Ann McAfee graduated from SCARP in 1975 with an Interdisciplinary Doctorate in City Planning and Urban Land Economics. Her doctoral dissertation was on "Interactive Evaluation: A User Oriented Process to Assist Housing Program Reformulation". She has taught courses in planning, urban land economics, geography, report writing, and municipal management at UBC, Queens, Technical University Sydney, and Simon Fraser University.
From 1974 to 2006, Dr. McAfee worked for the City of Vancouver as Co-Director of Planning, Director of City Plans, and Senior Housing Planner. During her thirty years at the City, Dr. McAfee was responsible for Vancouver’s Housing Programs from 1974-1988. From 1994 – 2006 she was responsible for Strategic Planning including guiding the extensive public process leading to adoption of "CityPlan" – Vancouver’s first city-wide plan since 1930. Ann was also responsible for City input to regional planning; co-managing with Engineering and Finance city-wide plans for industry, transportation, financing growth, and sustainability; plans for sustainable suburbs; and Vancouver’s Business Improvement Program.
In mid-2006, Dr. McAfee established City Choices Consulting, a firm specializing in advice on strategic planning and public processes. Dr. McAfee has advised cities in North America, China, Philippines, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Ukraine, and Ethiopia on strategic planning. This includes projects funded by the World Bank, Canadian International Development Agency, Institute of Public Administration for Canada, Canadian Urban Institute, and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Dr. McAfee served as Canadian Project Manager for an award winning two-year review of Community Development options for Shanghai, as a member of a four person Audit Panel charged with reviewing the Melbourne 2030 Plan, as an advisor to the Canadian government on Decentralization and Local Governance funding in Ukraine, an advisor to the Auckland Unitary Plan, and as the Canadian representative on an American Planning Association Sustaining Places Task Force.
Dr. McAfee has been Chair of the Vancouver General Hospital Board of Trustees, President of the UBC Alumni Association, and on boards of the Canadian Housing Design Council, Pitt Meadows Regional Airport Authority, and several social policy agencies. She has served on the UBC Senate and selection committees for CMHC Scholarships, ACT Housing Grants, and FCM Green Municipal Funds. Ann is currently a member of Canada’s National Housing Council reporting to the Federal Minister of Housing, Diversity, and Inclusion on improvements to National Housing Programs.
Dr. McAfee is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Planners and has been recognized by a variety of organizations including Lambda Alpha International (Honorary Land Economics Society), International Downtown Association, Urban Development Institute, and the Canadian Housing Design Council for her contributions to affordable housing, strategic planning, and innovative public processes. She was the first recipient of the UBC Distinguished Geographer Award for “Contributions to her profession and the community”. In 2007, she was co-recipient of the Kevin Lynch award for distinguished planning practice from M.I.T. In 2018, Ann received a UBC Alumni Builder Award for “her many contributions to UBC and her dedication to the advancement of the field of urban planning”. In 2018, Ann also received the Lambda Alpha International Member of the Year Award “Recognizing her vast knowledge, passion, and support of the profession and the community through a distinguished career in the field of land economics in Vancouver, across Canada, and abroad”.
