Grounded in Practice, Guided by Principle
Shura Planning & Development Inc. is a Toronto planning and development practice. We work for organizations that are building on, buying or redeveloping land, and need someone on their side of the table.
Fluent in Planning. Fluent in Development.
Shura brings planning and development experience together in one adviser: a Registered Professional Planner (RPP) who has also worked on the developer side, taking commercial and residential projects through approvals and into development. We understand policy, approvals, pro formas and partnership structures, and we explain them in plain language.
Nonprofits, co-operatives, community centres and masjids often come to a building project with a strong sense of purpose, and a volunteer board or a small staff team. What they rarely have is someone on their side of the table: someone who works for the owner and can tell them early what the land can be used for, how much can be built on it, and how long approvals will take and what they will cost.
That is the role Shura plays. The practice is deliberately small. The founder leads every engagement personally, so the person you meet in the first conversation is the person who does the work.
How We Work
What working with Shura looks like in practice.
We start with the site, not the drawings.
Before anyone designs, we review the official plan, the zoning by-law, title and the physical constraints on the site, and speak with municipal staff where it helps. You learn what the land allows, and what it does not, while changing course is still cheap.
A clear recommendation at every decision point.
Each stage ends with a short written briefing: what we found, the options, the time and cost of each, and what we recommend. Your leadership makes the decision, with the facts in front of them.
We manage the consultant team for you.
We write the scopes for surveyors, architects, engineers and other specialists, compare quotes, negotiate fees, and review their work before it goes to the municipality. You pay for the studies you need, when you need them.
We engage the municipality early.
Pre-application consultation tells you which studies and drawings the municipality will require. Submitting a complete application the first time avoids rounds of resubmission that cost months.