Winter 2025 Projects

The City Scholars Program provides students with hands-on experience structured around both professional and academic outcomes. At the City of Lethbridge, students have the unique opportunity to work on projects that inform the work of the City in areas such as urban planning and design, land development, heritage management, and corporate practices, while also benefiting from the mentorship of City and faculty supervisors.

The skills and experiences gained through City Scholars Work Integrated Learning opportunities supports students as they enter the workforce or pursue further studies.

Lethbridge Housing Research Applied Study

This applied study will examine the opportunities, challenges, and barriers to utilizing alternative forms of housing construction (identified in the City of Lethbridge Municipal Housing Strategy as “i.e. modular, manufactured, prefabricated”) in line with the goals of the MHS. Modular, prefabricated, and other alternative housing construction methods are increasingly present in the national housing discussion and the federal government has gone as far as committing to the release of a housing design catalogue, to be released in the coming months.

The student will explore the forms, uses, opportunities and barriers to alternative modes of housing construction in Lethbridge, seeking to understand how such housing aligns with the City’s regulatory environment, including the Land Use Bylaw, Building Codes, Statutory Plans, etc. To locate Lethbridge within a national context, the student will conduct an environmental scan to better understand how Canadian communities are utilizing these construction methods across all parts of the housing continuum.  The student will bring together findings from the environmental scan and regulatory review in a comprehensive final report, including recommendations on policy updates and additional research and engagement.

Water Conservation Research

Given the need to reduce water consumption in a context of ongoing drought and climate change, this project will utilize a foundation of social norm theory to understand how such theoretical underpinnings can be practically applied to encourage water conservation by City rate-payers.  The student will research the efficacy of conservation efforts of other municipalities, local barriers to water conservation, and from that develop policy recommendations for evidence-based strategies to overcome conservation barriers thereby aiding the City in achieving its water management targets.

These WIL opportunities are now integrated under the City Scholars program, through which the City promotes collaboration with post-secondary institutions, please check their new website:

https://www.lethbridge.ca/careers/city-scholars/