CSLA News
Explore the Nation's Capital at the 2025 CSLA-OALA Congress
Join us from June 5-7, 2025 in Ottawa for the CSLA-OALA Congress.
Register for the CSLA-OALA Congress before May 22nd to take advantage of early bird pricing.
We encourage you to register for one or more of the following tours:
- Scenic East End Ottawa – Bus Tour
- Restoring and Reimagining the Hintonburg Pumphouse – Walking Tour
- Rideau Revitalization – Walking Tour
These tours, along with others featuring Confederation Park, Parliament Hill, and LeBreton Flats, offer a unique opportunity to explore Ottawa!
Registration Deadline: May 22 to avoid late fees.
CSLA Announces the Recipients of the 2025 Awards of Excellence
This year, 15 projects received a national award. These award-winning projects are preeminent examples of Canadian landscape architecture. They illustrate the range of what landscape architects do and how landscape architects are helping to reshape our communities by defining the places where we live, work, and play.
CSLA Announces 2025 Student Award of Excellence Recipients
The Student Award of Excellence Program is based on the best work of a thesis or practicum, and a studio project. The Program is intended to recognize and promote excellence in the profession’s educational institutions and recognize excellence in work by students in CSLA’s LAAC-accredited programs.
This year's recipients are:
- Thesis or Practicum: Jamie Coverini, University of Manitoba
- Studio Project: Francisco Labastida, University of Calgary
Introducing the 2025 Class of Fellows
The CSLA College of Fellows will welcome twelve new members during the Investiture Ceremony that will be held at the 2025 CSLA-OALA Congress in Ottawa in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the profession.
Next landADAPT webinar : Biodiversity Net Gain : A Path to Scalable Ecological Restoration
June 19, 2025 at 2:00 PM
With ecological collapse looming large—potentially surpassing the threat of climate change—it’s clear that humanity’s alteration and exploitation of landscapes pose the greatest danger to global biodiversity. Landscape architects play a vital role in reversing this trend by planning and designing places that promote ecological resilience.
In this webinar, landscape architect Alexandra Steed will explore Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), a framework for enhancing biodiversity through development.
Member News
Lifetime Member Appointments
- David Wagner was made a Lifetime Member of the Manitoba Association of Landscape Architects and the CSLA.
- Colleen Mercer Clark was made a Lifetime Member of the Atlantic Provinces Association of Landscape Architects and the CSLA.
AAPQ's Paysages Magazine 2025 | 60 years of evolution
AAPQ is proud to present this special edition of its annual magazine, celebrating the organization's 60th anniversary. The cover, by Mathilde Filippi, pays homage to Archi-Pays, the forerunner of our current magazine, with an elegant monochrome that highlights emblematic projects that have shaped the Quebec landscape over the decades.
Discover this retrospective, rich in history and inspiration, today!
Read now (French only)
BCSLA Conference 2025 Themes and Call for Abstracts
Deadline for Proposals : Friday, May 16 2025
Breaking New Ground: The Future of Landscape Architecture : This conference brings together landscape architects, researchers, and industry leaders to explore bold ideas shaping the future of the profession. From cutting-edge technologies to ecological wisdom refined over generations, Breaking New Ground highlights transformative solutions that drive sustainability, resilience, and inclusivity. Through dynamic discussions on emerging tools, community-driven design, and ecological stewardship, attendees will gain fresh insights and innovative strategies for designing, building, and managing landscapes in a rapidly changing world. Breaking New Ground provides a platform for leadership, greater collaboration, and the exchange of ideas and insights that will shape the future of landscape architecture.
The Iconic Blue Stick Garden Reborn as a Forest at Les Jardins de Métis
The Blue Stick Garden — originally created in 2000 by Claude Cormier (now CCxA) for the first edition of the International Garden Festival — is reborn as the Blue Stick Forest at Jardins de Métis after 25 years of journeying across Canada and England. The public will be able to discover this new iteration starting on the opening day of the 26th edition of the Festival, on Saturday, June 21.
Design for Calgary's Olympic Plaza Transformation Revealed
Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) and its partners at Arts Commons and The City of Calgary revealed the highly anticipated design for the Olympic Plaza Transformation (OPT) project, marking a significant milestone in the revitalization of one of Calgary’s most recognizable public spaces.
The partnership of gh3 Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture; CCxA Landscape Architecture and Urban Design; and Belleville Placemaking, served as the prime design team for the project.
Volunteer Opportunities
Join the Roster of Climate and Biodiversity Champions
The CSLA is building a Roster of Climate and Biodiversity Champions—a network of dedicated volunteer members with the passion, expertise, and vision to contribute to initiatives addressing climate change and biodiversity. This initiative aligns with the mission of the newly formalized Committee on Climate and Biodiversity, to drive meaningful change through advocacy, professional development, and innovative practice.
IFLA Volunteer Opportunities: 19 New Working Groups
Deadline for applications: May 15, 2025.
The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) has launched 19 new working programmes and is currently accepting applications for volunteer members for each of these 19 committees. This initiative is designed to harness the collective expertise of its members, address critical global challenges, and increase the profession's impact on the world stage.
Opportunity to Serve on CLARB's Exam Committee
CLARB is looking for nine experienced landscape architects to join the Exam Committee and help develop the Landscape Architect Registration Examination (L.A.R.E.). Contribute your expertise by creating fair and comprehensive assessments that maintain the high standards of the profession.
Partner News
New RAIC and Parks Canada Open Access Course
Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada: Integrating Accessibility
The RAIC is proud to partner with Parks Canada to bring an important educational offering in the Heritage Conservation Series to the architecture community. They are pleased to offer this new, on-demand course–available in English and French–and to make registration available free for anyone.
i-Tree Open Academy - Spring 2025
May 7-June 11, 2025
Wednesdays at 1:00 pm
The i-Tree Open Academy virtual learning series returns in 2025, with everything you need to explore the latest in tree benefits through the i-Tree tools. Whether your work with trees involves planting, managing, funding, educating, or beyond, i-Tree can help you better understand the benefits that trees provide, the impacts of where those benefits are, and how to apply that science to your project goals.
The Art of Leadership Women Returns to Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Toronto
Ready to elevate your leadership? This one-day conference features an inspiring lineup of speakers sharing actionable strategies and insights on today’s most critical leadership challenges. Don’t miss this invaluable opportunity to develop your leaders, engage your talent, and build high-performing teams. Join us for an empowering day of learning, networking, and women’s leadership. Use promo code CSLA45 and save $50 per pass, or save $100 per pass for groups of 5 or more.
LACF
2024 Annual Report
"I am pleased I can report to the membership that the business of LACF has continued to advance and grow this past year. There have been notable achievements in 2024 such as the establishment of a new scholarship and noteworthy fundraising efforts, that have allowed the foundation to expand its programs." - Christine Abe, LACF President
LACF-Funded Research Project: Trees and their Kin
Heather Schibli
Life’s diversity is an ongoing creative process. Plants, animals, microbes, and fungi morph, merge, and diverge over time and through space. Complex relational webs emerge from reciprocal and competitive encounters between genes, organisms, species, and communities that shape those engaged. This booklet, a precursor to a larger volume, is an exploration into some of the many relationships trees hold with other species, including humans. When we plant a tree, we plant a suit of relationships. As landscape architects, we can design gardens and outdoor spaces that honour and support the landscape’s co-evolutionary relationships.