Dave Hardy is President of Hardy Stevenson and Associates Limited, a firm focused on land-use and environmental planning, social science, engineering, economic development, project finance and development, geoscience, public consultation, communication, and facilitation. He is a Registered Professional Planner (R.P.P.). He was awarded a Member Service Award and served on the Board of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute. As an R.P.P., he has appeared as an expert witness on 26 occasions before the OMB, various standing and select committees in Ontario, the Ontario Energy Board, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and the Ontario Court of Appeal. In 2022, Dave was awarded a fellowship by the Canadian Institute of Planners - the highest award a planner can receive in Canada.

By way of education, he received an Honorary Bachelors Degree (Sociology: Urban Studies) in 1975, and a Masters of Environmental Studies Degree from York University in 1978, focusing on community development and community planning. Since then, he has dedicated much of his professional career to improving the economic, natural, and social environment. He has completed 125 socio-economic impact assessment studies, 15 economic development and strategic plans for municipalities, participated in 75 environmental assessment studies, has designed and completed 250 public communications and consultation programs, and has facilitated over 1,600 workshops and public meetings.

Mr. Hardy has been involved in the review, approval and construction of infrastructure projects having a value of close to $25 billion, including many of Ontario’s recent water and waste water projects. He chaired an inter-agency coordinating group for the development of new infrastructure for the Mississauga City Centre. His professional and entrepreneurial activities have taken him to China, South America, and the Caribbean.

In the past, Mr. Hardy served as the co-coordinator of the president and chairman’s office of the former Ontario Hydro, and president of the Conservation Council of Ontario. He also served as senior planner for the town of Aurora. He served as acting chair of the Canadian Standards Association Technical Committee on Environmental Assessment. He is one of the founding members of the International Association for Impact Assessment, a global organization that builds the understanding of project impacts. As a serial entrepreneur, he also was the CEO and a Tarion-certified home builder as owner of the Hetti Homes housing development in Whitby.

He is a former vice-chair of the former Scarborough Social Planning Council, and former board member of the Federation of Metro Tenants. He is past president of the Rotary Club of North Scarborough, is a Paul Harris Fellow, and served as assistant governor for Rotary District 7070.

In 2014, Dave led the establishment of the Scarborough Rotary Community Renewal Campaign, which focused on advocacy, promoting and attracting resources to Scarborough. The campaign resulted in the establishment of the Scarborough Business Association (SBA) in 2015 and community-based Scarborough Community Renewal Organization (SCRO) in 2016. Also, as a result of the campaign, Dave and colleagues started the Institute for New Suburbanism (INS). This is a Scarborough-based think tank that promotes dialogue about the suburbs, metropolitan centres, and how these communities interact.

Hardy Stevenson and Associates Limited managed the peer review of Canada’s largest low-level radioactive waste clean-up project for the municipalities of Clarington and Port Hope. Hardy Stevenson and Associates contributed to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s efforts to site North America’s first high-level nuclear waste repository, and advised the Township of Ignace as they volunteered to be the site. The firm completed the socio-economic impact assessment analysis for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games as part of the Olympic Bid. Their report was submitted in the bid book to the International Olympic Committee and helped bring the games to Canada.

Hardy Stevenson also designed the economic development plan called the Benefits Blueprint for the New Brunswick Energy Hub. The Benefits Blueprint was adopted by Premier Shawn Graham in 2007 as the central platform for the province’s social, environmental, and economic development initiatives. He is currently the chair of the Pickering Nuclear and Darlington Nuclear Community Advisory Councils.

In 2019, he authored “Who are These People and Why are They Yelling at Me? The Art and Science of Managing Large Angry Public Meetings.” which has become one of the publisher’s best sellers. He has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, CFRB 1010 Newstalk radio, the CBC, CityNews, Mirror Newspapers, and was a co-host of the podcast “The Nxt Normal.”

August 2024