Canada's Smart Cities Challenge Update: Toronto's Surprising Lack of Imagination

Canada’s Smart Cities Challenge application process closed on April 24, 2018. Infrastructure Canada received 130 eligible applications from cities across Canada, and 20 of those cities have moved on to the finalist stage of the competition. Each finalist will receive $250,000 to develop its final proposal.

The following prizes are available to the finalists:

• 1 prize of up to $50 million open to all communities, regardless of population
• 2 prizes of up to $10 million open to all communities with populations under 500,000 people
• 1 prize of up to $5 million open to all communities with populations under 30,000 people

Notably absent from the list of finalists is Canada’s largest city, Toronto. With a population of over 6.4 million in the Greater Toronto Area (and growing), the city struggles with high levels of traffic congestion, housing unaffordability, and rising levels of gun violence. In fact, Toronto has recently been ranked as the worst city for commuting in North America, and the fifth most unaffordable city in the world. What did the city propose for its Smart Cities Challenge submission in response to the immense challenges?

Narrow Vision Likely Led to Downfall

Toronto’s proposal centered on providing children of low income families living in older high rise rental communities (built before 1985) with high speed internet access, a digital platform to provide information on employment services, and training opportunities to increase digital literacy. While a respectable and worthwhile cause, the submission is aimed at far too narrow a segment of the population, misses the sustainability aspect of smart cities, and lacks the type of technology innovation typically found in successful smart city applications.

As I’ve written in a previous blog, policymakers should design smart city programs to ensure that technology deployments will extend to and directly benefit low income residents and neighborhoods in their city. However, that should not be the only focus. It should instead be pursued as part of a city’s broader smart city strategy. Columbus, Ohio—which won the US Department of Transportation Smart Cities Challenge—had a significant focus on increasing low income residents’ access to transport options, but its proposal also included plans for an array of innovative technology deployments that could potentially benefit all citizens. This included the enhancement of smart grid technology by using EVs as distributed energy storage devices, increasing EV charging stations throughout the city, using connected electric automated vehicles for first-mile/last-mile transport solutions, and the development of smart and safe corridors through wireless technology.

Within Canada, Vancouver was selected as a finalist with a proposal to create Canada’s first collision-free multimodal corridor—leveraging automated shuttles, smart mobility infrastructure, advanced data and analytics, and artificial intelligence. Vancouver’s proposal aims to create more socially connected communities, and to make life safer and healthier for all its residents.

Toronto’s One Bright Spot

Toronto does have one bright spot in its smart city development plans. Despite significant local concerns and resistance over data privacy, Waterfront Toronto’s board unanimously agreed to move forward with Sidewalk Labs to create a 12-acre high tech neighborhood downtown called Quayside. Sidewalk will be investing an additional $40 million for the next planning stage of the deal. With mounting urban challenges and a now missed opportunity for federal funding, turning to the private sector for answers is a good option for Toronto. However, the city also needs to ensure that the Quayside project is matched by a broader view of how the city as a whole can become smarter.