What is the Mayor's Innovation Challenge?

Kingston faces a series of complex challenges as we work toward our vision of becoming a smart, livable, 21st century city and is seeking solutions from student innovators. The Mayor's Innovation Challenge is a competition calling on teams of students from Kingston's major post-secondary institutions to develop innovative proposals to address a challenge faced by the City of Kingston. In partnership with Queen's University, St. Lawrence College and the Royal Military College of Canada, the City is hosting a collaborative problem-solving platform, made possible by the generous support of Bell Canada, the Queen's Centre for Advanced Computing, and the Queen's Centre for Social Impact.

Current and recently graduated post-secondary students are eligible to submit proposals addressing challenges in one of the three categories:

  1. Cultivating creative public spaces
  2. Strengthening active transportation networks
  3. Enhancing local attractions

The creators of the top submissions, selected by the Mayor and senior staff, will be invited to present their proposals at the Mayor's Innovation Challenge Pitch-Off event on Friday, Mar. 2. Winning team members will each be given a four-month paid internship to implement their project to impact the lives of 125,000 people in our city. The project itself will have a $10,000 budget and members of the winning team will work alongside City mentors to complete it – and gain meaningful career experience.