Women in Urbanism Canada Launches Membership Program
People crossing the street at Queen St W and Portland St in Downtown Toronto, ON (photo by: Nicole Roach, 2023)
Women in Urbanism Canada began as an idea in 2018, started taking shape in fall of 2021, and was finally launched to the public in the beginning of 2022. Continuing to grow the organization, we introduced our Founding Board of Directors in fall 2022, became a legally incorporated national not-for-profit organization in early 2023, and we are so excited for this next phase of building our women-led community.After much anticipation and preparation, Women in Urbanism Canada is thrilled to announce that we are now open to members! This is a major step in growing our network across the country and bringing together exceptional women who are passionate about urbanism. Read on to learn about our governance structure, rationale, and benefits. We hope you will join us as a member!Governance Structure
Not-for-profit organizations operate with a Board of Directors, responsible for overseeing the organization. While the Board plays a major role in governance, it is accountable to the Members. A Member of an organization is a person who has been admitted into membership and has a number of rights and privileges within the organization. This may include, but is not limited to, attending Annual General Meetings (AGMs), voting, electing/dismissing directors, serving on committees, accessing corporate records, and more. Membership Rationale
We are a women-led community working to transform Canadian cities, which is why a membership program is so important to us. It enables us to grow our organization, be more democratic and transparent, and welcome diverse voices to help shape our work. Our membership program is open to women, gender-diverse people, and yes, men, too! We have structured our membership with two tiers, Tier 1 and Tier 2. Tier 1 (Engaged Members) are full-voting members and play a major role in organization governance, directly contributing to organizational decisions and oversight. Tier 2 (Supportive Members) are non-voting members, supporting the organization and learning from our resources. We have also chosen to charge for our membership program, for a number of reasons. First, we conducted an open survey to ask our community what they would be willing to pay for a membership, based on anticipated benefits. Overwhelmingly, our survey results showed that our community would be happy to support Women in Urbanism Canada through paid memberships! Second, we are a 100% volunteer-run organization and managing a membership program requires internal capacity and sufficient resourcing. We intend to use membership income to support our organizational capacity, marketing, insurance, honorariums, and many more items to help us further our mission. We’re also pleased to be providing 50% off memberships for prospective members who are students, under 25 years old, and/or are low-income. If the cost of membership is still prohibitive, we will strive to remove those barriers, offering free memberships on a case-by-case basis. Membership Benefits
Each membership Tier includes a series of benefits related to governance, education, networking, and more. We have launched our program with core benefits, and hope to expand our membership offerings in the future. Engaged Members (Tier 1) - $20/year
Advance Notice of and Requests for Member Meetings
Voting Rights
Bring Forward Motions
Elect or Dismiss Directors
Approve and/or Amend By-Laws
Access Organizational Records
Participate in Sub-Committees + Volunteer
Access Online Members Hub
Contribute to Content Development
Receive Quarterly Member Newsletters
Opportunity to be Featured in Member Spotlights
Supportive Members (Tier 2) - $10/year
Volunteer
Access Online Members Hub
Contribute to Content Development
Receive Quarterly Member Newsletters
We are so excited to welcome members and continue building and fostering this incredible community. We hope you will support our work and join us as an Engaged or Supportive Member! 