Jocelyn Cadieux, 29
Job: Policy planner for the City of Ottawa
Education: Master in Environmental Studies ’20, York University
In Ottawa, policy planner Jocelyn Cadieux is revitalizing neighbourhoods by putting people at the centre of urban design. A York planning graduate and one of their Top 30 Alumni Under 30, he champions the 15-minute neighbourhood model, creating communities where housing, transit, parks and daily amenities are all within easy reach.
Focusing on areas around Ottawa’s expanding light rail network, Jocelyn’s work brings new housing, sidewalks, cycling routes, parks and community amenities to life. By making neighbourhoods more walkable and mixed-use, he’s helping reduce traffic and emissions while promoting healthier, more connected and affordable communities. Through long-range planning, he’s creating vibrant, accessible spaces that foster connection and well-being.
As chair of the MES York Planning Alumni Committee (MYPAC), he supports students and young professionals with mentorship and networking opportunities, helping to shape the next generation of city builders.
What made you want to get into city planning?
I always had a desire to fix problems and create change in the world but that's a pretty big task. My work influences built infrastructure, and bettering communities is a direct way to have a positive impact on people's lives. Being able to improve physical space almost always brings a huge benefit to people, that’s my way of affecting positive change.
How did you get your current role with the City of Ottawa?
I got the job through networking. I was fired from my very first planning-related job outside of school after about four months. Not my favourite part of my career, but it was probably the best thing to happen to me. I was formally terminated on a Monday. I reached out to a connection I had at the City of Ottawa to say I was looking for work on Tuesday. The city was creating its new official plan — a high-level strategic document that directs all planning matters — and they were looking for a junior planner to support the project. A friend of mine introduced me to his manager. By Wednesday, I had a phone call and a verbal offer. Now I've been with that team for the last four years.
What is something every neighbourhood should have?
The presence of sidewalks is the most fundamental. They give people the option to walk, to be active. Sidewalks are a huge part of social connection, of interacting with your neighbourhood. For young children, they represent an early form of independence. Without them, we are forced to drive and younger people are required to be dependent on others to get where they want to go.
When it comes to individual health and happiness, does where you live matter?
Absolutely. Your neighbourhood shapes you in such a profound way at all stages of your life. It’s a huge determinant of health, having the proper infrastructure to give people the option to walk, run or cycle safely, and safely cross a street.
Being active, you're building good, healthy habits. You're improving your cardiovascular health. You're reducing your cortisol. If you’re able to walk around with your friends and have interactions with people, that promotes socializing. And going back to whether you were able to make decisions about your own mobility early on, being able to walk to school as a kid is a big step towards independence and responsibility.
It’s a fun experiment to think about how your life, and the way you move through the world, might be different if you’d grown up somewhere else.
What is the 15-minute neighbourhood model?
It's the next evolution of the complete communities philosophy. It’s when you can meet the majority of your daily or weekly needs within a 15-minute walk from your home. And whatever you can’t reach, you have to access through transit or other infrastructure or mobility options. It encourages people to live car light. This requires a mix of services and amenities, and the density to create the critical mass of people to support those businesses.
What are some of the benefits of density?
Density brings vibrancy. In Ottawa’s financial district and parliamentary precinct, a lot of businesses close at 6 p.m. so it gets pretty quiet. In many neighbourhoods, we’re seeing empty storefronts. If we had more people, they would bring culture, activity and community. Density animates. New developments provide money for new infrastructure as well as for upgrades. If you want improvements and new amenities, we need density to support them.
We've seen the low-density approach. It's not sustainable. It's not resilient. It’s representative of a way of life that we need to move away from if we want to do our part in reducing emissions, making our energy grid more resilient and maximizing our investment in infrastructure.
Are there any people or ideas that have influenced your approach?
I have excellent mentors in my current role. I had amazing professors at York who gave me the skills to think critically about things: Roderick MacRae, my supervisor, provided a lot of good advice for my thesis. I was able to finish early because of him. Laura Taylor was really focused on experiential education, getting us to meet professionals and networking. We partnered with Waterfront Toronto for one of her classes. Luisa Sotomayor got us to think critically about planning and brought a social justice lens to it. Roger Keil and Ute Lehrer brought us to Germany in the summer of 2019.
But in terms of ideas, it’s been my peers — people my age who also went into the field wanting to affect positive change — who have influenced me the most.
Tell me about your classmates and peers
We were a very close cohort. A lot of us came from outside the city, so we were all looking for a friend group. Especially in grad school, when you’re in your mid to late 20s or early 30s, that's usually a harder time to make friends, so we were all keen to make friends in the city. We spent a lot of time together and because we all studied together, we were able to have really good discussions in class. It was really collaborative. Talking with them, exchanging ideas, that’s where I've absorbed the most.
We also realized that we were not only classmates and friends but also future colleagues, so there was definitely an emphasis on maintaining these relationships because we will also certainly see each other in the field — and that’s been true.
The Career Files is a series where we talk to Top 30 Alumni Under 30 about how they turned their ambitions into achievements. Real paths. Real insights. Discover where a York education can lead you.
To learn more about York University's Master in Environmental Studies program, visit yorku.ca/gradstudies/