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Structure

OALA is governed by an elected and appointed Council comprised of 15 members representing Full Members, Associate Members, Educators from the Universities of Guelph and Toronto, student representatives from the Universities of Guelph and Toronto, and the general public though the lay councillor.

The Officers of the OALA are the President, Past-President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Together they form the Executive Committee.

The Council and Executive Committee structure are governed by the OALA Act and the OALA By-laws as amended by Council.

The Organization is supported by four staff comprised of the Executive Director, Registrar, Coordinator and Membership Services Administrator.

The committees and board representatives are drawn from Council and the membership at large.

All Councillors, committee members and board representatives are volunteers of the OALA. Their service is vital to the running of the Association.

Organizational Chart


OALA Representatives

THE CANADIAN NATIONAL EXHIBITION (CNE)
Domenic Lunardo

The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) is governed by the Canadian National Exhibition Association (CNEA) and its volunteer Board of Directors. The CNEA is governed and operated under the jurisdiction by the Canadian National Exhibition Association Act of 1983 as amended by the Statutes of Ontario in 1999 and the Province of Ontario Agricultural & Horticultural Organizations Act of 1988. The CNEA has over 125 member individuals and associations representing each of the following sectors: Municipal, Manufacturers & Industry, Agriculture, and General & Liberal Arts. Member associations appoint a representative to the CNEA and approximately 15 members are appointed directly by the CNEA from the community-at-large.

The OALA representative represents the OALA interests and maintains a high profile of the Association to the CNE board. The minimum requirement is to attend two meetings a year – the annual meeting and the financial meeting. Participation on committees is encouraged that may require additional meeting attendance. If the member is elected as a director then there are 7 additional board meetings to attend. Board meetings are traditionally held at lunch time from 12:30 to roughly 2pm. Attendance at the fair is also an aspect of the membership and board that would be looked upon favourably. The term of the appointment is for 2 years. The representative is required to submit two information reports to OALA Council.


CSLA AWARDS

The CSLA recognizes excellence in all aspects of the profession through its honours and awards programs which also promote awareness of landscape architecture as a profession professionally, academically, in communities, and to acknowledge the work of its members within the profession.


GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ONTARIO

GIO Coalition is an alliance of organizations that share a common vision for a healthy, green Ontario where the economic, social, environmental and health benefits of green infrastructure are fully realized.

In September 2009 sixty people representing municipal and provincial governments, conservation authorities, the landscape trades and environmental organizations came together to discuss shared interests, concerns and ideas related to green infrastructure.

From this initial meeting, a steering committee formed and began work on the GIO Coalition project. The committee submitted a funding proposal to Ontario Trillium Foundation early in 2010, and received approval in July. Its accomplishments to date include:

  • conducting a review of related legislation and policy
  • assembling examples of green infrastructure research and best practice
  • collaborating with stakeholders across Ontario through an on-line questionnaire and a series of six workshops
  • releasing a report in spring 2012 (co-authored with Ecojustice) that recommends actions the Government of Ontario can take to better support green infrastructure across the province
  • creating a strong coalition with 100 members.

OALA is a member of the Steering Committee providing support and direction to the Coalition and ensuring the interest of the OALA are considered. The OALA signed a new MOU in January, 2013 which included 7 other partners to re-new our commitment and partnership in this Coalition. As part of the MOU, a secondary representative is required from each partner.

Meetings are held bi-monthly with chairing duties rotated amongst the Steering Committee members.


DESIGN INDUSTRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Francesco Martire

The Design Industry Advisory Committee (DIAC) is a think tank and cross-disciplinary research group established in 2001. The activities of DIAC promote the strategic value of design and the contribution of designers from all disciplines to economic, social and environmental goals.


FACULTY COUNCIL
U of Toronto
D. Leo Garcia, Gunta Mackars

This is an advisory Council consisting of faculty members and aligned professions providing professional advice to the faculty’s program.


UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH STUDENT Rep.
Allison Neuhauser

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO STUDENT Rep.
Emiley Switzer-Martell


LANDSCAPES PAYSAGES
Linda Irvine, Cindi Rowan

Members of the board are covering news-worthy stories of professional activities across the country and abroad. Landscapes|Paysages is the cornerstone of CSLA Communications, a marketable publication, and a journal that highlights and records our Canadian profession for current readers and posterity. The magazine has always been in print and it is now growing into an effective web-based publication as well.

  • Getting regional stories
  • Guiding the meaning and content of the magazine
  • Attending Editorial Meetings (in person and by phone)
  • Writing articles
  • Being a “Guest Editor”

TORONTO GREEN ROOF TECHNICAL ADVISORY CTE.
Scott Torrance

The City of Toronto passed Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 492- Green Roofs (the Green Roof Bylaw) in 2009. The Bylaw requires and governs the construction of green roofs in Toronto. The City’s Green Roof Technical Advisory Group (TAG) was instrumental in the development of Toronto’s Green Roof Construction Standard, contained in Article IV of the Bylaw.

As directed by City Council, Toronto Building is now undertaking a focused review of the standard with the Technical Advisory Group, to prepare proposals for Council consideration to amend the standard in two key areas:

  • SPRI/ ANSI Fire and Wind Standards
  • Facilitating the construction of “small scale” green roofs.

Article VI of the Bylaw provides that TAG members be appointed for a 3-year term. The Bylaw also prescribes that the TAG consists of representatives of stakeholder organizations with expert knowledge of green roof technology and a working familiarity with the Ontario Building Code.

The OALA Representative has to attend two full day meetings.


ONTARIO PARKS ASSOCIATION
Netami Stuart

OPA is committed to educate parks professionals to exceed industry standards and actively advocate for the protection and enhancement of parks and open spaces.


URBAN DESIGN REVIEW PANELS

OTTAWA:
Dorota Grudniewicz
David Leinster

Ottawa’s Urban Design Review Panel is an independent advisory panel of volunteer professionals who provide an objective peer review of both capital and private sector development projects throughout the City’s Design Priority Areas. The Panel is an important addition to the City’s formal design review process and is intended to enhance the City’s capabilities in achieving architectural and urban design excellence.

TORONTO:
Sibylle von Knobloch
James Melvin
Adam Nicklin

The City of Toronto Design Review Panel is an important voice for the promotion of design excellence within Toronto, and plays a significant leadership role for design professions within the development approvals process. The Design Review Panel assists Council in fulfilling Official Plan objectives by providing City staff with professional design advice on public and private development. The Panel’s goal is to improve people’s quality of life by promoting design excellence within the public realm, including the pursuit of high quality architecture, landscape architecture, urban design and environmental sustainability. The Panel also plays a significant role in engendering an informed, public debate about the importance of good design within our City.


BACK TO NATURE NETWORK
Marianne Mokrycke

The Back to Nature Network is committed to fostering our children’s connection with nature.


RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IMPACT SCORECARD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (RISE)
H.T. Lam

Launched in 2022, RISE is a 5-year project that aims to better understand the longer-term impacts of urban residential developments on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and seeks to measure the effectiveness of GHG mitigation efforts of green infrastructure. Led by an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Waterloo, and collaborating with a wide range of partners in the development industry and with municipal governments, the proposed research project will:

  • Use novel scientific methods to assess urban land and wetland-based carbon stocks, sequestration and GHG emissions;
  • Develop a simple, dynamic GHG and carbon scorecard to complement existing green building standards of residential developments; and,
  • Test the scorecard’s potential for uptake by residential developers as a tool for inducing behaviour change to incentivize investments in green infrastructure.

The OALA is a partner to the project and will participate as a member of the RISE Advisory Committee to provide feedback on project results and expert guidance and advice on the use of the residential scorecard in the development industry.

This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada.