The district of Squamish is seeking one of four awards from Infrastructure Canada that will reward municipalities with millions to solve local challenges with technology and data.
The Smart Cities Challenge is funded by Infrastructure Canada. Grants of up to $50 million are being offered to cities to “develop innovative, future-focused solutions to society's’ civic issues and forge strategic economic partnerships.”
“This Challenge really focuses on the people that live within communities and how proposed solutions will benefit them, rather than the technology itself,” said Kate Mulligan, the District’s Economic Development Officer, in a statement.
“It is all about empowering communities to think big to solve problems that seem unsolvable, take risks, and look for new ways to tackle problems through data and connected technology.”
Infrastructure Canada is asking municipalities to focus six areas; economy opportunity, empowerment and inclusion, environmental quality, healthy living and recreation, mobility and safety and security.
Applicants could also choose to focus on a specific government role, including arts and culture, education and training, economic development, emergency services and enforcement, transportation, environment and land use planning.
The government is offering one prize of $50 million open to all communities, two prizes of $10 million for communities with populations under 500,000 and one prize of $5 million for populations under 30,000.
Squamish is eligible for all three awards.
The Smart Cities Challenge asks applicants to use technology-based solutions. Examples given by the district include cloud computing and self-driving cars.
Applications must be submitted to the government by the end of April, 2018, and winners will be announced in the spring of 2019.
To apply for the funds, the district will need to partner with another group, and has put out a Request for Information soliciting ideas.
Partners could be from the private sector, education, not-for-profit organizations or other orders of government.
“We know that our community has and attracts smart, entrepreneurial, and forward-looking individuals and companies, and we’re excited to see what will transpire as we work through this process,” said Mayor Patricia Heintzman in the press release.
