Government of Canada kicks off the Smart Cities Challenge

Calling on the communities of Saskatchewan to improve the lives of Canadians through innovation, data, and technology

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Friday, December 1, 2017— Making our communities smarter by being innovative and using data and connected technology will strengthen our communities and create opportunities to continue growing Canada’s middle class.

Following last week’s official launch of the Smart Cities Challenge, the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, kicked off the Smart Cities Challenge in Saskatoon today with a roundtable discussion with municipal, provincial and community leaders.

Minister Sohi encouraged community leaders to work with the private and not-for-profit sectors and the research community to identify their priorities, set their own goals and come up with bold ideas to address them.

With the launch of the Challenge, the Government of Canada has fulfilled a commitment made in Budget 2017 and Saskatchewan’s communities have what they need to begin developing their applications. Detailed application guidelines are now available on the new Impact Canada Challenge Platform.

Communities have until April 24, 2018 to submit their applications. Those that are selected as finalists by the Smart Cities Challenge independent jury will receive a grant of $250,000 to support the development of their detailed proposal and business case. Winners will receive funding to implement their proposals.

Infrastructure Canada is engaging Indigenous leaders, communities and organizations to finalize the design of a competition specific to Indigenous communities that will reflect their unique realities and issues. Indigenous communities are also eligible to compete for all the prizes in the current competition.