Your path to the fair

Who can enter

• Students in Grades 6 to 12 can enter the project exhibition. Younger students (Grades 1 to 5) can take part in Science on the Wall.
• A project has one or two students. Both must be in Grade 6 or higher. If the two students are in different grades, the project is judged at the higher grade.
• Grade 6 students compete in the Atom Division. They are not eligible to win a trip to the Canada-Wide Science Fair.
• Each school chooses its own entries using its school quota. Ask your teacher how your school picks.

Divisions

Experiment or study?

Experiment: Predict the results of a test you can perform. Carry out the test, collect the results, make sense of them, and draw conclusions.

Study: Collect information by observing the world around you. Consult books, magazines, experts and the internet, then sort it out and summarize the important points. It may be difficult or impossible to control the variables.

Pick subject areas and a challenge

Choose up to 5 subject areas that describe your project (for example Botany, Chemistry/Biochemistry or Robotics & Automation). We use them to match your project with judges who know the topic.

Then pick the one challenge set by Youth Science Canada (mySTEMspace). Pick the one your project helps with most:

• Aerospace
• Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
• Curiosity and Ingenuity
• Digital Technology
• Disease and Illness
• Energy
• Environment and Climate Change
• Health and Wellness
• Natural Resources

Language

You choose the language your project is judged in. Your report, display board and any other material must be in that language.

Two safety checks

1. Your project's process (before you start). Your teacher approves your project in the portal. If it involves people, the fair's ethics committee reviews it too. This check confirms the way you plan to do your project is safe and ethical.
2. Your display (at set-up on Friday, April 2 evening). A volunteer checks that your display is safe for you and for the public. See Build your display.

What does my project involve?

Projects with human participants

Any project involving people needs informed consent, even if it is only a survey. Using yourself as a participant counts too.

1. Contact the chair before you begin. When you register your project, answer the "Before you start" questions at the top of the form. If you say your project involves people, your project page shows a Human participants form.
2. Fill in the Letter of Information online, with your adult supervisor's help, and send it to the committee. The fair's ethics committee reviews it and decides whether it meets the criteria for a human participant study. You will get an email when they decide. Don't collect any data before it is approved, and you can't submit your project until it has been sent.
3. Once it is approved, print your Letter of Information and consent forms from your project page, already filled in. Give each participant the letter and a separate consent form. Participants under 18 also need a parent or guardian's permission. If the form documents parental permission, attach a copy of your survey or questionnaire.
4. Keep the original signed forms. They must be shredded once your project is no longer needed for science fairs.

Projects without the required forms will not be considered for the Canada-Wide Science Fair.

Format

• Maximum length: 5 pages
• Single-sided
• Double-spaced
• Typed or neatly handwritten
• Include page numbers, your project title and your name(s)

How it is judged

Judges score experiments out of 100 and studies out of 95. Your report, your display and your conversation with the judges all count.

Your space

Each project gets a section of a long table, taped off. Your project and everything that goes with it must fit in about 130 cm wide by 70 cm deep (54 by 28 inches). Tall parts, on the table or standing on the floor, can go up to 3.5 m from the floor. Your display must stand firmly by itself, with no danger of falling.

Oversized projects must be reduced by the time the fair opens, or they will be disqualified. Ten marks are given for the appearance of your display.

Backboard

We recommend a standard tri-fold display board. Pre-made cardboard boards are sold at Dollarama, Staples and Michaels (prices vary). Any backboard material your school approves can be used here.

Large printed panels should be no wider than 91.44 cm (36 inches) or they cost more to print.

Display rules

• Fasten all cloth, paper and similar materials securely to the backboard.
• Attach only single sheets to the backboard.
• Nothing may hang from the table.
• No wall may be used to support or display any part of your project.
• Your experiment is not conducted on the exhibit floor. Bring props and photos that show the stages instead. Parts of an experiment that pass the safety check may sometimes be demonstrated.

How registration works

1. Create an account or log in.
2. Join the fair as a student for this year, with your school, grade and a parent's email.
3. Register your project as a draft. Add your report and your details. You can save and come back.
4. Submit when everything is final. Your project is now finalized.
5. The portal emails your sponsoring teacher.
6. Your teacher logs in and approves the final project, confirming its safety and ethics.

All of these steps need to happen before the deadline, so give your teacher time.

Register your project · Open the portal