Mayor's Innovation Challenge
Kingston Students: Showcase Your Ideas, Shape Your City - Apply Now!
Kingston is committed to promoting creative ideas and incorporating innovative solutions as we work toward our vision of becoming a smart, livable and leading city. As part of the Mayor’s Innovation Challenge, we’re calling on individuals or teams of students from Kingston's major post-secondary institutions to develop innovative proposals that contribute to making Kingston a better place to live, work and play.
The City, in partnership with Queen's University, St. Lawrence College and Royal Military College, has the honour of continuing to host this collaborative platform and experiential learning opportunity for its seventh year.
For the last six years, the City has hosted the successful Mayor’s Innovation Challenge Pitch Competition (the “Pitch Competition”). Students are invited to develop a two-to-three-minute video proposal that presents an innovative project contributes to the quality of life of residents, or a proposal that leverages emerging technologies or develops new innovations to enhance the delivery of municipal services.
The creators of the top submissions, selected by the Mayor and senior staff, will be invited to present their proposals at the Pitch Competition on Friday, March 8, 2024, to a panel of leaders with expertise in municipal government, entrepreneurship and innovation.
The challenge consists of two separate challenge streams, each with a coveted prize. Current and recently graduated post-secondary students are eligible to submit proposals to address one of two challenges outlined below. The prizes for each stream are as follows:
Dunin-Deshpande Smart Kingston Stream
Winners of the Dunin-Deshpande Seed Funding Prize will receive $5,000 in seed funding to further their project–unlocked in phases as they make progress on their venture–and admission to QYourVenture, a virtual part-time program from April to November that guides participants' entrepreneurial journey through training and phase-based milestones.
Seed funding will be accessed on a reimbursement basis for eligible project expenses. The seed funding prize will be unlocked as participants enter each phase of the program:
Explore phase – an initial $1,000 unlocked
Ignite phase – $2,000 unlocked
Launch phase - $2,000 unlocked
