The Challenge

Our Proposal

OVERVIEW

The Smart Cities Challenge is a new way the Government of Canada is helping communities become healthier, more inclusive and liveable.

The Smart Cities Challenge is a competition open to all municipalities, local and regional governments, and Indigenous communities across Canada to define their future, using a citizen-driven, smart city approach. A smart cities approach aims to achieve meaningful outcomes for residents by leveraging the fundamental benefits of data and technology.

The challenge is based on four guiding principles of openness, integration, transferability and collaboration. Through this challenge, Edmonton has a chance to win up to $50 million. But more importantly, Edmonton has a chance to implement innovative solutions to our most pressing challenges, improving the lives of residents.

Click here to learn about the Smart Cities Challenge Jury who has been selected to assess the submitted application.

Infrastructure Canada's Smart Cities Challenge Website

PRIZES

Communities of all sizes are included in the competition.

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One prize of up to $50 million open to all communities, regardless of their population size.

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Two prizes of up to $10 million open to all communities with populations under 500,000 people.

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One prize of up to $5 million open to all communities with populations under 30,000 people.

TIMELINE

Infrastructure Canada has outlined the following process.

FINALISTS

On June 1, 2018, Infrastructure Canada released its selected finalists for the Smart Cities Challenge.

Edmonton, Alberta – Edmonton will lead the transformation of Canadian healthcare using an unprecedented municipal approach by focusing on leveraging relationships, health data and innovative technologies to provide a personalized health connection and experience as unique as the health of every Edmontonian.
Montréal, Quebec – The Montréal community is shaping an efficient and dynamic neighbourhood life by innovating mobility and access to food. Through a co-creation and citizen participation process, the accessibility of services and the well-being of Montréalers are increasing significantly.
Québec City, Quebec – “The social inequalities in health: understanding and engaging differently.” To engage the community of Quebec City in a societal project centered on citizens’ sustainable health and well-being using the collective intelligence and the deployment of digital tools that support decision-making and follow-ups.
Surrey & Vancouver, British Columbia – Surrey and Vancouver will implement Canada’s first two collision-free multi-modal transportation corridors, leveraging autonomous vehicles and smart technologies to demonstrate the path to safer, healthier and more socially connected communities while reducing emissions, improving transportation efficiency and enhancing livability in the face of rapid growth and traffic congestion. #SmarterTogether
Waterloo Region, Ontario – We will become the benchmark community in Canada for child and youth wellbeing by using early intervention, youth engagement and a connected-community framework to create adaptive, data-driven programs and scalable learning technologies that improve early child development, mental health and high school graduation rates.
Airdrie & Area, Alberta – Become Canada’s healthiest community, by engaging and securing the participation of all in the community to create a community healthy culture that improves social, economic, physical and health care environments and individual characteristics and behaviours, so that healthy life expectancy is increased by 3+ years over 5 years.
Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec – Our city will provide socially isolated seniors with confidence they can live more autonomously, secure in the knowledge that the city is looking out for their well-being.
Greater Victoria, British Columbia – “Freedom to move” – We will collaboratively create a multimodal transportation network that is convenient, green and affordable, which will boost South Islanders’ mobility wellbeing score by at least 20%.
Guelph & Wellington County, Ontario – Guelph/Wellington will become Canada’s first technology-enabled Circular Food Economy, reimagining an inclusive food-secure ecosystem that increases access to affordable, nutritious food by 50%, where “waste” becomes a resource, 50 new circular businesses and collaborations are created, and circular economic revenues are increased by 50%: 50x50x50 by 2025.
Nunavut Communities, Nunavut – Our communities will implement protective and preventative measures to reduce the risk of suicide in Nunavut, which is ten times the national average, and increase the amount and accessibility of peer support networks, educational resources and creative outlets that promote positive Mental Health to all Nunavummiut.
Parkland, Brazeau, Lac Ste Anne & Yellowhead Counties, Alberta – Our agricultural community will revitalize and grow through the connection of people to the land and food while attracting citizens to share in its prosperous, innovative and resilient way of life.
Richmond, British Columbia – Richmond, an island city with a rapidly growing and diverse population and home of nationally significant infrastructure and government services, requires resilient physical and virtual platforms that are integrated seamlessly across all levels of government to enhance quality of life in day-to-day activities and minimize community impacts from major disasters.
Saint Mary’s First Nation & Fredericton, New Brunswick – “My city does not recognize me or connect me to what matters most; Fredericton will collaborate with First Nations to create an accessible, welcoming, supportive city for youth, newcomers, and an aging population, empowering everyone with a Personalized Inclusion Plan that connects
people to create an exceptional quality of life.”
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – To be the city that breaks the cycle of Indigenous youth incarceration by creating a new cycle focused on building purpose, belonging, security and identity.
Town of The Pas, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Rural Municipality of Kelsey, Manitoba – Our community will utilize LED Smart Farm technology to support local nutritious food growth and promote food security, create a smart phone distribution system and integrate wearable technology to achieve a 40% reduction in the number of imported vegetables and a 20% reduction in community diabetes rates by 2023.
Biigtigong Nishnaabeg (Pic River First Nation), Ontario – By means of active, cross-generational, technology-empowered, real-world participation in the intergenerational transfer of traditional Nishnaabe knowledge through the medium of our language, and the bilingual delivery of modern K-12 STEM knowledge, our community will transform our youth into better-educated, more employable, better-grounded, and more holistically Nishaabe people.
Cree Nation of Eastmain, Quebec – “Improving Community Well-Being” – Our community will develop an affordable Net Zero Energy Housing Program, offering culturally appropriate designs, using smart technologies, innovative building techniques and alternative energy systems in order to address the housing shortage crisis, the poor-quality and costly construction of houses in Eastmain and Indigenous communities across Canada.
Bridgewater, Nova Scotia – Our community will lift 20% of its residents out of energy poverty by 2028.
Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Quebec – Decrease the rate of new cases of diabetes per year in Akwesasne to the Canadian average (0.5%; 5.9/1,000) by improving community wellness using traditional approaches encompassing holistic Indigenous practices, improved access to community services and health diagnostics.
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories – Yellowknife will experience a rise in our community’s social and environmental well-being by transforming the simple lamppost into a beacon for sustainability.
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