Received03 Nov 2026 · FCI

Notice of public hackathon

36 hours·Online·12 to 14 November 2026

CIVIC places University of Waterloo students inside Canadian municipalities for eight months to work on a problem the city has lived with for years. CIVIC Hack is the 36-hour version. Can you fit a placement into a day and a half and come out with a working MVP? You take part online; the audience is live at the 2026 State of Canada's Cities Summit in Ottawa. Municipal leaders there choose the problem on Thursday, and the finished work will be presented and shared with them.

Launch in
··d··h··m
LaunchThursday 12 Nov, 6 pm EST Hacking endsSaturday 14 Nov, 10 am EST Teams1 to 4 people, any faculty CostFree Prizes$1,500 cash, plus recognition DiscordInvite emailed after registration
Register Open until launch, on Devpost
01Prizes 02The challenge 03Schedule 04What to submit 05Mentors and judges 06How it's judged 07Team rules 08Questions 09Code of conduct
CH-1Awards
$1,500 cash total

Prizes

Three cash prizes from the judging panel's scores, special recognition for the projects that stand out, and a few things that outlast the weekend.

First
$750

Certificate and digital recognition to share with your network. Featured on FCI's website, newsletter and LinkedIn.

Second
$500

Certificate and digital recognition to share. Featured alongside first.

Third
$250

Certificate and digital recognition to share. Featured alongside first.

Special recognition

Alongside the cash prizes, the judging panel will single out a few exceptional projects. Each comes with a certificate and digital recognition you can share with your network.

  • Winners featured on FCI's website, newsletter and LinkedIn
  • An invitation to present to FCI staff, members and partners
  • A chance to interview with FCI, for any role you'd like to talk about
CH-2Notice of vote
No. 2611 013

You'll be solving one of these challenges

Five municipal problems go to a vote at the 2026 State of Canada's Cities Summit by the Canadian Urban Institute, in Ottawa on Thursday 12 November. Voting closes at 3 pm. The winning problem is revealed at launch, so read all five now and come in with a user in mind.

  • 1Making municipal decisions easier to understandHow might we help residents understand a proposed municipal decision, how it could affect them, and when they can have a say?
  • 2Finding gaps in transit accessHow might we use public data to spot where transit schedules make it hard to reach essential destinations, and figure out which improvements matter most and what the trade-offs are, including first-mile/last-mile gaps?
  • 3Making long-term infrastructure costs visibleHow might we help residents weigh an infrastructure project's upfront price against its future maintenance, operating and environmental costs?
  • 4Tracking a city's commitmentsHow might we help residents see what progress a municipality has made on a public commitment, and what's still unclear?
  • 5From housing approval to constructionHow might we help residents and decision-makers understand what happens between a housing approval and construction, and where progress gets hard to track?

Municipalities across Canada face many of the same problems, so a problem solved well once can be shared, adapted and reused instead of rebuilt from scratch every time. The tool you build should be usable by someone outside your own discipline, and you'll be asked to explain it to them.

Vote openCloses 12 Nov · 3 pm
CH-3Docket
Ottawa now

Schedule

All times Eastern. You take part online from wherever you are.

Thursday 12

Vote and launch
3 pm
Summit vote closes in Ottawa and the problem statement is finalized
6 pm
Launch. Welcome, challenge reveal, rules and team formation
7 pm
Hacking begins

Friday 13

Build
8 am
Checkpoint one. Post your problem, your user and your idea in two lines
8:30 am
Live from the summit, until 10 am. The hackathon goes in front of the summit audience. Details below
10 am
Mentor office hours until 4 pm
3 pm
Checkpoint two. Post where you've got to
6 pm
Checkpoint three. Post your progress and read the submission requirements

Saturday 14

Judge and showcase
8 am
Final checkpoint. Submission requirements, one last time
10 am
Hacking ends. All building stops: no more code, no more generating, no more edits. Submissions are due on Devpost by 10 am, and late submissions are not considered
10:30
Round one, asynchronous judging. Judges review the demo videos and reports on Devpost
12 pm
Finalists announced, top five
12:30
Showcase. Each finalist gives a five-minute pitch or live demo and takes three minutes of questions
1:30
Feedback. General feedback from the panel, then how each team might take its project forward
1:45
Winners and special recognition, then closing by 2 pm
Live from the summit · Friday 13 Nov

You choose the challenge. Our students build the solution.

8:30 to 10 am ESTLivestreamed from the 2026 State of Canada's Cities Summit in OttawaWith Eryn Stewart and Dr. Leia Minaker of FCIRecording available afterward

On Friday morning Eryn Stewart and Leia Minaker, who run CIVIC, put the hackathon in front of the summit. Municipal leaders, practitioners and researchers in the room see what teams have built in the first 13 hours, weigh in on what's practical and what isn't, and say what a municipality would need before it could put one of these tools to use.

Watch the livestream. What they say is your brief for the next 24 hours.

Can't watch live? The recording will be posted here and in the #resources channel on Discord shortly after the session.
CH-4Submission form
Due 14 Nov · 10 am

What to submit

Everything is submitted to Devpost before 10 am on Saturday. Templates provided.

Field 01Required
Link to your code repository

A link to a working prototype is welcome, not required. Commits will be checked.

Field 02Required
Demo video, two to three minutes

Show the tool working and say who it's for. Over three minutes won't be considered.

Field 03Required
Municipal Readiness Report, one page

Who would use it, what data and resources it needs, rough cost, privacy, what residents should know and how other municipalities could adapt it. A link to a PDF in your GitHub repository is fine. Think of it as a short case study for other cities.

Field 04Required
A short description

The problem, who it's for, your solution and what's next.

CH-5Mentors on call Friday · Judges Saturday
Updated before launch

Mentors and judges

Mentors are technical and municipal experts on Discord Friday from 10 am to 4 pm to help you get unstuck. Judges are a separate panel of technical and municipal people.

PendingNames to follow

The mentor and judging panel is being confirmed. This section will be updated before launch, so check back later.

CH-6Return slip
Updated before launch

How it's judged

The judging panel scores every submission against a short set of weighted criteria. The full rubric is published here once it's confirmed.

PendingRubric to follow

The criteria and weights are being finalized. This section will be updated before launch, so check back later.

CH-7Team rules

Team rules

  • SizeOne to four people.
  • WhoAt least one person on every team must be a University of Waterloo student. Any faculty or program.
  • MixMixed disciplines are strongly encouraged but not required. Planners and urban designers, engineers, developers and data scientists, designers, and policy, business and social science students all have a part. The best solutions come from teams that combine different perspectives.
  • FormingPre-formed teams are welcome. If you're on your own, use the team-finding channel on Discord once your invite arrives, and the team formation block at launch.
  • StartingNothing starts before launch. You can't bring pre-built tools or code written in advance, and commits will be checked. From 10 am Saturday, all building stops.
  • Your workYour team owns what it builds. By entering, you give FCI and the University of Waterloo permission to show, describe and present the hackathon version of your project, during the event and afterward, with credit to your team.
  • ConductCIVIC Hack is a welcoming, inclusive space. Everyone is expected to be respectful, collaborative and professional, and harassment or discrimination of any kind won't be tolerated. If something goes wrong, contact an organizer. The full code of conduct is below.
  • RulesThe full rules and terms are on Devpost.
CH-8Questions
No. 2611 014

Questions

01Why join?+
Five reasons. You work on a real problem, chosen by municipal leaders rather than made up for the event. You get seen by the people who matter, presenting to municipal leaders and summit attendees. There's $1,500 in cash prizes plus recognition awards and badges. You get a look at a public-sector career, and a connection to FCI's CIVIC program. And you walk away with a project, a demo video and a story to tell.
02Who can take part?+
Teams of one to four, with at least one University of Waterloo student on each. You don't need to be a coder. We're looking for planners and urban designers, engineers, developers and data scientists, designers, and policy, business and social science students. The best solutions come from teams that combine different perspectives.
03Do I need a team before I register?+
No. Teams of one are allowed, and if you'd rather have company, register on your own, mark yourself as looking for a team, and use the team-finding channel on Discord once your invite arrives. There's also a team formation block at launch on Thursday.
04What do we actually build?+
A working proof of concept for the challenge that wins the summit vote: a tool a municipality could realistically pilot. It can be a web app, a data tool, a map, a dashboard or something else, as long as a municipal leader could use it without you in the room. This isn't only about writing code. It's about understanding a problem, designing for the people it affects and clearly explaining your thinking.
05Where does it happen?+
Entirely online. Registration, submissions and judging are on Devpost. Teams, help, mentors and announcements are on Discord, and you'll receive the invite by email after registration. Launch and the Saturday showcase are live sessions, and the links go out by email and on Discord.
06Do I have to go to Ottawa?+
No. The 2026 State of Canada's Cities Summit is where municipal leaders vote on the challenge, in front of a live audience. You take part in the hackathon online from wherever you are.
07When is the challenge revealed?+
At launch, Thursday 12 November at 6 pm EST. The summit vote closes at 3 pm the same day. The five candidates are listed above, so you can think through all of them beforehand.
08What support is there during the event?+
Mentors, technical and municipal experts available during office hours to help you get unstuck. A livestreamed panel on municipal AI from the summit on Friday morning, with the recording posted afterward. Video resources on design thinking, pitching and demo videos, recorded so you can watch any time. And a help desk: organizers on Discord throughout the event, including overnight.
09What does "hacking ends" mean?+
At 10 am on Saturday all building stops, whatever kind of building it is: writing code, generating code, editing the report, re-cutting the video. Your submission has to be in on Devpost by then. Late submissions are not considered.
10Does it cost anything?+
No. Registration is free and open until launch.
11What happens after the event?+
Winners are announced on FCI's website, newsletter and LinkedIn, and invited to present to FCI staff, members and partners. The project gallery and recordings are published afterward.
The organizers

Future Cities Institute

Future Cities Institute founded by CAIVAN, at the University of Waterloo, connects research, students and municipalities to work on the problems cities face. Through CIVIC, City Innovation Via Internships and Co-op, students are placed inside municipalities for eight months to work on a live problem, and the fix is written up and shared so other communities don't have to start from zero.

CIVIC Hack is the 36-hour version of the same idea.

Contact

Questions before Discord opens, or anything you'd rather not ask in public, go to Krishnam Jhalani at k2jhalan@uwaterloo.ca, with Melanie Hains and Preethi Raghuraman in copy. Once Discord opens, the help channel is the fastest route.

CH-9Code of conduct
Applies to everyone

Code of conduct

CIVIC Hack is about building better cities together. We want everyone, whatever their school, program, background or experience level, to feel welcome and safe taking part. This code applies to all participants, mentors, judges, organizers and partners in every event space: Discord, Devpost, video calls, livestreams and any direct messages between participants.

  • Be welcoming and respectful

    • Treat everyone with respect, especially people new to hackathons or from different backgrounds and disciplines.
    • Give constructive feedback, and take feedback in good faith.
    • Respect people's time and boundaries, including when they say no to joining a team or chatting.

  • Unacceptable behaviour

    • Harassment, intimidation or bullying of any kind.
    • Discriminatory comments or jokes about race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, religion, age, appearance or any other personal characteristic.
    • Sexual language, imagery or advances, in public channels or private messages.
    • Unwanted private messages after someone has asked you to stop.
    • Sharing someone's personal information without their consent.
    • Recording, screenshotting or sharing other people's video, audio or private messages without consent.
    • Disrupting talks, livestreams, calls or channels, including spam and trolling.
    • Hateful, violent or explicit content in usernames, profile pictures or project submissions.

  • Honest work

    • Submit work your team built during the hackathon. Credit any open-source code, datasets and AI tools you used.
    • Use only public, open or organizer-provided data. Don't use personal or confidential information.
    • Don't plagiarize other teams' work.

  • Reporting

    If you experience or see behaviour that breaks this code, or if anything makes you feel unsafe, please tell us:

    Reports are handled as confidentially as possible. You won't face retaliation for reporting in good faith.

  • Consequences

    Organizers may take any action they consider appropriate, including a warning, removal from Discord or event sessions, disqualification from prizes, or removal from the hackathon. Serious incidents may be referred to the relevant university under its policies, or to the appropriate authorities.

By participating in CIVIC Hack, you agree to follow this code of conduct.

Acknowledged on registration

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