Ontario Professional Planners Institute
The Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) is the recognized voice of the province's planning profession. OPPI provides leadership on policy related to community planning, development, the environment, and related issues. As the Ontario affiliate of the Canadian Institute of Planners [1] (CIP), OPPI represents approximately 3,500 practising planners across the province and approximately 500 student members. OPPI members work for government, private industry, community agencies, and academic institutions.
OPPI shares information, data and ideas through the Knowledge Centre and provides leadership and Advocacy on planning issues that matter most to the people of Ontario.
OPPI members are committed to creating and fostering healthy communities throughout Ontario. Planners recognize how land-use planning decisions shape communities in many ways - obesity, heart disease, mental health, social isolation, nutrition, and air quality. In keeping with this commitment, OPPI issued a position paper called Healthy Communities, Sustainable Communities, several Calls to Action have been released and the Institute recently partnered with the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing on a publication entitled Planning by Design: A Healthy Communities Handbook. These efforts explore the links between public health and land use planning and includes strategies for collaborating on tangible actions that result in healthier communities.
OPPI partners include the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing [2] and the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario.[3]
OPPI derives its mandate from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute Act and is led by a volunteer Council elected by the membership. Online nominations to participate as a member of Council are accepted annually between February 1 and April 1. Council is supported by Standing Committees, District Teams, Program Committees and Strategy Groups.
The Ontario Professional Planners Institute Act came into force December 9, 1994. Some key provisions include OPPI's Mandate, Protected Title and RPP Designation, Penalty for Misuse, Professional Code of Practice and Right to Practice.
A not-for-profit Ontario Corporation, OPPI is funded entirely by membership fees, program and activity revenues. These may include advertisements in the Ontario Planning Journal and Naming and Sponsorship Opportunities.
OPPI is currently pursuing legislative change to enable regulation of the planning profession. The institute has a mandatory program of Continuous Professional Learning as a requirement of membership to ensure RPPs remain current with contemporary practice and effective in the dynamic environment facing planners today.