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Engineering & technical · Analyzing & Problem-solving

Urban planner: what the job actually is

Deciding, with data, rules and a lot of public argument, what gets built where, and how towns grow, move and change.

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Urban planner: quick facts

Urban planner salary in Ontario: the median pay is $47.38 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is moderate. The job usually needs a university degree.

Median pay in Ontario
$47.38 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$27.56 to $76.00 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Moderate
People working in it in Ontario
5,900
Usually needs
Usually a university degree

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 21202. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Helping shape what gets built where: housing, roads, parks, transit, shops and industry. You work with maps, laws, data and people who disagree about all of them.
  • Much of the work is reviewing development applications against the rules, writing reports for councils and talking with residents, developers and engineers.
  • Planners work for municipalities, consulting firms, developers and other public bodies. The same plan reads differently from each side of the table.
  • In Ontario, Job Bank says the planning occupation is regulated, with the Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) as the regulatory body and the Registered Professional Planner (RPP) as the designation.

A Tuesday

What a normal day looks like

Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.

  1. 8:30 — In, email, and an application file that just got longer by a hundred pages.
  2. 9:00 — Review a proposed development against the zoning rules. Write the first paragraph of the staff report: what is asked, what the rules say.
  3. 10:30 — Meet an applicant who wants a change. Explain what is possible and what is not, politely, again.
  4. 12:00 — Lunch, then a quick check of the map. The lot is not quite where the drawing says.
  5. 13:00 — Site visit. Walk the property, take photos, notice that the sidewalk ends at the edge of the project.
  6. 14:30 — Prepare a presentation for the public meeting: six slides, one map, three questions you hope nobody asks.
  7. 16:00 — Phone call from a resident who is upset about a neighbour's project. Listen, explain the process, write it down.
  8. 17:00 — Draft the recommendation. It will be read by council and by people who will say you got it wrong.

Honestly

Who loves this, and who should not do it

The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.

You may like this if
  • You look at a town and wonder why the roads, shops and houses ended up where they did.
  • You like maps, data and the rules that govern what people can build.
  • You can handle public meetings and disagreement, and write clearly about contested things.
  • You want to work on problems that touch many people over decades, not just the next quarter.
  • You are happy to study for a degree and then work toward a professional designation.
You may hate this if
  • You hate conflict. Planning decisions upset someone, and planners are the visible face of the process.
  • You dislike slow work. Projects take years, and the result may be decided by a council that disagrees with you.
  • You want to design things. Planners set rules and review proposals; architects and engineers design the buildings and roads.
  • You find reports and regulations dull. Much of the job is reading and writing them.
  • You want a quick credential. The RPP route needs an accredited degree and then years of work experience.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Finish high school

    OPPI's route begins with high school and a degree. Geography, English, maths and social science courses are useful for the work.

  2. Earn a degree from a planning programme accredited by the Professional Standards Board

    OPPI says Ontario has six universities with accredited programmes, including Toronto Metropolitan, Queen's and the University of Toronto. Job Bank lists a bachelor's degree in planning, geography, architecture, engineering or a related field, and says a master's degree may be required.

  3. Join as a student, then a candidate member

    OPPI invites student membership during your studies. After graduating and working in a planning role you apply to become a Candidate Member.

  4. Complete the RPP certification

    OPPI says many candidates take three or more years to become an RPP, and that candidates have seven years to complete certification. Its criteria include mentorship, logging work experience, an ethics and professionalism course and a professional examination. If you have a non-planning degree and five or more years of planning experience, OPPI lists a Prior Learning Assessment Recognition route.

Where this comes from: Ontario Professional Planners Institute — Become an RPP · Job Bank — Urban and land use planners requirements in Ontario

The money

Urban planner salary in Ontario

Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.

$27.56
Low (hourly)
$47.38
Median (hourly)
$76.00
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 21202. Reference period 2023-2024, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth.

Source: Job Bank — Urban planner wages in Ontario

Where it is heading

The outlook for the next three years

Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.

Ontario, 2025-2027

Moderate3 out of 5 stars

  • Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
  • Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
  • There are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.

What is changing in this work

  • High levels of residential construction planned due to population growth in many areas of the province
  • Significant public sector infrastructure investments, such as for the redevelopment or construction of transit facilities and hospitals

Who hires for it

  • Public administration, mainly at the municipal and regional levels of government
  • Within the private sector, architectural, engineering and related services firms are key employers
5,900
people work in this job in Ontario
47%
are women (48% across all jobs)
9%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Urban and land use planners job prospects in Ontario (NOC 21202). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 5 October 2026.

Before you leave school

Things you can do now

  • Take geography and any data or mapping course your school offers.
  • Go to a public council or planning meeting, in person or online, and watch how people argue about a real development.
  • Look at your own neighbourhood and write down what you would change and what rule might be in the way.
  • Ask your municipality whether they run youth advisory groups or student placements.

Test it

Do this before you decide anything

Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.

Read a real planning report and attend a planning meeting online

About 90 minutes
  1. Find your town or city's planning applications page and choose one proposal that interests you. Read the staff report summary.
  2. Write down what is being asked, what the rules say, and what the staff recommend. Note how many people spoke for and against, if minutes are posted.
  3. Watch part of the recorded council or planning committee meeting on that item. Note how the planner presented and how people reacted.
  4. Decide what you would have recommended and write a paragraph defending it.

What it tells you. If you were drawn into the argument and wanted to write your own recommendation, this job fits how you think and the degree is worth exploring. If the report and the meeting felt dull or you could not stand the disagreement, planning is likely to feel the same, only longer.

Better than any article

Questions for somebody who does this job

Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.

  1. “What does the process look like from application to decision?”
  2. “How much of your week is writing, mapping, meeting or site visits?”
  3. “How do you handle a decision you disagree with?”
  4. “What did the RPP process involve, and was it worth it?”
  5. “What do people misunderstand most about planning?”
  6. “Which kind of employer would you pick again: a municipality, a consultancy or a developer?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Yes, experienced planners run consulting practices, working for municipalities, developers and landowners. It usually follows years of employment and the RPP designation, since clients want credentials and a track record.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does an urban planner make in Ontario?

The median pay for an urban planner in Ontario is $47.38 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $27.56 to $76.00 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for an urban planner in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as moderate for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions. Not many positions will become available due to retirements. There are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become an urban planner in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a university degree. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Finish high school; Earn a degree from a planning programme accredited by the Professional Standards Board; Join as a student, then a candidate member.

Where does an urban planner work in Ontario?

Public administration, mainly at the municipal and regional levels of government. Within the private sector, architectural, engineering and related services firms are key employers. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as an urban planner in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 5,900 people working in this job in Ontario. 47% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

Not sure this is the right list to be reading

Start from yourself, not from the job.

Future Finder is free, takes about ten minutes, needs no account and stores nothing. It will tell you which kinds of work you lean toward, and which of these pages are worth your time.

Try Future Finder — freeAll jobs

Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.

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Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.