Many of the datasets we add to Ratio.City start with a simple request from a user. We've recently added new planning and policy layers across Vancouver, Burnaby, and Surrey, helping professionals spend less time searching for information and more time evaluating opportunities.

One thing we've heard repeatedly at conferences and in conversations with planners, developers, and municipal teams lately: Permission doesn't build housing. Many communities have updated policies to support more housing, but getting projects across the finish line is still challenging.

Planning and development information has never been more available, but turning it into something useful remains a challenge. From AI-powered zoning analysis to data visualization, and housing feasibility, we've explored how better access to authoritative planning data can support better decisions.

Speed matters in planning and housing development. AI can deliver answers in seconds. But how accurate are those answers, and what data are they based on?

Growth is happening in every community. The challenge is understanding where it's happening, what's driving it, and how to plan for it. Our municipal program helps connect development activity, housing opportunities, and local data to provide a clearer picture of growth.

Every profession sees the same property differently. A planner sees policy. An architect sees possibility. An investor sees risk. A developer sees feasibility.

Ontario fixed the zoning. The missing middle is still slow to build. The gap: knowing a neighbourhood allows a fourplex isn't knowing this lot does.

Some cities and provinces are doing their best to solve the policy challenge. Execution still has work to do. At 1041 Willowdale Avenue in Toronto, a single detached home is becoming five rental homes through a fourplex and a garden suite.

A free e-book just came out from the Esri Canada planning team — looking at what municipalities and the private sector are navigating right now, and the solutions helping teams build stronger communities with more confidence in their decisions.

Missing middle or going higher? Every city is answering differently. Vancouver builds up. The GTA has missing middle in pockets. Each municipality moves at its own pace. The data is fragmented and hard to navigate. We pull it together, in context, with no AI hallucinations.

"Your project? You can't build it here. A new policy just came out." How many times have you heard this? Sometimes it's obvious. Sometimes it lands a year in. Or two. Worst case? You already bought the land, and one day it gets categorized as a flood zone. Could this have been avoided?

Final days to register for our CIP webinar. Non-technical planners: discover how spatial data helps identify housing growth zones, model infrastructure scenarios, and make a clearer case to council. Thursday May 7, noon EST. members.cip-icu.ca/mpower/event... @cip-icu.bsky.social #urbanplanning

Early-stage planning runs on a thousand emails because everyone uses the same data sources but needs different insights from them. Centralize it. Make it shareable. Make it secure. Suddenly the meeting is shorter and the project moves. That's what we do, from parcel to tower. Schedule a call today.

No parcel data in your area? On Ratio.City you can still search by building size and zoning criteria to find sites that fit your project. Our Locate tool already supports transit, heritage, and more. Quebec City example below. #urbanplanning #cityplanning #housing

Chaque projet est différent. Et les données aussi. Zonage, transport, écoles, 3D, ombrages, accès aux épiceries — construire des logements, ça demande le portrait complet.

The Toronto condo market just hit a 30-year low. Zero new launches in Q1. Developers, planners, and munis are under real pressure to find the next opportunity and get it right. Ratio.City gives you 1,600+ verified data layers to make that call with confidence.

Most site assessments miss the question that matters most. Not "what's allowed here?" but "what's actually possible?" Zoning tells you one piece. Infrastructure tells you what's real.

Canada's property ecosystem is evolving and the conversation is happening live April 21 in Toronto. Monika joins the PropTech panel at the Teranet Property Ecosystem Summit. At The Design Exchange, 1 to 6:30 PM. Register:https://cloud.connect.teranet.ca/Property_Ecosystem_Summit

Friday Trivia: Which city has more protected views? (# of view cones impacting building heights) Vancouver or Montreal? Drop your answer in the comments #urbanplanning #cityplanning #housing #missingmiddle #urbandesign

Policy unlocked gentle density. Execution is a different problem. The people now expected to build it are often doing this for the first time, navigating complex processes that were never designed for them.

Friday trivia. How many Toronto properties are eligible for a laneway suite? a) 500 b) 5,000 c) 50,000 d) 500,000 Hint: it's mapped on Ratio.City. Answer in replies. #urbanplanning #cityplanning #housing #missingmiddle

You can upload your own data to Ratio.City, structure it, keep it private, and combine it with 1,600+ official data layers. Zoning, setbacks, policy context — everything you need to assess a site before committing.

Based on the images, can you rank these cities from the least to the most high-comfort cycling infrastructure? Hint: One city clearly leads, while another might surprise you by ranking lower than expected.

Where does Ratio.City's data come from? Real question we get all the time. Short answer: a dedicated team sourcing from municipal, provincial, and federal sources. Cleaned, structured, and made usable for pre-development analysis. Not AI-generated. Not guesswork.

Friday Trivia One thing our users enjoy most on Ratio.City is access to planning data that is not always easy to find or match against existing policies.

We made a short video showing what we actually do in practice. Parcel reports, 1,600+ data layers, zoning, 3D massings and shadow analysis + mcuh more. One workspace. Official government sources only. If your team still does site due diligence across a dozen tabs and PDFs, worth a watch.

The housing demand has shifted. Developers are ready. The bottleneck is municipal data that's too scattered to act on. Here's what changes when a city gets it into one place. www.ratio.city/createto-suc... #urbanplanning #housing #cityplanning #affordablehousing #urbandesign #missingmiddle #urban

Closing our #IWD2026 series with Cait, Product Manager at Ratio.City, on a question worth sitting with: What does leadership look like to you? Her answer starts with one word. 🧵

friday trivia: can you name these 4 canadian cities just from their census subdivision outlines? 🧭 hint: they're all tied to the compass drop your guesses before scrolling ↓

It's almost International Women's Day 💙 We asked the women on our team one question: what advice would you give to younger women starting out? Sibeal keeps our entire data operation running behind the scenes. Chelmin has an uncanny ability to find what the data is really telling us.