News

Data that could strengthen homelessness policies across Canada is often fragmented and difficult for decision-makers to navigate. To address this gap, FCI Director Dr. Leia Minaker has received SSHRC funding to advance CivicInquire, Canada's first intersectional, AI-powered platform dedicated to homelessness policy. By combining machine learning, web crawling, and key informant interviews, CivicInquire transforms disparate policy data into an interactive national database and visualization tool. The platform equips municipal leaders, planners, and community advocates with practical, evidence-backed insights to guide local decision-making.

Researchers and network partners connected with the Future Cities Institute have secured new SSHRC funding to advance data-backed climate resilience and municipal policy tools. Spanning municipal net-zero implementation, property-level flood risk intelligence, virtual reality disaster planning, and international cyclone adaptation, these newly funded initiatives demonstrate how academic research turns into usable, real-world tools for city builders.

University of Waterloo student Neil Simmons and his classmates took first place at Toronto's TransitData Challenge 2026 by developing TTC ScheduleWatch, an interactive tool that tracks streetcar delays stop by stop across 100,000 trips. Connected with FCI Mobility Cluster Lead Dr. Jeff Casello through FCI Director Dr. Leia Minaker, the student team used live GPS data and neighbourhood demographics to highlight transit gaps and propose evidence-backed schedule improvements.

Replacing assumptions with evidence is essential as Waterloo Region plans for one million residents. The updated Vision 1 Million Scorecard, co-released by FCI and BestWR, provides a practical snapshot of regional readiness across housing, transit, healthcare, and infrastructure. By measuring concrete progress and highlighting critical gaps in community support, this tool equips municipal leaders, industry partners, and residents with the data needed to guide transparent, long-term planning decisions.

Master of Future Cities student Johanna B. secured Best Idea honors at the Brookfield Renewable Innovation Challenge. Bringing a systems-thinking lens to the Pearl Sullivan Engineering IDEAs Clinic, Johanna’s interdisciplinary team designed an on-campus waste-to-energy organics digester and biogas generator. By turning local campus organic waste into methane fuel for central heating operations, the concept delivers immediate waste management savings while establishing a practical, scalable building block for campus-wide district energy planning and long-term net-zero targets.

BUILD NOW: Waterloo Region has officially broken ground on Union 1, an 85-unit non-profit rental building at 2025 University Avenue East. As the academic partner for this initiative, the Future Cities Institute founded by CAIVAN will study the project closely to document what works, what doesn't, and how different sectors can successfully build together at this scale.

The Future Cities Institute founded by CAIVAN partnered with Velocity to host the Future Cities Innovation Challenge. The high-intensity, two-week sprint brought interdisciplinary student teams together to build data-backed business concepts targeting the Canadian housing crisis, modern infrastructure demands, and municipal service systems.

The Future Cities Institute founded by CAIVAN sponsored lunch at the Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) meeting in Waterloo. Connecting with over 65 mayors, Chief Administrative Officers, and policy staff from across the province, Director Dr. Leia Minaker presented the institute’s applied research capabilities and work-integrated student programs designed to tackle pressing, real-world municipal challenges.

Graduate students from the Master of Future Cities (MFC) program recently returned from an intensive, two-week field course in Singapore. Organized by the Future Cities Institute founded by CAIVAN, this experiential learning trip allowed students to step out of the classroom and see how long-term foresight, multi-purpose infrastructure, and high-density housing strategies are deployed in the real world.

The Future Cities Institute founded by CAIVAN has appointed veteran planner and transportation researcher Clarence Woudsma as Co-Director, Academic. Bringing three decades of applied expertise in logistics and mobility policy to the leadership team, Woudsma will steer the institute's academic direction and oversee the Master of Future Cities (MFC) graduate program, where students learn to develop data-backed approaches for building resilient communities.