Across the Greater Toronto Area, place-based non-profits – Non-profit organizations with established roots in their communities – and resident leaders are working to preserve affordable housing, protect community spaces, and sustain culturally meaningful local businesses. Yet, these same communities are often excluded from the very planning processes that shape their neighborhoods — from Official Plans to Secondary Plans and development approvals.
 

When grassroots voices are left out, the consequences are clear: displacement, disconnection, and deepening inequities. From the Ground Up is here to change that. 

From the Ground Up is a capacity-building initiative developed by CP Planning in partnership with United Way Greater Toronto, to support community-based organizations and resident leaders in building the knowledge, skills, and networks they need to shape land use planning and push for equitable development across the region. 

This program is designed to support staff from non-profit organizations and resident leaders in neighbourhoods across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). For the purposes of this program cohort, resident leaders are community members who take initiative in organizing, and mobilizing others around local issues.  Non-profit organizations are invited to apply for up to two (2) participants from their organization.   

From the Ground Up runs every two weeks from September to December 2025. Applicants should ensure they can participate in at least 3/5 program sessions and attend at least 1 special event.  

From the Ground Up offers a comprehensive curriculum that blends foundational knowledge, hands-on strategy, and real-world insights from experts and organizers working across housing justice, urban planning, and community development. 

Session 1: Foundations of Land Use Planning:  Gain a clear understanding of how land use planning works in Ontario. Learn who makes decisions, how planning policies are formed, and how systemic and historical forces have shaped development patterns, displacement, and exclusion. 

Session 2: Navigating Planning Processes: Learn to stay informed about planning activity in your area. This session covers how to interpret development proposals, engage city planners and councillors, and prepare strategic, community-informed responses to planning and development applications. 

Session 3: Mapping Assets and Matching Tools: Identify your community’s physical, social, and political assets and use structured analysis tools like SWOT to assess local conditions. Learn how to match your goals — such as affordable housing or community infrastructure — with the right policy, financial, and grassroots strategies. 

Session 4: Lessons from the Field: Explore successful community-led planning efforts from Toronto and beyond. Learn how grassroots groups have shifted narratives, built broad coalitions, and won meaningful concessions and policy change by aligning community knowledge with strategic action. 

Session 5: Building a Community-Led Plan: Pull all your learning together to develop a practical, actionable plan for your community. Learn how to define goals, design inclusive outreach strategies, build coalitions, budget resources, and push for implementation through policy and public engagement. 

This program is designed to support your long-term leadership and community impact. Participants will receive: 

• A strong foundation in how land use planning systems work and how to intervene 
• Practical skills for analyzing planning documents and responding to development proposals 
• A step-by-step process to create a customized, community-led plan 
• Tools like glossaries, strategic planning workbooks, stakeholder maps, and narrative frameworks 
• Opportunities to build relationships with other resident leaders, grassroots groups, and planning professionals 

  And to extend learning beyond the sessions, participants will also benefit from: 

• Access to Urban Land Institute (ULI) Toronto Events
  Having access to curated ULI programming to connect with developers, planners, architects, and public sector leaders, gaining insider perspectives and expanding your networks. 

• Mentorship Pods  
  Participants will have access to mentorship from an experienced planner and community leader, offering 1:1 support to troubleshoot planning challenges and provide guidance on building strategies to achieve their community goals