William (Bill) Thomson (b. 1926) is an urban planner who has worked extensively in the Waterloo Region. Bill obtained his BA in Geography from McMaster University, and his MA in Geography and Urban Economics from the University of Indiana in 1953. In 1961 Bill became the first Planning Director for the City of Kitchener, and later the first Commissioner of Planning and Development for the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. In 1985, Bill became the Commissioner of Economic Development for Kitchener. Bill later entered the consulting world and in 1992 joined the firm Thomson McGough Consultants Inc. and later founded his own firm Bill Thomson Consultant Inc. During this period Bill was also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Waterloo in the School of Urban and Regional Planning and also taught a course on economic development.
Bill is a member of many organizations and has served on the board of a variety of these, including the Canadian Institute of Planners, the Town Planning Institute of Canada, and the Energy Conservation Planning Task Force for the Canadian Institute of Planners. Bill retired in 2008.