As commissioner he developed an urban plan called the Plan for Greater Saskatoon, that emphasized park space, civic areas, roads, tramways, and a "ring road" (eventually realized as Circle Drive).

"[1] After extensive debate with the mayor of the day Alexander MacGillivray Young, he resigned to take on the role of Commissioned of Edmonton,[3] Starting in 1921 he was City Commissioner for Edmonton."Offer to C.J.

Yorath unanimous" Edmonton Bulletin, Jan. 21, 1921, p. 1 He enacted a racial segregation policy, which Labour city councillors Ald.

[6] In 1923, under the advisement of Christopher Yorath in his role of Edmonton's City Commissioner, the council passed legislation banning black citizens from using the public swimming pools.

When a committee of prominent black Edmontonians led by Willetta Poston challenged the rule in 1924, Christopher Yorath responded that he personally thought a white man and a Black man "should not enter the same pool and that the order must stand."