Who We Are
The Community Planning Association of Alberta is an organization dedicated to the promotion of community planning in the Province of Alberta. Through various means, the Association provides a forum for the discussion of community planning-related concepts, ideas and issues with a view towards solutions
The Association is a volunteer-based organization, comprised of members from diverse backgrounds and interests. The diversity of membership provides unique opportunities for the organization’s membership in terms of exploring various aspects of community planning.
History
The Community Planning Association of Canada (CPAC) was formed in the 1950’s by Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation - the federal housing authority. The purpose of the Association was to promote interest in community development across Canada with citizen involvement in the design and planning of their communities. The operation of the Association was funded by grants from Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation to provincial chapters. Membership was in the thousands with up to 3,000 delegates attending national conferences held in various cities across Canada.
In 1979, the Board of Directors decided that the Alberta Chapter should not continue under the misnomer of Community Planning Association of Canada. Phil Elder, who was on the Alberta Chapter’s Board of Directors, a professor of environmental design at the University of Calgary and also a lawyer, drafted a constitution for the incorporation of the Community Planning Association of Alberta (CPAA) under the Alberta Societies Act as a non-profit, non-professional association.
CPAA is, today, the only surviving Provincial association from the original Community Planning Association of Canada. It is the only planning association in the nation that seeks to encompass among its membership all stakeholders involved and affected by community planning and to engage them in common discussion and in the promotion of sound community planning.
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