Planning (BPlan)(Hons)
Learn to design places, help build communities, and create a more sustainable future with Atlantic Canada's only professional, accredited undergraduate planning program.
Why choose this program?
If you want to help shape inclusive, resilient and sustainable communities, Dalhousie’s Bachelor of Planning gives you the knowledge and hands-on experience to turn ideas into action. As Atlantic Canada's only professional, accredited undergraduate planning program, you'll graduate ready to make an impact.
The Bachelor of Planning combines studio learning, applied research, and community partnerships to prepare you for a career shaping the places where people live, work, and connect. You'll explore topics such as housing, transportation, the environment, social justice, climate adaptation, land use, and urban design while developing practical skills in research, communication, and collaboration.
You'll learn by doing through real projects with municipalities, non-profit organizations, and community partners, and complete a research project and work-integrated learning placement in your final year. Located on Dalhousie's Sexton Campus in downtown Halifax, you'll study in one of Canada's fastest-growing coastal cities, where the planning opportunities and challenges you explore in class come to life every day.
Careers
Planning is about solving real-world challenges and creating places where people can thrive. You'll graduate with the knowledge, practical experience, and a professional foundation to pursue careers that shape communities across Canada and beyond.
As Atlantic Canada's only professional, accredited undergraduate planning program, the Bachelor of Planning prepares you for a wide range of careers in planning, policy, sustainability, and community development. Through studio courses, community partnerships, and a work-integrated learning placement, you'll graduate with practical experience working on projects that address housing, transportation, climate adaptation, coastal resilience, and urban design.
What you will learn
Studying in the Bachelor of Planning program prepares you to think critically, collaborate effectively, and create practical solutions to the challenges facing communities today. You'll build knowledge in planning, design, sustainability, and community engagement while developing the research, communication and analytical skills needed to make meaningful change.
Sample courses
- Introduction to Planning
- Introduction to Community Design
- Dynamics of Human Settlements
- Environmental Systems in Planning
- Introduction to Policy Making
- Space, Place, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- Introduction to Environmental Planning
- Housing Policy
- Site Planning
- Transportation and Land Use Planning
- History and Philosophy of Planning
- Planning Practice
- Planning Studio
- Honours Research Project
- Land Development Economics
- Planning Law
Learn through experience
Learning extends beyond the classroom through field visits, studio courses, applied research, and community-engagement projects. You'll collaborate with municipalities, non-profit organizations, and community partners to explore real planning challenges, while a work-integrated learning placement in your final year gives you valuable professional experience before you graduate.
Customize your degree
Combine your interests in planning and sustainability through a Double Major in Planning and Environment, Sustainability and Society.
Choose from the many minors offered at Dalhousie, for example, Canadian Studies, Political Science, or Economics.
Choose from the many certificates offered at Dalhousie, for example, Geographic Information Science, Indigenous Studies, or Sustainability.
Expand your perspective by studying at one of Dalhousie's partner institutions around the world.
By the time you graduate, you'll have the knowledge, practical experience, and professional connections to help shape more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient communities—and the foundation to launch your career or continue your studies.
Admission requirements
Minimum admission requirements
To be considered for admission to this program, you must meet minimum academic criteria:
- Completion of secondary school (Grade 12)
- Achievement of the minimum average for your program of choice.
- Completion of Grade 12 English (or equivalent course).
Admission to many Dalhousie programs is competitive. This means that meeting minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.
Program-specific admission requirements
- Minimum overall average: 70%
- Academic English 12
- Academic Math 12 or one Academic Science 12 subject
- Three additional academic subjects
Need Pre-Calculus, Chemistry, Physics, or another admission requirement? Our online, self-paced UPrep courses can help you earn the prerequisite you need, upgrade your marks, and build confidence before starting your degree at Dal. Explore UPrep courses.
