As of September 2015, the University of Calgary will offer a Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) degree program through the Faculty of Environmental Design (EVDS). The program will be the first of its kind in Canada since 1980 and the only one in Alberta.
“This is momentous for the profession in Canada,” says Beverly Sandalack, EVDS Associate Dean. “There are pressing issues facing society around landscape and sustainability and it is imperative to make our communities more resilient, sustainable, vibrant and healthy.”
The three-year program will offer 15 students real-world experience in the design of outdoor public areas, landmarks and structures. The first year will include foundational studies for students with no background in landscape architecture and the following two years will consist of graduate studies. Specialized courses will focus on theory, environmental and land-use issues, and the use of technologies.
The EVDS faculty is currently accepting applications for the program and the deadline to apply is March 15.
A Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) program could be no more needed anywhere in Canada at present, than at the U of C, assuming all efforts will be made to first and foremost facilitate real-life repair of its own backyard, such as the north extent of housing along Calgary’s Ring Road. This suburban sprawl is a landscape scar, a painful and shameful contrast to Alberta’s rich inheritance from nature’s gift of epic mountains and prairie, the desperate situation so evident on a recent drive from Banff to the Calgary Airport.