From the spires of its tallest skyscrapers to the oldest cobblestone streets, Julia Rady has felt a deep connection to Toronto since making it her home nearly 20 years ago. She’s now using her U of T degrees to guide changes for designated heritage sites in the city and across Ontario.
“You see the tension between the desire for change and keeping things the same, but development and heritage aren't mutually exclusive,” says Rady, a historian and cultural heritage specialist with architectural firm Stevens Burgess Architects (SBA).
“They can and must work together for a city like Toronto to thrive.”
Rady applies the analytical powers she gained while earning her master’s degree and PhD from the Department of History to conduct heritage evaluations, impact assessments, conservations and commemoration plans.
Since 2019, Rady has been a member of the Toronto Preservation Board, and chair since 2024. The board advises Toronto city council on matters laid out in the Ontario Heritage Act, such as the recent recommendation to designate the Kensington Market neighbourhood at the edge of the St. George Campus as a heritage conservation district.
Rady’s work with SBA has also included the Spadina National Historic Site next to Casa Loma. She wrote an evaluation for part of the site that her firm has been engaged to adaptively reuse for the city’s network of Toronto History Museums.
“Whether it’s somebody’s home or a developer’s project, it’s not just a building and you need to consider multiple perspectives to do good heritage work,” says Rady, who’s also vice-president of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario.
Storytelling skills are central to Rady’s role as a historian, another talent she refined while at U of T.
“Writing a dissertation was helpful because a good historian is rooted in evidence, but you still need to tell a captivating story to resonate with people.”
Rady’s supervisor and mentor, Professor Mark McGowan recalls his former student’s discipline and passion for her research, how she finished her PhD amid two maternity leaves and still found time to do media interviews, establishing herself as a top heritage expert in the province.
“Julia’s great gift is translating these complicated academic ideas and making them real, making them valuable and making them applicable to ordinary life,” says McGowan, principal emeritus of the University of St. Michael’s College.
McGowan recalls when Rady impressed judges and spectators at U of T’s Three Minute Thesis competition, a widely covered spectacle in which graduate students compete to present their research in a blistering 180 seconds.
“Julia’s examination of Protestants in Ontario after the Second World War was so compelling and I always thought that was a testament to how articulate she was,” he says.
Former classmates also remember Rady as the social glue of their academic cohort, and the host of gatherings with baked goods and scrappy Scrabble matches.
Rady lives in Mount Pleasant Village, one of Toronto’s many old neighbourhoods, surrounded by the heritage character she admires throughout the city. It’s not just about red brick facades and decorative woodwork, though, but how these structures contextualize the city’s history and give shape to a shared community and past.
“Heritage is a rich and rewarding field, especially for historians who want to practice our craft,” says Rady. “Use your analytical tools to do what you love. Take a leap and go for it.”