The Within Reach Workshop is an action-oriented civic leadership framework designed to help leaders, institutions, and cross-sector teams move ambitious urban ideas from discussion to implementation.

The workshop is designed to help participants identify where meaningful change is truly within reach by clarifying spheres of influence, uncovering institutional barriers, aligning stakeholders, and developing practical strategies to advance tangible outcomes. A core component of the methodology is helping each participant map where they sit within the broader system and identify what they specifically need to do to help unlock change. At its core, the workshop is about systems change: understanding how institutions, policies, capital, leadership, and culture interact, and where coordinated action can create momentum.

The methodology has helped catalyze major city-building initiatives internationally. In Oslo, a Within Reach Workshop with political leaders helped build momentum for the city’s now globally recognized car-free downtown transformation. In Melbourne, the process contributed to the advancement of “dynamic fairways” — transit-priority streets designed to rebalance mobility and public space. In Helsingborg, Sweden, the workshop led directly to the design and implementation of an affordable housing development intended to support war-displaced Ukrainians in Ukraine.

At Canada Builds Modern, the Within Reach Workshop will bring together a curated group of leaders from government, development, manufacturing, finance, housing, Indigenous organizations, and civil society to focus on one core question:

What is truly within reach if we align leadership, systems, and action?
Participants will leave equipped with new partnerships, clearer strategies, and actionable pathways to help accelerate housing delivery and systems transformation across Canada.