The Centre for Indigenous Community Infrastructure plays a key role in partnering and connecting with Indigenous communities and service providers across the Canada with a focus on:

• Building relationships and collaborative partnerships
• Providing training to support workforce development
• Fostering an Indigenous infrastructure innovation ecosystem
• Advancing culturally relevant systems initiatives
• Improving practice through research and knowledge exchange

The Centre for Indigenous Community Infrastructure collaborates with many programs across the University of Ottawa to develop and deliver training, implement systems initiatives, coordinate knowledge exchange events and webinars, support virtual innovation services, resource for research projects and lead Indigenous engagement for the Faculty of Engineering programs and initiatives.

Areas of research

Core activities

The Centre is a hub for research and collaboration, an incubation centre where partners gather, exchange ideas and build impactful projects together. With our community partners, we have a robust ecosystem within which strong research projects flourish. 

The Centre is founded upon respectful and systematic partner and stakeholders’ engagement over four (4) core activities:

• Leading-edge research
• Collaboration
• Knowledge exchange
• Youth engagement

The Centre continuously enables connections between uOttawa researchers and community partners with other research centres, within and outside of the University of Ottawa as others come to us to access our expertise or we reach out to others to broaden our capabilities. This diversity of perspectives has created an incubation centre for new innovative ideas.

Discover some of our student's capstone projects that the Centre has been working on. Click on the title of each project to learn more.

Arctic Research Station

Cambridge Bay Research Station represents a major Canadian investment in the high Arctic, and has been constructed over the last several years in Cambridge Bay. Researchers from across Canada and internationally work here for specific research projects focused on high Arctic needs. The Research Station requires environmental infrastructure to meet the needs of its critical functioning, especially solid waste, incineration, water and sewage, and power and heating. Given its location and functioning, conventional solutions effective in the south are not readily applicable.

This is a leading-edge facility that, when serviced with low carbon and carbon neutral services, will provide a demonstration that can be replicated across the high Arctic for similar facilities.

Feasibility report documenting alternatives, and design report on the preferred solution.

Industry Collaborator: Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), Matthew Hough, P.Eng

Cambridge Bay Airport

Cambridge Bay Airport experiences many weather related problems resulting from rain, snow and frost conditions. Upgrading the airport is necessary to meet growing economic and development needs.

New design and construction methods better able to withstand the harsh climate impacts at Cambridge Bay are necessary. Various earthwork and runway materials need to be investigated, such as chip seal, etc. Cambridge Bay represents Canada’s presence in the high Arctic, and must have dependable and sustainable air travel facilities to meet its needs.

Feasibility report demonstrating new construction and design methods for suitable for runways in the high arctic, and design report on the preferred solution.

Industry Collaborator: Indigenous Services Canada (ISC)
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Dimitrova

Cambridge Bay Community Centre

With a population of 1800, Cambridge Bay requires an integrated new Community Centre to meet its needs, including a large freezer facility to store foodstuffs for the community, as well as communal kitchen and power facilities. Development of the Community Centre will require innovative waste management and power generation facilities. The new community centre is very important to the economic and social development of the community.

Feasibility report on alternatives, and a design report on the preferred solution.

Industry Collaborator: Indigenous Services Canada (ISC)
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Abdulridha

Cambridge Bay Dormitory

The Candian High Arctic Research Station represents a major Canadian investment in the high Arctic, and has been constructed over the last several years in Cambridge Bay. Researchers from across Canada and internationally work here for specific research projects focused on high Arctic needs.

The Research Station requires an 80 person dormitory to house the influx of visitors during the annual field season. This is a leading edge facility that, when serviced with low carbon and carbon neutral services, will provide a demonstration that can be replicated across the high Arctic for similar facilities.

Feasibility report documenting alternatives, and design report on the preferred solution is required.

Industry Collaborator: Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), Matthew Hough

Northern Community Housing

Canada is accelerating its efforts to support improved First Nations housing across Canada. 40 new clusters of 10 residential homes are being proposed for remote communities south of 60 degrees. Innovative housing and servicing solutions are needed in order to devise sustainable housing for remote northern communities.

Students will examine new housing approaches suitable for such communities.“Stick built” housing, meaning conventional housing constructed on-site using trucked in materials is difficult and costly. New approaches using component solutions or “fly-in” solutions offer promising solutions to this long standing problem.

Research and evaluation of new housing solutions and feasibility report, followed by design report for one specified 40 home cluster.

Industry Collaborator: Indigenous Services Canada (ISC)
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Jrade

Permafrost Road Extension

Cambridge Bay, in the Canadian High Arctic, is a vibrant Inuit community with a new Research Station. Gravel roads serve as the main modes of local transportation and maintaining such roads in permafrost conditions is difficult.

Innovative design approaches are needed to reduce both capital and operation and maintenance costs. Cambridge Bay needs a new gravel road extension of approximately five kilometres to meet it economic and development needs.

Innovative design and construction techniques are necessary to adapt to difficult permafrost conditions, especially in view of potential climate changes affecting the far north.

Industry Collaborator: Indigenous Services Canada (ISC)
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Rozalina Dimitrova