News & Events

Luke Fraser isn't wasting any time getting his foot in the professional door.

The fourth-year urban and regional planning student is spending his summer working for the City of Hamilton, Ontario as a planning technician student,  producing an employment report which will contain detailed statistics and indicators regarding the economic health of the city. He splits his time between the office at city hall and conducting field work.

Taking time off during the summer wasn't an option for Fraser.

"Summers during university are pivotal periods where the experience gained is fundamental to landing a job after graduation. To waste such a great opportunity would be unfortunate," he said.

Mitchell Kosny, associate director of the School of Urban and Regional Planning, recognizes the benefits of work experience in a student's post-graduate career.

"The real-world skills offered in the urban and regional planning program gives our students the practical knowledge they need to excel in the professional world. The integration of professional practice through our client-based studio projects and industry connections creates a unique curriculum that makes our students marketable," Kosny said.

Fraser works independently for the most part, completing reports for downtown Hamilton, Ancaster and Stoney Creek. He typically spends a day travelling to various areas across Hamilton, interviewing business owners and learning about their organization. Fraser is expected to find out what types of businesses exist in the local area and how many employees there are at each one. The results are compared to previous reports to yield whether the overall economic health is improving, in what areas and what impact city programming has had on the rate of employment.

"After holding various internships over the last two years, obtaining a related summer job became an important goal for me," Fraser said.

Fraser commutes each day via GO Transit from Toronto, which gives him a chance to catch up on podcasts and books that he didn't have time to indulge in during the school year.

He had applied for the planning technician student position last year but wasn't hired. Recognizing he needed more experience, Fraser attended the Canadian Institute of Planners National Conference in Montreal last fall and learned what it took to land a planning job. From the conference, he secured a placement with the non-profit organization, Friends of the Greenbelt foundation, which helped him refine his research skills and boosted his chances to land the Hamilton position.

Although his summer job will end, Fraser has been invited back to the City of Hamilton office once his studies are finished.