Obituary of Ilze Jana Andzans

Surrounded by the love of family and friends, Ilze passed away peacefully on the afternoon of September 3, 2025.

Born in Toronto on June 2, 1956, the only child of Rita and Aleksandrs Andzans, Ilze attended school in Toronto. Latvian School and Sunday school at St. John's Latvian Lutheran Church, were part of her early life, and basis for many lifelong friendships. She continued her studies at the University of Toronto, graduating with an Honours BA in Urban Studies (Geography). Ilze enjoyed her time at university where she found her ultimate direction in the field of urban planning. She obtained a Master's in Landscape Architecture at Guelph University, combining urban design and environmental policy within an urban context. She worked as both a planner and landscape architect for her entire career focussed on the public realm, primarily at the City of Toronto and ending her career as Director of Long -Range Planning at Metrolinx.

While at the city, she was seconded for two years to ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives), based at Toronto City Hall but conducting projects world-wide.
Initiatives she spearheaded included the Blue Flag Program, an international sculpture symposium, Green Roofs, and the development of Environmental Design Guidelines for the City of Toronto. She was able to connect her municipal work in Canada with projects around the world linking government with the Non-Profit Environmental Sector.

Her Latvian heritage provided the opportunity to travel to Latvia on numerous planning initiatives funded by External Affairs Canada through the Canadian Urban Institute. She was proud of her Latvian heritage and its reverence for nature, feeling that her chosen profession of landscape architecture allowed her to bring that love of nature into her everyday work life.

Travel, photography and books have been lifelong passions, exploring every Province in Canada, many parts of the United States, Europe, Japan, India and Morocco. She visited famous gardens and national parks wherever she went. Her body of work as a photographer centered on landscape photography, capturing the rugged beauty of our land. Never able to sit still too long in one place, Ilze was always on the move, whether to marvel at the sunrise over Niagara Falls or follow the bird migration at Long Point on Lake Erie, or track the ever-elusive moose in Algonquin Park. Exploring the world through her camera lens provided her restless soul with a calming meditative practice.

An active member of several camera clubs in Nova Scotia and Ontario, she felt she had found her tribe. Books and art galleries always inspired her to choose the next travel destination and to examine each location more deeply, from a social and cultural perspective. Libraries have been a part of Ilze's life since her mother brought her to Story Hour at George Locke Library in Toronto. She served on several library boards, most recently, the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. A life lived to the fullest-Ilze leaves behind her only daughter, Olivia, (and miniature dachshund Otto) who both share her love of travel and wild places and for whom the journey of exploration is just beginning. There are a multitude of people who will be mourning Ilze, who knew her greatest talent- a deep and constant capacity for friendship.