The SC_Squared (Smart Citizens for Smart Communities Sensor Network) project aims to demonstrate how IoT platforms can be effectively developed using OGC standards and integrated into national geospatial frameworks such as CGDI and Arctic SDI. This project will engage 500 citizens from 10 Canadian cities, including northern communities, in deploying IoT sensor nodes to monitor air quality. These sensors will provide 1,500 data streams in real time, delivering continuous air quality monitoring data as open data through OGC standards like the SensorThings API and WMS. The project promotes citizen engagement and aims to increase public understanding of Smart Cities by empowering citizens to collect, analyze, and visualize air quality data. The resulting open-source tools and data will contribute to building a community around open geospatial data, fostering innovation, and encouraging further development of IoT-based Smart Cities solutions.