The Kwantlen First Nation   and the Township of Langley have submitted a joint application for the Infrastructure Canada Smart Cities Challenge , a nationwide competition encouraging cities to share their best ideas to improve the lives of their residents through innovation, data and connected technology. 

Challenge Statement

As part of our application, we had to establish a Challenge Statement. The Challenge Statement defines the outcome or outcomes a community aims to achieve by implementing its smart cities proposal. 

Application Summary

The timing is right for the stories of the Kwantlen First Nation and Indigenous people in Canada to be told, explained, and understood. Technology can be an invaluable tool to deliver this traditional knowledge in an engaging way to our community and beyond our borders.

The people of the Kwantlen First Nation are tireless in their efforts to provide a better world for future generations. In this same spirit, the Township of Langley, through its Sustainability Charter, works to lead with responsible custodianship and respect for the land to build a livable, healthy, and happy community.

Together, the Kwantlen First Nation and the Township of Langley see an opportunity to ensure an ongoing legacy of truth and reconciliation through technology that will help us work together as letsemot (one mind/one heart) and tselhxwelmew (family) to tell our stories and show respect for the solhtemexw (sacred land) that we share, to ensure the survival of our environment for future generations to enjoy.

The goals and projects described in this application connect our past to the future, so that future generations will know the language, history, traditions, and culture of Indigenous people while building a vibrant future through a smart cities approach.

Full Application

To meet the Smart Cities Challenge goal of openness and transparency and to encourage dialogue among residents and stakeholders, all eligible applications are required to be posted online by the applicant.

The content of our Smart Cities Challenge application  is now available. We have also provided the detailed question responses as part of our application.

Interested in Partnering?

As we move forward with our Smart Cities initiatives, we are looking for partners to help us on our journey. If you offer technology or services that can contribute towards the delivery of one or more of our proposed Smart Cities Challenge projects, please review the following Expression of Interest (EOI) . This EOI is also available on BC Bid .

Get Involved!

The public engagement stage of our initial proposal is now complete. Thank you for all of the great ideas that we have attempted to incorporate into our application proposal.

Should our proposal be selected as a finalist, we will provide additional engagement opportunities as we refine our final proposal. Stay tuned!

Next Steps

What happens next? Once all of the submissions have been received, a Jury comprised of experts from inside and outside government will select finalists for each prize category. Each finalist will receive a $250,000 grant to develop their final proposal.

The Smart Cities Challenge has published the following process and timeline:

• Application Submission Deadline: April 24, 2018
• Finalist Announcement: Summer 2018
• Final Proposal Submission Deadline: Winter 2019
• Winner Announcement: Spring 2019

What is a Smart City?

A Smart City strives to leverage technology as a way to improve the quality of life for its residents resulting in potential social/cultural, economic, and environmental benefits.

Look at some of the ways that the Township of Langley is already leveraging technology to achieve positive outcomes for our residents:

For more information

Steve Scheepmaker
Director, Corporate Administration
Township of Langley
sscheepmaker@tol.ca