The City of Yellowknife came up short against other municipalities who were competing for the Infrastructure Canada Smart Cities Challenge, May 14.
The City competed in the Five Million Smart Cities Challenge category - the smallest of four categories.
The Town of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia won the prize with a Reduction of Energy Poverty program and improving the access to energy use for poor people. The winner receives $5 million to implement its project that demonstrates being a “Smart City.”
Other winners from the event included Nunavut Communities ($10 million) for a project promoting positive mental health and suicide awareness; the City of Guelph and Wellington County ($10 million) for a project that is related to improving food sustainability and security; and the City of Montreal ($50 million) for a project related to improving food access.
The City of Yellowknife presented its Extraordinary Skies and Tourism proposal to try to promote interconnected street lighting that would make greater use of the the northern night sky, benefit tourism and reduce light pollution, among other impacts.
The event was presided by Francois Champagne, the federal minister of Infrastructure and Communities.