The City of Guelph and Wellington County have been awarded a $10 million prize for its efforts in a circular food economy.
With a platform surrounding sustainable food systems, the award was announced early Tuesday evening.
The community aims to achieve this by increasing access to affordable and healthy food, turning waste into a resource and creating new business and economic revenues.
“Our vision is a food system where everyone has enough healthy food to eat and nothing is wasted and the environmental footprint is a lot smaller,” Mayor Cam Guthrie said at the announcement in Ottawa.
Nunavut communities were also awarded a $10 million prize in the same category for a life-approach to suicide prevention.
Waterloo Region was a finalist for a prize worth $50 million in a category open to all cities in the country, but lost out to the City of Montreal.
The region’s challenge was based around children and youth well-being. By using community-based data to compare local child and youth to UNICEF Canada’s Child and Youth Wellbeing Index, the goal was to increase overall inclusion in the region.
Other goals included improving digital literacy and mental health and increasing high school graduate retention.
Montreal won for its entry addressing mobility and accessibility to food.
In the smallest category, the Town of Bridgewater, N.S. won $5 million for its efforts in reduction of poverty and energy.
The Smart Cities Challenge is run by Infrastructure Canada to encourage communities to use a smart cities approach to improving the lives of their residents.
