People of PacifiCan: Karolina Pol

Meet Karolina. Whether she’s bringing local and national development policy perspectives together, or analyzing data to better understand trends that are shaping the B.C. economy, as a PacifiCan Senior Advisor in Strategic Policy, Karolina is always aiming for new heights.

How did you arrive at PacifiCan?

I actually started my career at the municipal level, as a community planner. But being a big-picture person, I always gravitated towards strategic policy work. One initiative that I led was focused on implementing the B.C. Energy Step-code, North American’s leading energy efficient building code at the time. This led me to Natural Resource Canada, the department that recruited me into the federal public service. Since then, my work has always focused on understanding the intersections between environmental, economic and equity issues in the natural resource sector. Many B.C. communities are on the frontlines of these issues, and I continue to focus on them in my work at PacifiCan.

What interested you about PacifiCan?

Getting to bring local and national development policy perspectives together. Working at the local level gave me hands-on experience with dynamics that shape communities – land economics, zoning, and development finance. Now I get to integrate these perspectives into national policy discussions, which is both exciting and impactful.

What do you do in a typical day?

A lot of my time is spent analyzing data to better understand trends that are shaping the B.C. economy. More of my time is spent talking to people that are smarter than me – academics, community and thought leaders – to make sure that I understand the nuances of what I’m finding in my research. But most of my time is spent writing, to ensure that what I’m learning supports the work of others.

What do you find most rewarding about your work?

Getting to be curious and challenge status-quo thinking. I get to live the saying, “Don’t believe everything you think,” and it’s a lot of fun. It’s also really important. I feel privileged to play a small role in helping decision makers navigate issues that have real impacts on British Columbians and Canadians.

A few “quick facts”

Location: Vancouver

Education: Master of Arts in Community Planning from UBC

Started at PacifiCan: June, 2021

Favourite project or experience at PacifiCan

Tough question! It’s a two-way tie between being a part of the team responsible for standing-up PacifiCan, and establishing the agency’s first research agenda.