keisha is an urban planner and researcher based in toronto, ontario, canada.

born and raised in co-operative housing in the downtown neighbourhood of cabbagetown, she holds an honours bachelor of arts (hons. b.a.) in political science and urban studies with high distinction, and a master of science in planning (mscpl) from the university of toronto.

keisha st. louis-mcburnie’s undergraduate research has focused on processes of neighbourhood change, public and private infrastructure disparities, and the function of asset-based community development in local neighbourhoods, such as moss park and north st. james town. in a professional planning program, her graduate research has sought to understand and critically evaluate the systems that have a role in both facilitating and ameliorating urban inequities as they relate to housing, regional, urban and community economic development, land use planning, and urban design.

as an undergraduate student, she was a recipient of a co-operative housing federation of toronto (chft) diversity scholarship. in 2019 and 2020, keisha was also awarded a joseph armand bombardier canada graduate scholarship—master’s (cgs-m) by the social sciences and humanities research council (sshrc) and an ontario graduate scholarship (ogs) by the university of toronto to fund her graduate education. this funding will also allow her to undertake research on the integral role professional planners play in protecting and advancing public interests when engaging with technologies and platforms that perpetuate systemic inequities in smart cities.



“how to fix toronto’s housing affordability crisis? four urban planning students share their solutions”
- toronto star (june 2020)

“meet u of t student city-builders who are shaping toronto’s future”
- u of t news (december 2018)

“u of t students travel the world as sidewalk fellows to help shape the city’s waterfront vision”
- u of t news (august 2018)

“young leaders demand more than ‘status quo’ budget at toronto city hall”
- toronto star (december 2017)

relevant employment experience.

  • research trainee, strategic initiatives, policy & analysis, toronto city planning (2019)

  • research assistant, social planning toronto (2018-2019)

  • sidewalk toronto fellow, sidewalk labs and waterfront toronto (2018)

  • research assistant (policy & delivery), executive council office, ontario cabinet office (2018)

relevant academic experience.

  • graduate research fellow, innovation policy lab, munk school of global affairs, university of toronto (present)

  • research assistant (non-profit platform economies, co-operative enterprises, living wages movements and CLTs), department of geography and planning, university of toronto (present)

  • teaching assistant, urban studies program, university of toronto (2019-2020)

  • undergraduate research fellow, school of cities, university of toronto (2019)

  • research assistant (public consultation, development and urban citizenship), urban studies program, university of toronto (2018-2019)

  • research and communications assistant, urban studies program, university of toronto (2017-2018)

community engagement.

  • president, graduate geography and planning student society (ggapss), university of toronto (2019-present)

  • co-president, urban studies student union (urssu), university of toronto (2018-2019)

  • director of stakeholder engagement and housing working group lead, toronto youth cabinet (2016-2018)

  • vice-director of the standing committee on municipal affairs, university of toronto model parliament (2016-2017)

  • equity commission member, victoria university students’ administrative council (vusac), university of toronto (2015-2016)

awards and honours.

  • ontario graduate scholarship (2020-2021)

  • social sciences and humanities research council (sshrc) joseph armand bombardier canada graduate scholarship—masters (cgs-m) (2019-2020)

  • frances joan lambier scholarship (2019)

  • planning master’s recruitment award (2019)

  • co-operative housing federation of toronto (chft) diversity scholarship (2019-2015)

  • robert leslie edwards meml. scholarship (2018)

  • isabel bader in-course scholarship (2017)

  • mary isabel hodgkinson scholarship (2016)

  • president’s entrance scholarship (2015)

selected publications.

  • st. louis-mcburnie, k., pagaling, n., and roberts, d. the work of crisis framing: claims of social justice obscuring a history and, likely future, of uneven investment in moss park. submitted to the journal of urban affairs.

  • st. louis-mcburnie, k. (2019). 1182 & 1221 king street west: another chapter in the fight against gentrification and neoliberalism in south parkdale. dencity: undergraduate journal of urban studies at the university of toronto, 3: 9-18.

  • st. louis-mcburnie, k., wishloff, a., espanol, a., chang, b., leung, c., yeung, c., ngo, h., brath, h., seufert, p., persaud, s., chan, s., and sutter, w. (2018). sidewalk toronto fellows report. report and presentation for waterfront toronto and sidewalk labs, toronto, on.

software skills and professional affiliations.

  • arcgis desktop and qgis

  • sketchup basic and pro

  • adobe creative suite, including illustrator, indesign and photoshop

  • r

  • microsoft office and g suite

  • mac/windows os

student member of:

  • canadian institute of planners (cip)

  • ontario professional planners institute (oppi)

  • american planning association (apa)

  • urban affairs association (uaa)