By Pepper Parr
June 13th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
The City of Burlington is pleased to announce the promotion of Jamie Tellier as the City’s new of Director of Community Planning.
Finally – he should have taken the job when he had the chance. If anyone knows community, understand community and actually likes community it is Jamie Tellier
Site Planning co-coordinator Jamie Tellier explains what is going to be built whereon the JBMH campus.
Tellier was chosen as the successful candidate following an extensive and competitive recruitment. As the Acting Director Community Planning, he demonstrated strategic leadership, collaborating to achieve successful outcomes and a continuous improvement mindset.
Jamie has been with the City for 21 years. He has progressed through various leadership roles in Community Planning, including two extended roles as Acting Director of Community Planning.
Over the next six months in particular, Tellier will focus on strategic priorities that are currently underway in Community Planning:
• Recruiting and developing talent to meet the growing needs of Burlington,
• Adapting the City’s organizational, policy and regulatory frameworks to adjust our work to comply with recent legislative changes, such as Bill 23,
• Introducing more tools, such as MyFiles, to improve how we do business with residents and developers to be more efficient and transparent and
• Foster a culture of collaboration between staff, partners and customers for mutual success.
Most recently, as the Manager of Planning Implementation, Tellier led a number of Continuous Improvement initiatives for the City’s Development Services area. These projects, which resulted in improved service to applicants and better outcomes for Council, residents and staff, include:
Jamie Tellier is one of the few staff members who gets excited about the work he does. You always know he loves the job he is doing. Knows how to solve a problem.
• Leading Development Services staff to develop a new Pre-Building Approval application process.
• Respond to and adapt the development application processes for Official Plan Amendments, Zoning Bylaw Amendments and Site Plan Applications. This positions the City to better respond to new provincial legislations, such as Bill 23.
• Enhance Community Planning’s teamwork with the Burlington Digital Services Department (ITS) to come up with innovative solutions to better serve the community and allow staff to focus on the development review process.
Before joining the City in 2002, Tellier worked as a planner in Palm Beach County, Florida. He has a Masters of Urban Design Studies from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Environmental Studies with Honours in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Waterloo.
Jamie Tellier as seen by a city photographer: Terrible picture Jamie – you shouldn’t have let them do this to you.
Tellier will continue to work with the Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility Service Group and report to the Executive Director of Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility.
Brynn Nheiley, Executive Director of Community Planning, Regulation and Mobility got it right wen she said: “I very much look forward to continuing to work closely with Jamie as he adjusts from Acting to permanent Director. He is a wealth of corporate and departmental knowledge, innovative ideas and is very skilled at responding to the evolving challenges faced by the Community Planning department and the City.
“I would like to thank Jamie for assuming the Acting Director role these past six months, as well as big thanks to Amanda D’Angelo and Kyle Plas for taking on additional duties and responsibilities to support and maintain the high productivity of the Community Planning Department during this time.
“I am very pleased to have Jamie permanently join the Burlington Leadership Team, bringing his wealth of skills, knowledge and perspectives to the table.”
