Introduction
Honoured friends and relatives,
As Chief of Musqueam Indian Band, I welcome the Community and Regional Planning students that have come to the University of British Columbia, located on the traditional, unceded lands of hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking Musqueam people.
Through a strong partnership, the SCARP program incorporates Musqueam’s award-winning Comprehensive Community Plan (CCP): nə́c̓aʔmat tə šxʷqʷeləwən ct (We are of One Heart and Mind). First created in 2011 and updated in 2018, we are working hard to implement the Musqueam CCP recommendations and realize our community vision.
Whether you are new to this territory or have lived here for many years, on behalf of Musqueam, I hope you enjoy your time learning and living in Vancouver.
Thank you all, hay ce:p q̓ə
Chief Wayne Sparrow

The Indigenous Community Planning (ICP) Program is a concentration within the dual-accredited MCRP program, and has been designated a noteworthy practice by the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB).
Overview of ICP
History
Indigenous peoples everywhere have been stewards of their lands and resources, planned their communities, and passed on teachings since time immemorial. The Musqueam people revitalized this tradition in 2011 by creating a Comprehensive Community Plan (CCP). In February 2013, Musqueam’s CCP was recognized by and included on UN Habitat’s website as a Best Practice plan for sustainable community development.
SCARP is honoured to be in a teaching and learning partnership with the Musqueam Indian Band in the design and delivery of the ICP concentration. This concentration attracts both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, from a range of academic and professional backgrounds, who want to work with Indigenous communities. Ten committed students are accepted each year to enter into this concentration.
ICP was a Public Sector finalist in 2016's Land Awards | ICP video commissioned by the Real Estate Foundation of BC |
Mission
Our intent is to train a new generation of community planners who will break with the colonial legacy and culture of planning in order to work in respectful partnership with Indigenous communities.
We seek to equip emerging community planners with the necessary theory, skills, knowledge, and capacity to support Indigenous communities in achieving their own aspirations for land stewardship, cultural revitalization, strong governance, health and well-being.
Our approach is grounded in community and land-based learning, emphasizes mutual and transformative learning, and integrates these principles with grounding in Indigenous worldviews (ways of being, knowing, and doing).
Our scope is Canada-wide, but focuses on practical learning with/in First Nations communities in BC, where historical legacies as well as current political, economic and demographic realities present numerous complex issues, including governance, resource management, land use, health, education and employment.
ICP Concentration Design
Courses
Students in ICP complete a modified set of general MCRP requirements plus a set of ICP-specific requirements. Foremost, this includes undergoing a Practicum (instead of the Planning Studio) which partners pairs of students with an Indigenous community for eight or more months to work on a planning project (typically a comprehensive community plan).
ICP students complete the program requirements over two academic years and six academic terms.
Throughout the ICP core curriculum and practicum, students will explore:
- The meaning and significance of Indigenous planning as a re-emerging theory of action among Indigenous community planners, civic leaders, and professionals
- Values underpinning Indigenous approaches to community development
- How an Indigenous planning paradigm challenges existing planning practice in Canada
- How mainstream planning needs to adapt to achieve recognition of and justice for Indigenous peoples
- Challenges faced by First Nations in BC when implementing projects in their communities
- The impacts of surrounding jurisdictions (municipal, provincial and federal) on Indigenous planning
- The impacts of First Nations community development (social and economic) on surrounding jurisdictions
- Knowledge and skills needed for working with/in an Indigenous community
- Concepts, praxis, methodology, and ethical/cultural considerations regarding decolonizing planning
- The role of non-Indigenous planners in Indigenous community planning and development
Required Courses (as of 2022/2023 academic year)
Code | Credits | Description | Required for MCRP? | Required for MCRP-ICP? |
---|---|---|---|---|
PLAN 500 | 3 | Comparative Perspectives on Planning History and Futures | X | X |
PLAN 501 | 3 | Reconciliation and Planning | X | |
PLAN 502 | 3 | Sustainability and Resilience in Planning | X | X |
PLAN 504 | 3 | Urban Design and Visual Representation | X | X |
PLAN 505 | 3 | Planning Theory, Values, and Ethics | X | X |
PLAN 506 | 3 | Information and Analysis in Planning | X | X |
PLAN 507 | 3 | Engagement and Facilitation for Planners | X | X |
PLAN 511 | 3 | The Legal and Institutional Context of Planning | X | X |
PLAN 512 | 3 | Urban Economics, Infrastructure, and Real Estate Issues in Planning | X | |
PLAN 513 | 3 | Making and Implementing Community and Regional Plans | X | |
PLAN 514 | 3 | Indigenous Planning: Ways of Being, Knowing, and Doing | X | |
PLAN 515 | 3 | Indigenous Law, Governance, and Community Planning | X | |
PLAN 516 | 3 | Planning for Community Economic Development | X | |
PLAN 540 | 6 | Planning Praxis | X | |
PLAN 541 | 6 | Planning Studio | X | |
PLAN 543 | 12 | Indigenous Community Planning Practicum | X | |
TOTAL CREDITS (not including elective requirements): | 42 | 42 | ||
ELECTIVE COURSES (no more than 6 credits may be at the undergraduate level, i.e., 300/400): | 18 | 18 | ||
TOTAL CREDITS: | 60 | 60 |
Electives (as of 2022/2023 academic year)
Electives can be courses within SCARP or in other departments that relate to the student’s interests. No more than 6 credits of undergraduate-level (300-400) courses will count towards your MCRP program.
Some recommended electives outside of SCARP
Please note:
- Some courses will need to contact the course instructor and/or department offering the course for permission to be registered
- Course offering and availability are subject to change by the School offering the course.
Courses can be taken at other universities through the Western Deans' agreement. | |
---|---|
Course Code | Course Name |
ANTH 540A | Sacred Geography |
APBI 361 | Key Indicators of Agroecosystem Sustainability |
BAPA 580 | Topics in Policy Analysis |
BAUL 500 | Real Estate Markets |
CIVL 598P | Pedestrian and Bicycle Facility Design |
COM 486X | Urban Resilience |
CONS 528 | Social Science Research Methods and Design for Natural Resource Management |
FISH 506F | Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Fisheries Management - Current Topics in Fisheries |
FISH 506G | Economic Foundations oof Environmental Policies |
FNIS 501A | Indigenous Theory and Method(ologies) |
FRST 522 | Social, Community, and Indigenous Forestry |
FRST 551 | Landscape Planning for Sustainability |
GEOG 535 | International Migration and Settlement |
GEOG 560A | Economic Geography |
GPP 507 | Environmental Law and Policy Frameworks |
GPP 541 | Policy Dimensions of Energy Systems |
GPP 543 | Sustainable Water Systems |
GPP 544 | Economic Foundations of Environmental Policies |
GPP 581 | Behavioural Foundations for Public Policy |
GPP 582 | Public Engagement in Policy Decisions |
GPP 584 | Policy Responses to Global Climate Change |
GPP 591A | Designed Leadership for Change |
GPP 591C | Lind Initiative Seminar |
GPP 591D | Special Topics in Public Policy |
GPP 591N | Power and Practice |
GRSJ 415 | Critical Racial and Anti-Colonial Feminist Approaches |
GRSJ 511 | Difficult Knowledge: Ethics and Pracis of Research in Challenging Settings |
LARC 553 | Green Network Planning |
LARC 582 | AutoCAD Workflow for Landscape Architecture Construction |
RES 520 | Climate Change: Science, Technology, and Sustainable Development |
SOCI 423 | Sociology of Food |
SOCI 425 | Urban Sociology |
SOCI 540 | Social Inequality |
SOIL 516 | Urban Watershed Management |
SOIL 518 | Water in International Development |
SOWK 44C /529A 001 | Communities, Social Development, and Community Organizing |
SPPH 552 | Risk and Communication in Public Health |
UDES 505 | Urban Design as Public Policy: Policymaking for a Sustainable Region |
UFOR 495 | Biodiversity in Urban Areas |
URSY 510 | Urban Systems and Society |
URSY 520 | Urban Systems Planning and Analysis |
URSY 550 | Infrastructure Asset Management |
SFU course: REM 606 | Indigenous People and Co-Management |
SFU course: REM 607 | Indigenous Governance and Resource Relationships |
Course Structure (as of 2022/2023 academic year)
Year 1 Term 1 | Year 1 Term 2 | Year 1 Summer | Year 2 Term 1 | Year 2 Term 2 | Year 2 Summer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
PLAN 500 | PLAN 505 | PLAN 516 | PLAN 511 | ||
PLAN 502 | PLAN 506 | ----------PLAN 543---------- | |||
PLAN 504 | PLAN 507 | ||||
PLAN 514 | PLAN 515 | ||||
Elective(s) | Elective(s) | Elective(s) | Elective(s) | Elective(s) | Elective(s) |
More information:
The People of ICP
ICP Graduates
Graduates from the ICP concentration work for Indigenous nations, at local municipal planning departments, provincial and federal agencies, consulting firms, and non-profit organizations. Graduates from the ICP concentration have found work within a range of communities and organizations including but not limited to:
- Beringia Community Planning Inc.
- Castlemain Group
- City of Edmonton
- City of Vancouver
- City of Victoria
- Department of Fisheries and Oceans
- EcoPlan International
- First Nations Health Authority
- First Nations Land Management Resource Centre
- Hupacasath First Nation
- Indigenous Services Canada
- Kwikwetlem First Nation
- Musqueam Indian Band
- Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund
- Ontario Trillium Foundation
- Province of British Columbia
- Sahtu Land Use Planning Board
- Squamish Nation
- Sumas First Nation
- Taku River Tlingit First Nation
- The Firelight Group
- Toquaht Nation
- Tsleil Waututh Nation
- University of British Columbia
- University of Calgary
- Urban Native Youth Association
- Vancouver Coastal Health
ICP Faculty Team
![]() | Leona Sparrow, Musqueam/UBC Liaison | Leona Sparrow is the Director of the Treaty, Lands and Resources Department at Musqueam Indian Band. Leona provides invaluable teaching and direction to all aspects of the ICP program. |
![]() | Leonie Sandercock, Professor and Co-Chair | Leonie Sandercock worked in partnership with the Musqueam Nation to design and deliver the ICP curriculum and establish the financial support for the ICP program, which she chaired from 2012-20, and later co-chaired with Dr. Maggie Low. ICP will always be what it is in part due to Professor Sandercock's wisdom, heart, and vision. |
![]() | Maggie Low, Assistant Professor and Co-Chair | Maggie Low is a community engaged scholar and Indigenous planner who has worked with First Nations and Indigenous organizations across Canada. She joined SCARP in 2019 and now co-chairs ICP |
![]() | Jessie Hemphill, Part-Time Instructor | Jessie Hemphill is an Indigenous Planner with over 10 years of professional planning and facilitation experience with Indigenous communities across Canada. She is a partner at Alderhill Planning, an Indigenous consultancy, and joined SCARP in 2019 as the ICP Practicum Instructor and as a practicum supervisor. |
![]() | Shauna Johnson, Adjunct Professor | Shauna Johnson is an ICP grad and a member of the Ts’awout First Nation, now working with WASANEC. She is a practicum supervisor. |
![]() | Scott Graham, Adjunct Professor | Scott Graham is Associate Director and Director of Research with the Social Planning & Research Council of BC and has worked extensively with BC First Nations. Scott is a Practicum supervisor. |
![]() | Crystal Reeves, Adjunct Professor | Crystal Reeves is a lawyer and Associate with Mandel Pinder LLP and teaches the Indigenous Law, Governance, and Community Planning core course for ICP. |
![]() | William Trousdale, Adjunct Professor | Will Trousdale is the Principal and founder of EcoPlan International, an award-winning Vancouver-based consultancy. Will teaches the Strategic Planning for Sustainable Community Economic Development core course for ICP. |
More ICP Infosources:
Funders
Some more words about ICP
“The Indigenous Community Planning program (MCRP-ICP) is the leading example of its kind in Canada, and perhaps North America. Given the extraordinary circumstances of Indigenous land claims in British Columbia, this program is a vital offering for the Faculty, University and Province to meet their Reconciliation obligations and new responsibilities stemming from the adoption of the UNDRIP. SCARP and the collaborating First Nations should be commended for the long and difficult work to establish the partnerships required to deliver this important program.”
-Planning Standards Board representatives during their 2022 accreditation of MCRP program