WHAT IS CWSF

Held nationally every year since 1962, the Canada Wide Science Fair is a national science fair competition open to students in grades 7-12 from all across the country. Students have the opportunity to present their projects and findings, meet and network with like-minded individuals, and participate in tours, activities, and other perks of the host city!

HOW DO YOU GET THERE?

Canada Wide Science Fair brings regional fair competitors and winners from all over the country to ONE national fair. In order to participate in CWSF, you must first participate in your regional fair; you will be competing with other students from grades 7-12 in the region. From there, if you are selected as a gold medalist, you will be moving on as a CWSF participant!

From my personal experience, I participated in the YRSTF (York Region Science Technology Fair). YRSTF chooses 11 competitors to move on to CWSF. A common misconception is that 11 competitors means 11 projects. Nope! Some projects may have 2 competitors if they are working as partners. Taking the example of YRSTF, they could be sending 11 people but only 8 projects [3 partner projects and 5 individual projects] to CWSF.

After your regional fair, you typically have about a month to prepare for CWSF, which usually takes place within the first 2 weeks of May. In this time, you’ll be researching your project more in-depth, preparing a presentation, and getting your poster ready for nationals.

In terms of transportation, depending on your regional division, your transportation fees will most likely be covered. Depending on your home location, as well as the location of the fair, you may be on an airplane sitting beside your soon-to- be bestie or travelling for long hours in a coach bus singing karaoke with your team.

AWARDS+SCHOLARSHIPS

Excellence Awards (Gold, Silver, Bronze)

Excellence awards consist of medals based on the ranking of consensus scores for each project within a grade category (Junior, Intermediate, Senior). These awards consist of gold, silver, and bronze medals that correspond with certain cash awards and certificates.

Challenge Awards (Discovery, Energy, Environment, Health, Information, Innovation and Resources)

Challenge awards award the top project in each of the CWSF Challenges in each grade category. These 7 issues focus on what is most crucial to Canadian youth, the future of Canada and the world. These awards are judged as part of the excellence awards; it does not involve a separate judging process.

Special Awards

Special awards are open to all projects for certain grade categories, and consist of cash awards, summer internships, trips, and additional prizes that meet specific criteria established by the sponsor(s).

Scholarships

Some universities and colleges offer entrance or specific scholarships for certain Excellence Award recipients in consultation with Youth Science Canada.

Grand Awards

Grand Awards reward the top projects at CWSF. The Gold Medal winners from each grade category are eligible for the Platinum awards- the best Junior, Intermediate, and Senior projects. Each Platinum Award is then rewarded and provided with a significant cash prize and distinctive presentation award. From then on, from the three Platinum Award recipients, one final project is awarded the Best Project Award.

BENEFITS

Connections+Networking

One of the greatest benefits of CWSF is meeting a variety of individuals of all ages from all across the country! Not only are you meeting other students that share the same passion for science that you do, but some of the friendships you make can be long-lasting despite only spending a week at the fair. A great way to meet people is through pin trading. Most regions give their students a bag of pins with a design that represents their region. Students are able to trade these pins with other participants, thus gaining a piece from “every region/province” along the way. This simple activity is a great conversation starter as well as a way to begin networking with other individuals from different regions.

Exposure to Professionals and Judges

Throughout the entirety of your judging process, you get the opportunity to interact with professionals from different fields. Although you may not get the chance to have a long personal conversation with them, it does give you the chance to establish a preliminary connection with them, which may be useful in the future.

Free Swag😎😎

Arguably one of the best parts of CWSF is all the free swag you get. From coloured popcorn packs to frisbees, and water bottles to portable VR sets, there are a number of booths you can head over to on “Visiting Days.” Speaking from personal experience, some of my favourite memories were travelling across aisles and rows with my friends visiting various booths and copping merch :))

CLOSING REMARKS

Thank you for taking the team to read my scrambled article about Canada Wide Science Fair. I truly believe this is one of the greatest opportunities I was given during high school- it really does enlighten you in so many ways. If you ever have any questions about CWSF or simply would like to chat, feel free to reach out to @shiroparmesan on Instagram!