After the initial national push to make Canadian communities into smart communities, large cities and small towns alike are continuing the effort to level up the positive impact of new technologies. - BY DANIEL PEREZ

When Canada launched its initial Smart Cities Challenge, the initiative was the first of its kind in the country. For peers, it had gleaming European capitals and star cities like Amsterdam, London, and Barcelona. The hope was that the challenge – and its $50 million grand prize – would help the country make a great leap forward in technology adoption and application.

To a degree, that initial push succeeded. However, it was a one-time experiment that ended in 2019. Though funds have allegedly been allocated for a second challenge, no details about that have been announced. Instead, communities and cities around the country are getting involved on their own to move forward with their own visions of smart cities.

Toronto opts for a Quayside 2.0 development plan

In the first push for Toronto to embrace the Smart Cities model, the Quayside area was targeted for a special development project with Sidewalk Labs. The initial proposal was for a very data driven model, bolstered by autonomous functionality and drone-assisted deliveries, among other hyper-modern quirks. However, this model, which would have required residents of the area to be near-continually monitored by a variety of devices and systems, felt too cold, technical, and intrusive.

Instead, the city is embarking on a new pivot that puts more of Toronto’s special needs at the forefront. The new development puts an emphasis on affordable, energy efficient housing to help address the city’s housing crunch. Everything in the area will be fully electrified, and lean on green sources of energy like solar and wind to be an affordably carbon neutral living space. Rather than being filled with monitoring devices, every available space is going to be planted with trees, plants, and flowers, creating a cooling and refreshing vibe for the community that will also help to quantifiably offset the city’s overall carbon impact. Developers say that rather than being a traditionally designed smart city, it will be a city that’s smart about serving the real humans who will live and work there.

Vancouver addresses traffic issues with smart tech solutions

Vancouver used to lead Canada in terms of the amount of time that its residents spent stuck in traffic. Each resident was losing some 105 hours per year to traffic jams and other delays. So, the city went to work on solutions.

A first step was ensuring that the city was covered with wi-fi and 5G connectivity, so that smart devices and traffic solutions could be implemented. More than 700 public spaces now boast free high-speed wi-fi. As a result, scooter networks and smart bike sharing services have been able to thrive, especially in the downtown zones.

From there, the city installed IoT traffic sensors to help adjust traffic flows and uses Smart Traffic, an Al-powered traffic signal solution that connect people and cars on the road with the city’s grid. Smart Traffic was developed in partnership with the University of British Columbia Vancouver, who tested it throughout 2022 at five signalized intersections. These intersections near campus saw more than 80,000 people pass through daily, using a variety of modes of transport. By re-timing lights and shifting traffic flows, the initial two-week test generated substantial reductions in delays for both pedestrians and drivers, plus reduced emissions from idling vehicles by 2.8 tons of CO2. As a result, all 727 signaled intersections in the city are being considered for enrollment, which researchers predict could save more than $84 million in lost time costs and reduce CO2 emissions by some 52,726 tons.

Alberta gets smart about waste management

One of the most necessary but least sexy aspects of city life is waste management. Being efficient with trash – and being able to truly separate recyclables and compostable material from other items – can make a huge difference in the cost and environmental burden of a community.

For example, in Calgary, the city installed sensors in public waste containers. The sensors measure how full or empty the bins are with a high degree of accuracy, right down to the centimeter, and then communicate those measurements to trash route managers. As a result, trucks can service frequently full bins more often while making fewer trips to empty dumpsters. This saves money on fuel, reduces emissions, and provides residents with a more responsively clean environment.

Another test underway involves organics vs. non-organics in green carts. Ideally, green cart contents can be diverted out of landfills to be composted, but if there are too many non-organic items in the bins, it can mean that the entire truckload needs to be sent to the landfill. This undercuts the efficiency of waste diversion programs and raises waste management costs for the community.

So, in Leduc in 2023, AI technology was added to the green cart collection trucks. The technology system scanned the bin contents as they were added to the truck, snapping photos of non-organic items like plastic bags. Those photos were then sent to the owner of the bin with a coaching postcard about what should and shouldn’t go into the green carts and why rigorous sorting was important. The overall goal is to reduce mixed contents levels, which stood at over 20% non-organic waste at the launch of the program, down to under 10% by the end of the pilot.

Closing thoughts

There’s no single way for cities in Canada to be smart cities. The winning ideas from the original Smart Cities Challenge offered a starting point, but there’s so much more that is possible. From developing communities within cities that are efficient and affordable while also being green and fun to managing the least savory elements of trash sorting and collection, smart systems can help cities of all sizes thrive. The best part, though? All of these initiatives represent just a slice of what’s being done, as Canada innovates in its own way toward a brighter future.