy in favour of dialogue, inclusion, and shared leadership. Our work is grounded in collaboration and community empowerment.
Move at the Speed of Trust
Trust builds strong communities. We move with collective intention, allowing relationships to guide the pace of progress.
Plan With, Design With
We walk alongside communities as they imagine and realize their own futures. We act as collaborators, connectors, and conveners — never representatives or gatekeepers.
Center Lived Experience
Lived experience is a vital form of expertise. It guides our work and grounds our strategies in truth, nuance, and empathy.
Be Humble Learners
We approach planning with deep listening, openness, and the willingness to learn, unlearn, and grow.
Celebrate and Amplify Black Joy
Joy is resistance. We honour our culture, creativity, humour, and brilliance as essential sources of community power.
Reckon with the Past to Build the Future
We acknowledge histories of injustice and innovation in Black spaces. This truth‑telling builds trust and strengthens collective healing.
Choose Critical Connections Over Critical Mass
Quality relationships sustain movements. We focus on nurturing deep, authentic, transformative partnerships.