Mary
Lou Tanner

Principal Planner 

As Principal Planner at NPG Solutions, Mary Lou Tanner brings a wealth of knowledge from decades of public sector experience to deliver expert insights to clients and stakeholders. In her current role, she oversees the company’s project portfolio, leads projects, and actively supports and mentors staff. Mary Lou is driven by building communities, shaping public policy, creating thoughtful infrastructure for cities and people, and addressing the unique needs of rural communities.

Mary Lou has a passion for public service and has spent more

than 30 years in public planning. She has played a key role in helping to drive and shape policy development and implementation for communities across Niagara, Hamilton, and Halton. She has led several municipalities through complex and challenging planning initiatives, including the preparation of comprehensive growth management strategies and Official Plan reviews. Mary Lou has earned a reputation as a highly respected professional planner capable of tackling almost anything.

Her broad scope of professional experience has included roles such as Deputy City Manager for the City of Burlington, and Director of Planning roles with the City of Burlington and Niagara Region. Amongst Mary Lou’s remarkable strengths is her extraordinary ability to manage sensitive consultations and her outstanding capacity for consensus-building. This has been demonstrated repeatedly through her work helping communities navigate complex issues like intensification, urban sprawl, congestion, affordable housing, environmental protection, and economic development.

Mary Lou holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Queen’s University. She served as President of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute from 2011 to 2013, where she focused on advancing the Planning for the Future (PFF) project to establish new certification and academic accreditation standards for the planning profession in Canada. In 2019, Mary Lou was elected as a “Fellow” of the Canadian Institute of Planners (FCIP) – the Canadian planning profession’s highest individual honour. She is widely regarded as one of Canada’s leading planning professionals. 

John Henricks is the President and founder of NPG Solutions. He established NPG in 2017 with the goal of addressing a need in the market for a strong urban planning consulting. John brings a wealth of experience in municipal and land use planning, as well as land development. He has held management positions in the public and private sector of Ontario and Alberta. John is relentless in his commitment to make all of our clients successful.

As president of NPG Solutions, John leads through the empowerment of his staff and believes that his primary role is to facilitate the success for his stakeholders, both internally and externally. He priorities customer service and always keeps a clear focus on how to best sustain our communities and make them a better place for people to live and work. Clients and stakeholders of NPG Solutions appreciate John’s positive energy, personal approach and infectious enthusiasm.

As an integral part of community building and place making, urban design’s best practices are incorporated in every design and planning solution NPG provides through a collaborative process across all NPG activities. This allows us to provide holistic solutions to even the most complex and multifaceted problems that our clients face.

Mary
Lou Tanner

Principal Planner

As Principal Planner at NPG Solutions, Mary Lou Tanner brings a wealth of knowledge from decades of public sector experience to deliver expert insights to clients and stakeholders. In her current role, she oversees the company’s project portfolio, leads projects, and actively supports and mentors staff. Mary Lou is driven by building communities, shaping public policy, creating thoughtful infrastructure for cities and people, and addressing the unique needs of rural communities.

Mary Lou has a passion for public service and has spent more than 30 years in public planning. She has played a key role in helping to drive and shape policy development and implementation for communities across Niagara, Hamilton, and Halton. She has led several municipalities through complex and challenging planning initiatives, including the preparation of comprehensive growth management strategies and Official Plan reviews. Mary Lou has earned a reputation as a highly respected professional planner capable of tackling almost anything.

Her broad scope of professional experience has included roles such as Deputy City Manager for the City of Burlington, and Director of Planning roles with the City of Burlington and Niagara Region. Amongst Mary Lou’s remarkable strengths is her extraordinary ability to manage sensitive consultations and her outstanding capacity for consensus-building. This has been demonstrated repeatedly through her work helping communities navigate complex issues like intensification, urban sprawl, congestion, affordable housing, environmental protection, and economic development.

Mary Lou holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Queen’s University. She served as President of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute from 2011 to 2013, where she focused on advancing the Planning for the Future (PFF) project to establish new certification and academic accreditation standards for the planning profession in Canada. In 2019, Mary Lou was elected as a “Fellow” of the Canadian Institute of Planners (FCIP) – the Canadian planning profession’s highest individual honour. She is widely regarded as one of Canada’s leading planning professionals.