Smart Cities Challenge

On this page:

• Smart Cities Update
• Smart Cities Application
• Smart Squamish: Online Engagement
• About Canada's Smart Cities Challenge
• Symposium Videos 
• Timeline
• Share your comments

Update:  

The District learned on June 1, 2018 that our Smart Cities Challenge Application was not selected as a finalist.

Our intention through applying for the Smart Cities Challenge was that we use and leverage this initiative to catalyze a conversation about the future and how technology and resilience could stimulate collaboration and ideation. It also allowed us to forge new relationships with world-class companies and institutions, and as a result of the application process, we have new relationships with thirteen innovation-oriented organizations, which we are excited to foster and develop for future innovation across the District.

"In reviewing the list of finalists it is clear that Squamish was up against some stiff competition. I expect that the circular economy concept that was at the heart of our Squamish Challenge Statement will continue to resonate through future work of the District, even without the federal funding to support the project. The federal government has also alluded to future rounds of the contest, so we will wait and see if there are other opportunities in the future. Congratulations to all those communities who were named as finalists! The process was invaluable and Council is very pleased we made the effort to apply. 

I'd like to recognize the efforts put into it in a very short timeframe by the potential partners who submitted proposals and attended the symposium, all community members who participated at the symposium or through online feedback, and District staff."

~ Mayor Patricia Heintzman

Background

Our Smart Cities application was submitted on April 24, 2018 to Infrastructure Canada for consideration.    

Below provides a summary of our application or read the full Smart Cities Application available on our site.

As a fast-growing community, the District of Squamish faces the challenge of how to accommodate a rising population while still achieving our ambitious environmental and sustainability targets. 

By 2036, the population is projected to nearly double from 20,000 to 36,000. This rapid growth will increase waste, and, based on current employment data, require a significant and growing number of community members to commute to jobs outside of Squamish, increasing both their cost of living and their greenhouse gas emissions. 

As current District programs like recycling and energy reduction will not be sufficient to meet our community’s ambitious Zero-waste action plan, Squamish has chosen to pursue a path of sustainable growth using the principles of the circular economy. 

Working with our partners — UBC CERC, BCIT SMART, Powertech Labs, Philips Canada, Ecube Labs, Squamish & District Forestry Association, Carbon Engineering and Stuart Olson — and in collaboration with Squamish Nation and our local community, Squamish will transform our environmental footprint by using innovation, data and connected technology to eliminate waste leakage, extend the lifecycles of what we make, and use and convert waste, in particular, biomass, into renewable, clean energy, creating a living laboratory for communities across Canada and the world to benefit from. 

A Smart Cities Challenge Application for Squamish

Through collaboration with businesses and community members, the District is seeking to develop partnerships for a potential application to the Smart Cities Challenge, a funding competition open to communities across the country.

Working with the community to find out what is important to you, the goal is to seek synergies between business proposals, unearth new challenges and opportunities for collaboration, and to craft a ‘challenge statement’ as a first step in the application process. Community input will be gathered through an upcoming symposium, and via online engagement.  

Potential business partners have come forward with ideas to help our community become safer, healthier, and more inclusive. Now we need the community to review these proposals, ideate your own strategies, and expand upon these ideas to see what we can create together! Click on the link below to visit our partner proposals.

About Canada's Smart Cities Challenge

Canada’s Smart Cities Challenge is a funding competition hosted by Infrastructure Canada, open to communities looking to utilize technology, innovation, and data to improve the lives of their citizens. 

Find out more about Canada's Smart Cities Challenge here.

Smart Cities Canada Symposium: Videos

Missed the Symposium? Not to worry, you can watch all the Symposium presentations right here:

Opening Remarks:

Smart Cities Proposals:

• Moovee
• Philips
• Ecube Labs
• BCIT
• Powertech Labs Inc. 
• Biomass Innovation Park
• Hydrohaus
• UBC Clean Energy Research Centre
• Carbon Engineering
  
  

Closing Panel Discussion:

Timeline

What does Smart Squamish mean to you?

Tell us your smart city ideas by leaving a comment below.