Data Entry - Municipal Bylaw Research Assistant

FTAC is interested in drawing attention to gaps, barriers, and inequities that occur within the business landscape where Canadian Food Trucks operate - chiefly, municipalities. We are undertaking a series of research projects that are truly IDEAL for students to understand the inner workings of how good policy recommendations can have real impacts on the ability for small businesses to thrive and grow. This project aims to transform incomplete data on municipal food truck bylaws in Canada into a comprehensive and reliable information base. Learners will address the inaccuracy and missing information within existing datasets by: Validating existing data : Confirming the accuracy of the information collected previously. Filling knowledge gaps : Conducting research to locate missing details regarding specific bylaws and regulations in each municipality. Enhancing transparency : Providing clear and consistent citations for all data gathered through their research. By achieving these objectives, learners will directly contribute to the creation of a valuable resource for the Food Truck Association of Canada (FTAC). This data will empower the FTAC to advocate for fair and consistent regulations that benefit the food truck industry across the country.

Economic Impact Study - Economic impact of Food Trucks on Local Municipalities

The main goal of this project is to attempt to measure the impact of food truck businesses on local economies and municipal governments. The study aims to comprehensively assess the economic implications of food truck operations and advocate for their positive contributions to local communities. This project seeks to provide an evidence-based understanding of the economic benefits, challenges, and policy considerations associated with food trucks. By conducting rigorous research, our desired outcomes are to generate actionable insights, foster informed policymaking, and promote the sustainable growth of the food truck industry.

Forum & Social Media Data, Custom Data Scraper

The Food Trucks Association of Canada (FTAC) seeks to dive deep into the insights and prevalent issues of the food truck industry, exploring public forums and online communities where operators gather (such as Facebook, reddit, etc.). The goal of this project is to create a custom data scraping program in Python, as to collect large sets of data from shortlisted group forums. This scraper will be used as a pivotal tool, intended to automate and streamline the intricate data extraction process from multiple online forums. Thereby providing a robust dataset for FTAC to use in our existing data projects.

Food Cost Visualizer and Planner

The primary objective of this project is to develop a comprehensive Food Cost Visualizer and Planner for Food Trucks, enabling them to effectively plan their menus and manage food costs during their operating season. Students will work with multiple data sets, including open data sources from Statistics Canada (Wholesale food pricing, Consumer Trends, Consumer Price Index), as well as data from Agriculture Boards. The Association will assist in obtaining data feeds for various datasets from the government where possible.  NOTE: The use of data scrapers to fetch data in the final product is prohibited.