Canadian Innovation Contests
CICC — Canadian Innovation Computing Contest
No prior programming required. Builds creativity, logical reasoning, and computational thinking. Apr 1–12, 2026.
What is CICC?
Computational thinking for grades 3–10.
The Canadian Innovation Computing Contest is an initiative by Competitive Kids STEM. This contest aims to cultivate students' creativity, logical reasoning ability, and algorithmic & computational thinking skills.
Students will be able to better understand computational thinking by developing solutions. It involves defining problems, analyzing problems and designing their solutions.
Prior programming knowledge is optional to participate. CICC is carefully designed for teachers to provide an excellent enrichment opportunity to their students.
Curriculum connection
Aligned with science & technology goals.
Several Canadian Curriculums for Science and Technology outline the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to use those skills responsibly. CICC aligns with these goals and focuses on computational thinking.
Computational thinking includes: decomposition (break a problem into smaller steps), pattern recognition (recognize trends in data), abstraction (extract relevant information), modelling & simulation (imitate processes), algorithms (instruction sets to solve problems), and evaluation (determine effectiveness).
CICC questions focus on age-appropriate problems to meet curriculum expectations.
Eligibility & format
Apr 1–12, 2026.
Eligibility: Grades 3–10.
Four contest levels — Grades 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, and 9/10.
Online test format: 10 multiple-choice problems and 10 written-answer problems within 60 minutes related to computational thinking.
Optional practice content is available to all students for free. Practice tests with detailed solutions help students prepare.
Awards
Gold, Silver, Bronze, Honors per level.
Gold (top 1%), Silver (top 2–3%), Bronze (top 4–6%), Honors (top 7–10%) per level — customized medal & e-certificate.
Certificate of participation: given to all participants.
Award ceremony in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
Proctoring
School registrations.
School teachers are responsible for proctoring students in school. Contest for a school grade must be conducted on the same day.
Registration
Schools and individuals.
Schools can register multiple students. School teachers are responsible for proctoring students; the same grade contest in a school must be conducted on the same day.
Individual registration: students require two devices — one for the test and one connected to Zoom for proctoring. Contact info@ckstem.org for details.
Advisor
Ansh Agarwal, CICC Advisory Board.
Ansh Agarwal is a Grade 12 student who excels in math problem solving and computational thinking. He is a bronze medalist in the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO) and the Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad (APMO) in 2025. Ansh serves on the CICC Advisory Board, contributing his expertise in programming and problem solving to ensure the contest challenges students at every level.
Ready to register?
Register on the Canadian Innovation Contests hub. Schools can register multiple students; individuals can register directly.
