Founded as part of the national initiative to develop capabilities in planning and development in post-war Canada, the oldest continuing planning program in the country is housed in the Department of City Planning at the University of Manitoba. Throughout its fifty-year history the program has been an active participant on the urban scene, and - looking back over this time - the trends and currents that characterized Canadian planning are well represented. In its early years the program concentrated on physical planning, reflecting both the nature of planning at the time and the design work of its founding director, Joseph Kostka. Over the years the program has contributed to planning thought and practice, supporting and shaping the movements that have improved human settlements by bringing scientific knowledge, social and ecological thinking and equity principles into the discipline.

The Department of City Planning in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba, the oldest continuing planning school in Canada, provides a broad foundation for excellence in planning practices. The program strengthens the capacity of planning professionals and planning as a discipline to enhance the ecological sustainability, social equity and aesthetic qualities of human settlements. Graduate students have the chance to work with colleagues across disciplines in architecture, environmental design, interior design and landscape architecture. The program concentrates on issues related to urban revitalization, low-cost housing, sustainability, and community and regional development. Unique opportunities are offered to explore local and global intersections within a major urban centre in the Canadian prairies, Winnipeg, within the North American mid-continent Corridor south into the United States and Mexico, and within international contexts.