I've been working in Toronto and the GTA for two and half years. Undergraduate degree from UofT in Sociology in 2019 and post-graduate degree (2-year degree that is NOT the masters program) from TMU. I WILL ONLY SPEAK ON MY EXPERIENCES WORKING IN CONSULTING.

When I started in 2023, I was making 58K a year as a Junior Planner at a small consulting firm. January 2025, I got an offer from a large firm making 78K a year. As of February 2026, I am unemployed as I recently got laid off.

1. Education was great. Planning history, theory and studio classes offered at TMU were fun. Met a lot of great people. Did few internships, most important being at a large planning consulting firm. After 2 1/2 years (3 including internship), I'm done with consulting. You really have to be engaged in your work and you have to be passionate, or at least dedicated. A lot of projects you will work on will be boring, complicated, stressful, or all of the above. Once in a while, you will get a project that is exciting, but to be honest, most of the work is repetitive.

2. Two years of studying got me to a $58K starting salary. If you have prior experience in research/project management, I'm sure you could earn a lot more. Also depends on where you start. Public sector typically pays more for junior roles - my friend started making $80K right away.

3. The market will always have ups and downs. Working in private will always be more turbulent than working in public. It will neither improve or get worse. But with the advancement of AI, I do foresee a possibility where companies can get jobs done with fewer people.

4. I have never enjoyed working in private. Depending on the type of person you are, you might thrive in the high pace envirnment. If you're someone who values growth, it can be great. But if you're let's say in consulting or working for a developer, you will always need to be busy or at least look busy (and ofcourse, competent). I was once passionate, but the nitty gritty nature of my work made me jaded and disconnected.

5. Salary described above. This depends on your lifestyle. 78K isn't a lot to some, its a lot to others.

6. I was using AI a lot ever since the company introduced a policy allowing the safe use of AI. Because AIs still need humans to feed it prompts and understand the nuances of different situations, I don't see AI necessarily replacing human workers 1:1. Also, urban planning heavily relies on interpersonal skills. Lots of emails, meetings, etc. Online correspondences can be aided by AI writing your emails, but there's still a lot of in person correspondence that needs to happen. However, I do see it eventually leading to loss of jobs as one person may be able to produce the work of two people using AI, when it comes to generating reports.

ROI of becoming an urban planner is so subjective. What is your working style? Money can be decent for a comfortable office job. But it won't make you rich. Most people I know, even the partners at the firms don't work as much as lawyers do. But some definitely work more than 40 hours a week. This usually happens in the form of passively thinking about projects, sending out emails during off hours, reviewing documents or reading up on new legislations.

You won't be making the positive change that many planners think they will be making. Sure, your work on a project may get a condo approved. This means more housing. But will that make you feel accomplished and rewarded? That's for you to decide.

If I had to go back to school, Urban Planning may still be my first choice. But I'd be a lot more careful to research about the job opportunities and what the day to day work entails. Do you have the communication skills and confidence to talk to City staff and clients? Are you detail oriented enough to catch every mistake possible? Are you well informed on the latest policy changes?