The Town Of The Pas, The RM of Kelsey and Opaskwayak Cree Nation are planning to enter the Smart Cities Challenge. Crystal Krost from the Beatrice Wilson Health Centre says The Smart Cities Challenges was put on by the federal government through the department of infrastructure and communities and it encourages communities of all sizes to adopt a smart cities approach to improve the lives of residents through innovation, data, and connected technology.

The idea to enter the challenge was brought to the Tri Council and they thought that it would be a good idea to leverage the LED Smart Farm on OCN using prize money from the challenge.

The LED Smart Farm on OCN could potential provide food security for the region, battle the effects of diabetes, and provide grocers and restaurants with affordable fresh produce.

The tri community is eligible for all three of The Smart Cities Challenges cash prizes. One prize is up to 50 million dollars as well as two prizes of up to 10 million dollars and one prize of 5 million dollars.

The tri community could also be awarded $250,000 to move forward with a pilot project 

Part of the application process is a community engagement process and two surveys have been created one for businesses and one for community members to fill out and express how they feel about this challenge and if they think it’s beneficial for the tri area.

The two surveys will be on the pas dot com until this Friday.