Services | Westplan Consulting

Our Services

Our team offers a variety of services from land use planning, development consulting, engagement, consultation, master planning and more. We have experience across BC, with a focus on Vancouver Island and the Okanagan Valley.

Aerial view of house roofs in suburban neighborhood_in_mmd

Land Use Planning

We understand the importance of coordinating, managing and communicating projects with different jurisdictions, regulatory agencies, stakeholders, Indigenous neighbours and the greater community. Our team provides master planning, urban design insights and coordination of all levels of development approvals. We tailor our approach to the project and client's needs.

Development Consulting

We have experience managing small residential permitting and construction projects, large multi-family developments and master planned developments.

Our team will provide coordination of a development project through the planning approvals processes including contract administration, strategic advice, land use and policy planning, community engagement and consultant coordination.

Community Engagement

At our core Planners are communicators. We provide tailor made, innovative plans to consult and engage with the public, stakeholders and Indigenous neighbours no matter the project size and scope. Our team can provide communication plans, consultation strategies and help create buy-in using both in-person and online engagement tools and best practices.

Municipal Planning

Our team has experience in current planning application reviews on behalf of our local government clients. We have collaborated on OCP updates, Zoning Bylaw reviews, grant/funding applications and created various corporate and government plans and strategies. Our team has also worked as development managers, helping staff and Council make key decisions on municipally-owned land.

Westplan is deeply committed to education and raising the bar on planning and real estate development education, and we invest a significant amount of time and resources of the company in various educational programs.

VIU Master of Community Planning

Mark worked with Drs Pam Shaw and David Witty, and other colleagues, to launch VIU’s School of Community Planning in 2015. For the next ten years he held a professor position at the school and taught the professional practice courses and supervised many thesis students. His courses covered key topics including:

Real estate development
Policy analysis
Local government planning and approvals
Regional planning
Official community planning
Neighborhood and special area planning
Zoning
Subdivision
Development Permits
Master planning

He also played a central role in the creation and ongoing evolution of the curriculum to best answer the question: “What do young planners need to know to be effective in the 21st Century?

Students loved his courses, and he was awarded the Provost’s Award for Scholarship and Creativity at VIU for his work.

Teunesha played a role in mentoring and sponsoring graduates from the program and was also a guest speaker / PT instructor in various roles.

Urban Development Institute

Mark has played a central role in the public and professional education programs for several chapters of the Urban Development Institute (UDI). He has helped create, coordinate, teach in and chair numerous master class sessions on many real estate topics over the past decade. In 2020, he worked with UDI Capital Region to develop a formal certificate program in Real Estate Development Management. He chairs this 9 course annual program and teaches a number of its sections. The online program has become one of the leading (and only) real estate development management programs in BC.

The RaD Management Certificate program covers topics including:

Financial proformas
Securing development land
Concept development
Financing
Development law
Approvals
Consultant's studies
Community engagement
Marketing and sales

In 2021, UDI gave Mark an Award of Excellence for his contribution to the industry for helping develop and manage this program and in 2023 was awarded Difference Maker of the Year.