Strategic Advisory and Planning

WSP connects people, policy, and science to deliver sustainable, resilient, and future-ready infrastructure. By merging planning and engineering insights with advisory expertise, we turn vision into value from concept to execution.

We bring strategic advisory, science and engineering together so planning doesn’t stop at ideas – it drives decision, investment and measurable outcomes.

Chris Tyrrell SVP, Strategic Advisory and Planning

Chris Tyrrell SVP, Strategic Advisory and Planning

From vision to value, delivering Canada’s Future Ready infrastructure

At WSP, our Strategic Advisory & Planning teams help clients move confidently from ideas to implementation. We don’t just plan and design communities or advise on infrastructure; we bridge the space between listening and doing. By combining stakeholder needs, community insights, evidence-based policy, and technical excellence we turn vision into value.

Our expertise

Our Planning teams seek to understand place, people, and potential. Working alongside these teams, our Advisors provide the framework that aligns research, policy, financing, and technology to deliver on that potential. The result? An end-to-end approach to resilient infrastructure development. One that fosters communication and collaboration, and most of all, unlocks value across your projects from concept to execution.

Integrated Planning and Urban Design

Creating the physical and social frameworks that define livable, inclusive, and climate-ready communities.

By engaging stakeholders, designing and creating places that thrive, we transform vision into sustainable urban form. Our multidisciplinary teams connect people, mobility, and environment through integrated planning and design that strengthens the social, economic, and natural fabric of communities.

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Planning, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design

Public and Community Engagement

PRIME for Cities

Mobility Advisory and Planning

Designing the movement systems that connect people, places, and opportunity.

Mobility today is about the movement of people and goods, as well as travel mode choice. It is about enabling access, equity, sustainability, and long-term performance. From corridor studies and regional transportation plans to active mobility strategies and complete streets, we help clients balance community needs, funding realities, environmental stewardship, and long-term asset performance. By combining planning and engineering excellence with advisory rigor, we turn mobility visions into implementable, performance-driven solutions.

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Transportation Planning

Active Transportation

Strategic Infrastructure Advisory

Turning ambition into action by developing the strategies, business cases, and governance models that make infrastructure deliverable and resilient.

Delivering future-ready technical frameworks and organizational strategies that create investable, deliverable, and resilient infrastructure. From economic analysis and asset management to digital transformation, we help bridge policy and execution, aligning economic, digital, and engineering disciplines to turn ambition into action and vision into value.

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Our approach

Working across scales, from neighbourhoods to national networks, we help clients translate ideas into actionable, measurable outcomes. Uniting the art of listening with the science of implementation, we engage communities and stakeholders to understand what matters most, then connect those insights with policy, research, and real-world engineering expertise to design systems that endure.

We deliver solutions in Canada’s key infrastructure markets

Water and Wastewater

Plan and deliver resilient systems that integrate watershed management, green infrastructure, and asset optimization.

Combining spatial planning, utility corridor plans, and green design expertise with advisory’s asset management, financing, and digital optimization to create data-driven, climate-resilient water infrastructure programs.

Transportation and Mobility

Build efficient, accessible, multimodal networks that move people and goods sustainably.

Merging corridor and mobility planning with advisory’s economic modeling, investment strategy, and delivery frameworks to align transport design with funding and long-term performance.

Energy and Utilities

Align infrastructure planning with decarbonization, electrification, and grid modernization strategies.

Integrating land-use and environmental planning with energy advisory, asset resilience, and digital transformation expertise to plan and deliver sustainable energy systems.

Urban Development and Housing

Shape sustainable growth and inclusive communities through data-driven planning and design.

Connecting master planning and community engagement with advisors on policy, finance, and implementation strategy to turn inclusive urban visions into deliverable projects.

Mining and Resources

Strategic land-use and infrastructure planning that supports resource development with environmental stewardship.

Combining regional planning and environmental design with advisory on infrastructure strategy, logistics, and ESG investment analysis to balance economic growth with responsible resource management.

Our integrated solutions in action

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

City of Toronto Watermain Rehabilitation Program

Since 2015, WSP has provided the City of Toronto with design, project management, and contract administration support for watermain rehabilitation as they work to meet their 10-year goal of eliminating the state of good repair backlog.

thn-Planning bike share networks through spatial analysis

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Pedals and PRIME: Planning bike share networks through spatial analysis

When Bike Share Toronto wanted to expand its network, they looked to WSP for help. Learn how WSP was a key resource in delivering this critical program.

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Powering the National Capital Region

A century old energy network in Canada’s capital is being modernized to a safer, smarter, low carbon system. It’s converting steam to low temperature hot water for heating and electric chillers for cooling.

thn-Enhancing public communications Innovation powered by PRIME

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Enhancing public communications: Innovation powered by PRIME for Cities

With numerous infrastructure projects underway in the City of Toronto, many residents are feeling the impacts and are hungry for information. Here’s how WSP is strengthening public communication in the age of infrastructure renewal.

New Zealand

Hawthorndale Care Village

WSP provided strategic planning and environmental services to support the Hawthorndale Care Village through a complex consenting process, enabling the project to progress confidently within New Zealand’s regulatory framework.

Quebec, Canada

Building Hydro-Québec’s sustainable vision – ESG double materiality assessment

Hydro-Québec commissioned WSP to conduct a double materiality assessment to clarify and validate its sustainability priorities. Grounded in international best practices, including the requirements of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), the assessment combined evidence gathering, internal engagement, and largescale public consultation. By evaluating 20 sustainability topics and identifying those with the greatest impacts, risks, and opportunities, WSP laid the groundwork for a future operational strategic framework that will enable Hydro Québec to further embed sustainability in decision making and governance.

London, United Kingdom

Strand Aldwych: Repurposing a congested London road into a vibrant public space

WSP’s placemaking and street design specialists helped deliver a major transformation of Strand Aldwych, converting one of London’s busiest and most congested roads into a new 7,000m2 pedestrian space. This makes the area a destination in its own right and an economic and social hub.

Ontario, Canada

Port Lands Flood Protection

The Port Lands Flood Protection project has re-naturalized the Don Valley River to safeguard Downtown Toronto from increasing risks of flood, help spur economic growth and strengthen biodiversity.

Project

New University Hospital Monklands

Delivering a first-of-its-kind healthcare facility through digital innovation.

Saudi Arabia

Desert Rock Resort: Engineering a New Standard in Sustainable Luxury

WSP is proud to have supported Red Sea Global in delivering the pioneering Desert Rock Resort, a one-of-a-kind hospitality destination designed to blend seamlessly into the rugged landscapes of Saudi Arabia. This ambitious project redefines sustainable luxury, combining bold design with a deep commitment to environmental stewardship.

Sydney, Australia

Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Wilton, Wollondilly Shire Council

A fast-growing town on the outskirts of Sydney is demonstrating that urbanization of greenfield areas need not be chaotic, strained, and unsustainable – and that it can accommodate the needs and wishes of existing and new residents. We worked with the local authority in Wollondilly Shire, to develop a strategy for urban development that makes sure that, as Wilton’s population expands, the health and wellbeing of its residents remains the central focus. Our proposals will prioritize social infrastructure, better transport connections, and stable and affordable housing, while maintaining connections with the town’s traditional farming roots through green space, healthy food, and biodiversity.