Social science programs

The 25th session of the U of A's high school Model UN: delegates represent countries in committee debates on global issues. Teachers register schools October 13 to November 5, 2026; students then register by December 19, 2026, and position papers are due February 12, 2027.

A school year abroad as a Rotary youth ambassador: live with two to four host families, attend high school full-time and learn the language. For the August 2027 departure, southern Alberta applications close November 15, 2026, with interviews in late November. Students in northern Alberta apply through Rotary District 5370.

A free global pitch competition in two tracks: Business Innovation (a venture that makes money solving a customer problem) and Social Innovation (a venture with social or environmental impact). Submit a 3–5 page concept and a 60-second video; advancing teams hear back February 10, and finalists pitch at the summit.

A free online pitch competition for high school students from 170+ countries. Alone or with up to four friends, you build a business idea with the provided Blue Ocean tools and templates, then submit a pitch video of under five minutes. There are cash prizes for students and prizes for their schools. Pitches are due February 21, 2027.

Memorize and recite poems from the Poetry In Voice anthology, including at least one written before the 21st century, in the English, French or bilingual stream. Submissions open February 1, 2027; senior semifinalists are named March 11 and finalists March 18.

JA Southern Alberta's flagship program: a student-led, mentor-supported team builds and runs a real company over 20 weeks, covering market research, financial planning, sales and a year-end tradeshow. Participants also get executive and sales training plus events like World of Choices. Runs in class or as an after-school activity at multiple Calgary locations.

Financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness programming for northern Alberta students, including the after-school Company Program where a student team builds and runs a real business. Delivered in partnership with schools; self-directed options are also available.

The provincial association for school-based speech and debate in Alberta, running junior and senior tournaments in English and French across Language Arts, Drama, Social Studies and Science. Builds research, argument construction and public speaking skills, and sends qualifiers to national and international competitions. Students take part through a club at their school.

The largest youth startup accelerator in Canada, a national charity founded by Hootsuite founder Ryan Holmes. Launch It is a free self-paced course for getting an idea off the ground. Labs is the flagship 12-week virtual accelerator, with workshops, mentors, AMA sessions and a cohort of other young founders. Boost is a 12-month program for founders further along. All three are free and take no equity, and the deposits are returned on completion. Applications for the fall 2026 Labs cohort opened in July 2026.

A funded homestay exchange between your group and a twinned group elsewhere in Canada: each group hosts the other for 7–10 days. Themes include sports, music, Indigenous, regional, language and history exchanges. Organizers apply year-round, at least 60 days before travel.

A quarterly journal that publishes history research papers written by secondary students. Essays run 5,000 to 10,000 words or more with Chicago-style endnotes, and about 5% of submissions are published. Papers are accepted on a rolling basis and stay eligible for the next three issues (quarterly cutoffs are August 1, November 1, February 1 and May 1).

A federal program that funds summer jobs for students at museums, archives, libraries and heritage sites. High school students aged 16 or older qualify. You create an account on the Young Canada Works portal, search the posted jobs and say which interest you. There is no deadline, but most hiring is for summer, so apply in the spring. First-time participants get priority, and travel and lodging may be covered for a job more than 125 km from home.

Heritage Fairs and Young Citizens are no longer listed by Historica Canada. They appear on neither the current nor the past programs page, and /heritagefairs returns a 404. Historica now runs the Citizenship Challenge, Heritage Minutes and The Memory Project.

Rigorous global entrepreneurship program where high schoolers form teams to conduct deep market research, prototype a digital or physical tech product, and pitch a fully functioning startup to a panel of investors. MIT-affiliated curriculum.

Applications for Forum 2027 open soon, for sessions running February 7-12, February 28 - March 5, and April 18-23, 2027. Three hundred students aged 15-18 spend a week in Ottawa meeting MPs and Senators; travel, meals and accommodation are covered, with bursaries against the $995 fee.

A funded reciprocal exchange that twins a group of Alberta youth with a group from another province or territory, each hosting the other for at least five days. Groups plan their own travel, budget, itinerary and community project. Applications are made by a group leader, so you need a teacher or community organizer to run it.

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.

The longest standing Model UN conference for high school students in Alberta, run by the UCalgary political science department. Delegates represent countries across UN and NATO committees for two days, researching a national position, negotiating with blocs and drafting resolutions under formal debate rules. Good preparation for political science, law and international relations programs. The registration link goes live once the department announces the next conference date, so check the page in the fall.

The Alberta Youth Parliament website is currently down. abyp.ca shows only an "under construction" placeholder, with no session dates or application details posted. TUXIS Parliament has historically run a winter sitting for youth delegates.

Apply through your local Rotary club. Selection is run by clubs, not centrally, so ask yours about timing. Since 1951 the program has brought 150+ students aged 16-18 to Ottawa for four days of meetings with parliamentarians, plus access to three $1,000 scholarships.

A fully funded, bilingual parliamentary simulation on Parliament Hill run by CIVIX, the civic education charity behind Student Vote. Delegates take part in legislative debate, committee work and question period. The inaugural session ran November 6 to 10, 2025 with 75 delegates, the first youth parliament on the Hill in more than four decades. CIVIX had not announced a second session as of August 2026, so email youthparliament@civix.ca before counting on it. This is a new program and is unrelated to the 1980s parliament of the same name, which no longer runs.

Register through the Community Futures office in your area. YETI is a summer business-training program for senior high school students in the Capital Region: you launch a real business over the summer with startup funding and mentorship, and may earn high school credit.

The provincial student leadership conference, run since 1988 by a volunteer association of student council advisors and hosted by a different Alberta school every year. Three days of keynote speakers, around 14 breakout sessions, a service project and a dance, built around meeting student leaders from across the province. Useful for building a community leadership record rather than a competitive one. ASLC 2026 ran May 1 to 3 at École Olds High School; the 2027 host had not been announced as of August 2026. Ask your student council advisor to enter a delegation.

Forty students are chosen from across Canada each year to work on the floor of the House of Commons while doing their first year of university in Ottawa. Pages carry documents and messages during sittings, work directly around Members of Parliament and see federal legislation as it happens, which is experience almost nothing else at that age can match. Recruitment runs on a long cycle: applications for the 2027 to 2028 cohort open in September 2026 and close in November 2026, selections finish in March 2027 and offers go out at the end of April 2027. You apply in your Grade 12 year, so the timing lines up with university applications.

A fully funded week in Belgium and France studying Canada's role in the First World War on the ground, visiting battlefields, cemeteries and museums with a national cohort of students. It rewards community service and historical interest rather than marks, and it carries real weight on a scholarship application later. The 2026 journey ran April 3 to 11 and its application window was October 21 to November 25, 2025. The next cycle had not been posted as of August 2026, so watch the page from mid-October.

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 weekend leadership conference for 70 to 100 high school students, held every May, with workshops and networking with other young leaders. There is no cost to attend: a local Rotary club sponsors each delegate. Contact a Rotary club near you, or register as an independent delegate.

A four-day leadership camp at Camp Nakamun with workshops and speakers on interpersonal growth, communication and community building, on a challenge-by-choice basis. The 2026 camp ran April 30 to May 3. Local Rotary clubs sponsor students; ask a club near you about covering the fee.

A paid part-time job on the floor of the Alberta Legislature: pages deliver documents to MLAs during sittings, help at public events, and take part in professional development and a speech competition. Recruitment runs each spring; apply with a cover letter, résumé, latest report card, and letters of support from a parent and your school.

Calgary's youth council, running since 1992: members meet weekly in subcommittees on civic engagement, careers, health and current issues, hear from guest speakers, meet city officials and plan youth-led events. The 2025–26 council drew from 16 schools across 11 wards. Applications open each fall.

One of Canada's largest high school Model UN conferences, open to delegations from any province. A sponsor teacher registers the school first, then delegates sign up; early pricing runs to October 25 and registration closes when the conference fills. Bursaries can cover up to the full fee.

The national student leadership conference, held since 1985 in a different province each year. Registration fills fast: for 2026 it opened April 21 and was full the same afternoon, with a waitlist after that. Ask your student council advisor to register a delegation.

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.

A philosophy essay contest for Canadian high school students: answer one of three questions in at most 1,200 words. Each essay is read blind by a high school teacher and a U of T philosophy professor. The 2026 deadline has passed; watch the page for the 2027 questions.

The world's oldest international schools writing competition, run since 1883. Write up to 1,000 words on the year's theme; one winner is chosen from each Commonwealth region, including the Americas, and every entrant receives a Gold, Silver, Bronze or Participation certificate. The 2026 deadline was April 30.

A French-language youth parliament held in the Alberta Legislature chamber: debate bills written by and for youth as a deputy, or take part as a page, lobbyist or journalist (the last two count toward the Leadership 15-3 course). Registration details for 2027 are not yet posted; contact FJA.

A free team competition built on a real client case: research, build a long-term strategy in the Wharton Investment Simulator, and submit four deliverables from October to December. Teams are judged on the strategy and how well they defend it, not on portfolio returns. Registration for 2026–27 closed September 11, 2026; the next season opens each August.

An international essay prize in ten subjects: economics, history, international relations, law, philosophy, politics, psychology, public policy, science and technology, and theology, with three questions each. The 2026 cycle opened registration February 2, closed it March 31, and took essays until May 31. Free at the standard deadline.

Give a 5–7 minute speech on one of five agriculture, agri-tech or agri-food topics set each year. In 2026, entries ran February 5 to June 19, preliminaries were held June 27 and July 10, and the top four from each division advanced to the July 11 final at the Stampede, with a travel credit to the national final.

Remembrance-themed contests in three forms: a poster, an original essay or poem, or a video. Poster and literary entries are judged at the branch, then provincial, then national level; video entries go online from September 1 to December 15, 2026. Ask your nearest Legion branch for its poster and literary deadline.

A free five-week humanities seminar in the US: university-level reading, writing and discussion with a small group. There are two tracks, TASS-CBS and TASS-AOS, and you apply to one. Telluride covers tuition, books, room and board and field trips, but does not help with visas. International students, Canadians included, can only apply in Grade 10. The 2026 deadline was December 3, 2025, so expect the next one in early December.

A five-day look at police work for 40 high school students per session. You do fitness training, team building and leadership work, plus lectures and scenarios with units like Canine, Robbery, Air 1, Traffic and Forensics. In 2026 there was a spring session (March 30 to April 2) and a summer session (July 27 to 31), with applications closing February 27. Expect a similar schedule next year.

A one-day academy where Grade 12 students put on a mock police uniform and duty belt, get paired with an officer mentor, and work through more than 20 realistic scenarios such as wellness checks, vehicle stops and noise complaints. It also covers crime scene analysis, collision reconstruction and surveillance. Breakfast and lunch are provided. In 2026 it ran May 13 and applications closed April 24; you apply by emailing the form.

A free cadet program run by the Calgary Police Service. Cadets meet Thursday evenings from 5:45 to 9:15, September to May, and join weekend exercises and volunteer work. Over five levels they build leadership, fitness, first aid and marksmanship skills. Uniforms and equipment are provided. Applications for the next September intake open November 1 and close March 31, so a Grade 10 student who is still 16 can join.