The 150th anniversary of Canada, also known as the 150th anniversary of Confederation and promoted by the Canadian government as Canada 150, occurred in 2017 as Canada marked the sesquicentennial of Canadian Confederation. Planning Major planning for the anniversary celebration began in 2010. The Institute of Public Administration of Canada held a conference called 150!Canada bringing together public servants, business leaders and non-governmental organizations at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on March 11 and 12, 2010. More than 300 delegates heard from 25 speakers, with the goal of developing an action to celebrate Canada's sesquicentennial. The 150Alliance was established as a national network of groups with a goal to encourage communities and organizations to organize their own Canada 150 events. It held its first meeting in Ottawa on January 23, 2015. Federal initiatives Funding The Canadian federal Government announced it would be spending an estimated half-billion dollars on 150th-anniversary events and projects. $300-million was to be spent by Canadian regional development agencies through a Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program. The fund was set up by the ministry headed by Stephen Harper and originally assigned a $150-million budget prior to the 2015 Canadian federal election. The new Liberal ministry under Justin Trudeau doubled the program's size in its first budget. $40-million for cultural projects was funded by the Canada Council for the Arts under its "New Chapter" program. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council also set up a grant program entitled Canada 150 Connection to support activities by post-secondary institutions and researchers that explore the contributions of social sciences and humanities research to Canadian society. Some projects were given special recognition under the designation "Signature Projects" as "large-scale, participation-oriented activities, of national scope and with high impact". One of the projects with the highest profiles was the Canada C3 Expedition, a 5-month sailing cruise around Canada aboard the icebreaker Canada C3. Logo The official emblem of the sesquicentennial was designed by Ariana Cuvin, a then-19-year-old student in the University of Waterloo's global business and digital arts program. It consists of 13 multi-coloured diamonds forming a maple leaf; Cuvin stated that the four diamonds forming the emblem's base represented Canada's four original provinces, while the others represented the provinces and territories that had joined since. The government described the emblem as reflecting Canada's unity and diversity. The emblem was chosen through a competition held by the government, and open to