Olympiads and contests

The standard way to show quantitative rigour on an application to an American university, and the qualifying route to the AIME and the olympiad path beyond it. Twenty-five questions in 75 minutes on advanced algebra, geometry, number theory and combinatorics. For 2026/27 the A versions run November 5, 2026 and the B versions November 13, 2026. October 15, 2026 is the final registration deadline for a school that has never hosted before, so if no school near you offers it, ask a math teacher to sign up as a competition manager well ahead of that.

Your teacher registers the school by October 22 (October 15 for shipped exams); the contest is written October 29, 2026. Independent registration opens around September 16 only if your school is not participating. Top scorers are invited to the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad.

The CEMC's November contests, with full-solution questions alongside short answers. A step up from Pascal, Cayley and Fermat and a common route toward the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge. Schools order by October 22, 2026 for the November 18, 2026 contest.

A computational-thinking contest with no coding: logic and problem-solving puzzles built on the math students already know. A gentle first step before the Canadian Computing Competition. Schools register by October 26, 2026 for the November 9–20, 2026 window.

The CEMC entry point to competitive mathematics before Euclid, with a separate contest for each of grades 9, 10 and 11. Twenty-five multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, graded in three parts of increasing difficulty. A good first contest and the standard way Alberta students build toward Euclid and the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge. Canadian schools order by February 9, 2027 for the February 23–24, 2027 contests.

Premier Canadian programming and algorithm design challenge hosted by the University of Waterloo. Students apply advanced computer science and algorithmic research to solve complex problems. Top scorers are invited to the Canadian Computing Olympiad (CCO).

Canada's best-known senior high school mathematics contest, written each year by more than 25,000 students worldwide. Ten questions in 2.5 hours, mixing final-answer and full-solution problems. Results carry real weight in University of Waterloo admissions and scholarship decisions. Ask a math teacher to register the school. The ordering deadline is March 11, 2027 for the April 6, 2027 contest.

Four-question contests where the written solution counts, not just the answer: good practice for proof-style problems. Schools order by March 11, 2027 for the April 7, 2027 contests.

Highest level of chemistry competition for Canadian youth. You enter through the Canadian Chemistry Contest in April, which the Chemical Institute of Canada runs and uses to select for the Olympiad; national-team candidates then work through online problem sets, a take-home exam and a national camp. Preparation goes far beyond the high school curriculum, into organic, inorganic and physical chemistry. Top students represent Canada at the International Chemistry Olympiad.

A University of Waterloo biology contest on Grade 11 and 12 content, open to schools worldwide. Teachers register students from mid-February until April 9, 2027, for the April 22, 2027 contest.

A team math contest for six students, run as an in-school event on or after April 14, 2027, or at the University of Waterloo by lottery. Schools order the in-school version by April 12, 2027; the Waterloo lottery closes November 19, 2026.

The University of Waterloo's senior chemistry contest, the Grade 12 counterpart to the Avogadro exam. Written online at school; teachers register students by April 23, 2027 for the May 6, 2027 exam.

The University of Waterloo's Grade 11 chemistry contest, written online at school with a teacher supervising. Teachers register students by April 30, 2027 for the May 13, 2027 exam.

Regional neuroscience knowledge competitions for high school students in Calgary and Edmonton. Winners advance to the national Brain Bee where competitors analyze brain tissue and patient diagnoses. Top finishers represent Canada internationally.

A national physics exam for senior high school students, written at your own school. Your teacher arranges it through the CAP provincial coordinator.

Global science and math research competition. Students research a complex concept in life sciences, physics, or mathematics and translate that research into an engaging explanatory video (max 2 min for the 2026 competition). Grand prize includes a $250,000 scholarship.

The national exam is written in early April, with a training camp at UBC Okanagan for those selected. The Canadian Biology Olympiad is the qualifying route toward Canada's International Biology Olympiad team.

Registration opens in mid-March; the exam is written at your school on the first Thursday of May. A demanding open-ended physics exam from the University of Waterloo that rewards months of independent study.

Design and submit an original Swift playground or iOS app to Apple. Open to under-18 high schoolers; winners get WWDC access and Apple developer tools.

The route to Team Canada at the International Physics Olympiad. Students qualify by writing the CAP High School Prize Exam (usually mid-April), and top scorers are invited to the national training camp at UBC in May, where the team is selected. High scorers who miss the May camp can join the online Canadian Junior Physics Olympiad camp in August. Talk to your physics teacher, since schools are notified each spring.

National geography competition and Canada's route to the International Geography Olympiad. Levels 1 and 2 run through classroom and school rounds. Level 3 is the senior stream: a multimedia test open to everyone who signs up, narrowing to the top 20 for a written test, the top 10 for a fieldwork test, then six interviews and four Team Canada spots. Free to join, and a guardian can supervise if your school does not take part.

Part I is written in November and Part II in early February; your school registers you. The Alberta High School Mathematics Competition is the province's longest-running math contest, run by the U of A.

A one-hour, 30 question physics contest that opened to the rest of Canada in 2026, when OAPT extended its invitation beyond Ontario schools. Questions run from easy to difficult and reward physical intuition rather than formula memorization, which makes it a useful bridge between Physics 20 and the far harder CAP Prize Exam. Free to enter and non-programmable calculators are allowed. The 2026 contest ran May 20; a teacher can register the school up to a week before contest day.

Your teacher registers the school by late February; the exam is written between mid-March and early April. A 40-question multiple-choice physics contest run by the American Association of Physics Teachers, open to schools worldwide.

Linguistics puzzles: work out how an unfamiliar language works from a handful of examples, no prior linguistics needed. The 2027 Open Round is January 28, 2027. The top four Anglophone Canadian students in the invitational round represent Canada at the International Linguistics Olympiad.

A national biology exam written online each April, covering biochemistry, cells, metabolism and genetics at a senior high school level. Schools with five or more students are also ranked as teams.

A free online programming contest with four divisions, Bronze to Platinum: you start in Bronze and a strong score promotes you. Canadians can compete in every division, making it good practice alongside the Canadian Computing Competition. The 2025–26 season ran three contests from January to February plus a proctored US Open in March; 2026–27 dates are not yet posted.

Canada's high school economics competition and the qualifier for the International Economics Olympiad, covering economics, finance and business case analysis. Five students go to the International Economics Olympiad and five to the Economics Olympiad International Final Round. Registration for 2027 opens in January.

Canada's astronomy olympiad: solve around six astrophysics theory problems within a set window and send in your solutions. Top scorers go to a national training camp and a team selection test for Canada's team at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics.

A multiple-choice math contest written the same day at centres across Canada, with its own paper for grades 11–12. The 2026 contest ran Sunday, March 22, with registration closing February 23 (early-bird price to February 9). Grade 11 and 12 students with strong results over several years can earn awards of up to $1,000.

A free online team math contest held every year since 2003: pick a start time in the ten-day window and solve 30 problems ranging from easy to extremely hard. In 2025, more than 12,000 students on 4,000 teams from 80 countries took part.

A free online math competition in three rounds: a qualification round, a pre-final round and a final. Problems test creative problem solving rather than advanced curriculum, and there are separate categories for younger high school students, senior high school students and adults, with certificates and over US$1,500 in prizes.

A free, student-run team physics competition with olympiad-level problems. Since 2020 it has drawn more than 10,000 competitors from over 80 countries. The 2026 contest was one round over a weekend, with short-answer, long-answer and simulation experiment problems. Past papers, solutions and standings are posted on the site, which makes it good practice for the Canadian Physics Olympiad.