47,000 LoRaWAN® IAQ Sensors in Canadian Schools: A Blueprint for Healthier Learning Environments

Byriajati

When the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical link between indoor air quality (IAQ) and respiratory health, schools became a focal point for air monitoring initiatives worldwide. Quebec, Canada, responded with one of the most ambitious school IAQ deployments ever undertaken — equipping over 47,000 classrooms with LoRaWAN® sensors to continuously monitor CO₂, temperature, and humidity. Milesight’s AM107 Indoor Air Quality Sensor and UG65 Semi-industrial Gateway were at the heart of this landmark project.

The Challenge: Monitoring 47,000 Classrooms Province-Wide

In September 2021, the Ministère de l’Éducation du Québec announced a province-wide initiative to install air quality sensors in every classroom across Quebec — making it the only Canadian province to equip its classes with CO₂ sensors. The scale was immense: approximately 90,000 sensors across 4,000 locations. The key requirements were:

  • Monitoring of CO₂, humidity, and temperature at 5-minute intervals during school hours
  • No reliance on Wi-Fi or cellular networks
  • Minimal installation time and maintenance burden
  • A modern information system capable of real-time data display, analysis, and alerting

Milesight partner Assek Technologies was selected to lead the solution integration, combining Milesight’s hardware with their custom software development capabilities.

The Solution: LoRaWAN® IAQ Monitoring at Scale

LoRaWAN® was chosen for its long battery life, reliable transmission, ease of mass deployment, and suitability for multi-environment monitoring. The solution comprised:

  • Milesight AM107 Indoor Air Quality Sensor — measuring CO₂, temperature, humidity, TVOC, light, PIR occupancy, and barometric pressure
  • Milesight UG65 Semi-industrial Gateway — 2,600 units deployed province-wide
  • Assek Technologies Web Application — a dashboard with live and historical data, trend analysis, threshold alerts, and reporting

The system handles approximately 7.3 million messages per day (156 messages per device per day), with data reported every 5 minutes during school hours.

Key Technical Innovations

To meet the demands of this deployment scale, Milesight engineered several purpose-built features into the AM107:

  • Automatic mode switching: The AM107 automatically shifts between high-frequency reporting during school hours and energy-saving mode at night — achieving over 4 years of battery life even at 5-minute intervals
  • Time accuracy: Automatic time synchronisation with gateway packet forwarding handles time zone and Daylight Saving Time differences
  • IoT security: Each sensor has a unique, randomly generated password for device-specific access control
  • Random delay reporting: Built-in random delays prevent packet conflicts and optimise bandwidth when thousands of sensors transmit simultaneously
  • Plug-and-play mass deployment: Nodes and gateways auto-connect to the management platform after installation, with remote configuration and firmware updates for the entire fleet

Results: 47,000 Classrooms, Measurable Impact

Two successful pilots — each covering approximately 30 classrooms — proved the concept before the full provincial rollout. The outcomes:

  • Real-time CO₂, temperature, and humidity visibility for school staff, enabling immediate corrective action such as adjusting ventilation or airing out classrooms during breaks
  • System-wide trend analysis for school boards to identify buildings needing broader intervention
  • A foundation for future HVAC integration to automate air quality management entirely
  • A cultural shift — increased institutional awareness of and commitment to indoor air quality

Notable schools equipped with Milesight IAQ sensors include Massey-Vanier (191 classrooms), Louis-Philippe-Paré (208 sensors), and historic institutions such as Notre-Dame-de-la-Défense (founded 1933) and Notre-Dame-des-Neiges (founded 1918).

What This Means for Malaysian Schools and Facilities

Malaysia’s tropical climate presents a different but equally pressing IAQ challenge. High ambient humidity, heavy air conditioning use, and dense classroom occupancy create conditions where CO₂ build-up, mould risk, and TVOC accumulation are ongoing concerns. Poor IAQ in classrooms is linked to reduced concentration, increased absenteeism, and long-term respiratory health impacts — all of which affect student and staff performance.

The Quebec deployment demonstrates that LoRaWAN®-based IAQ monitoring is proven at massive scale, cost-effective to deploy and maintain, and suitable for institution-wide rollouts across thousands of rooms. With 5-minute monitoring intervals, 4+ years of battery life, and approximately 5 minutes of installation time per room, Milesight’s AM107 and LoRaWAN® infrastructure offer Malaysian schools, universities, government offices, and commercial facilities a practical, scalable path to continuous indoor air quality monitoring.

Riajati Sdn Bhd is the authorised Milesight partner in Malaysia. Contact us to discuss an IAQ monitoring solution for your institution or facility.

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