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The Evolving Role of Workspace

Pearl Leung

Pearl Leung

Digital Marketing Specialist

A year of remote work has proven that it is, indeed, possible — but it doesn’t spell the end of the office completely. Likely, organizations will adopt a more flexible system that blends the two.

We know that offices work well for some things, and not as well for others. Having immediate access to people (in person!) can do wonders for innovation, collaboration, mentorship, and professional growth. These spontaneous interactions and background conversations are, however, distracting when you want to do deep work.

It makes sense, then, that workspace evolves into a space for community: somewhere like-minded people can learn, grow, and create together.

“We need to be intentional about the communities we are building,” said our CEO Tonya Surman in an interview with The Professional Centre. “Community for community’s sake is lovely. […] The real question is why do we seek communities? I think that coworking spaces are going to have to dig deeply into purpose.”

Tonya speaks about the future of workspace, harbouring community, and how leadership right now is harder than ever. Watch the full interview:


And if you or your organization are currently looking for flexible coworking space, we might have something for you. See our coworking options.

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CSI Spadina in the ground floor kitchen, looking out towards the lounge and meeting rooms. In the foreground is a kitchen counter, with waffles, toppings, and glasses of coffees and teas. In the background, CSI CEO Tonya Surman is speaking into a microphone on the left. In the middle and on the right, a variety of people stand and sit, listening to her speak.
One of the keys to CSI's magic is our Community Animator Program (CAP) and, specifically, the Community Animators themselves! Through this program, we've worked with more than 1,000 exceptional individuals who have each brought a little something different, and a little sparkle, to our spaces. And we're so glad to have had them in our community, because we've learned that each and every one of them has some exceptional talents, skills, and experiences to offer the world!  
Third floor lounge of CSI Spadina. In the foreground is a light blue loveseat sofa. In the background, we see two people working separately at coworking desks and tables. On the ceiling is a chandelier; to the right, a progress Pride flag.
The CSI staff team includes Pride veterans, newcomers, and everywhere in between! This year, as we celebrated Pride in our spaces and with our member community, we turned to our staff team to learn what Pride means to them. Some experienced it for the first time this year and were awash in the joy; others delighted in the fact that Pride remains such a fun celebration decades later. Others noted the increasing corporatization, which draws our attention away from the central premise of Pride - a protest.
whai header
CSI is many things - a coworking space, a non-profit organization, and a launchpad - but, first and foremost, we are a community. A community of innovators, of changemakers, of neighbours, of people putting people and planet first. And the awesome work that our members do, each and every day, never ceases to amaze us! So of course, we do our best to highlight our members whenever possible. Recently, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Molly Bannerman, Director of Women HIV/Aids Initiative (WHAI), a community-based response to HIV and AIDS among cis and trans women in Ontario. Below is an edited summary of our chat, where we discussed the work of WHAI and their latest Collective Action Community Change report.
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