Canadian Innovation Contests

Canadian Innovation
Math Contest

Two papers. Nine grade levels. One April window — and the most-enrolled contest in the CIC family.

2026 Theme — Mathematics of Compassion

9
Grade levels: Grade 2 → 10; 75
Minutes: One sitting; 200
Total points: 100 + 100

2026 Theme

Mathematics of Compassion.

This year's questions weave real-world social-impact scenarios into the syllabus — allocating resources for humanitarian aid, modelling fairness, reading the statistics behind social issues. Math used to understand, and improve, the world around us.

Format

Two papers, one sitting.

Online and proctored. No calculators. Numerical answers only.

PART A 15 questions

Mental Math

Practical mental math built for speed and accuracy. No calculators — students develop genuine number sense and arithmetic fluency.

100pts Practice mental math drills →

PART B 15 questions

Problem-Solving

Per-grade syllabus problems with numerical answers. Tests reasoning, abstract thinking, and turning stories into mathematics.

100pts See your grade syllabus →

Syllabus

The math your kid will be tested on.

Four bands. Every grade inside a band sits the same syllabus.

GRADES 2–3
Foundations

Basic arithmetic, patterns, simple geometry, word problems, basic logic and counting — routine and non-routine.
GRADES 4–6
Building blocks

Introductory algebra, elementary geometry, introductory number theory and counting, divisibility tests, spatial visualization, simple cryptarithms.
GRADES 7–8
Expanding

Algebra, geometry, introductory coordinate geometry, number theory, introductory combinatorics, divisibility, logic problems, cryptarithms.
GRADES 9–10
High school

High-school algebra including functions, geometry of triangles/quadrilaterals/circles, counting and probability, number theory, non-routine problem-solving.

Choose your contest grade by your January 2026 school grade. A Grade 1 student may write the Grade 2 paper if ready. Writing the wrong grade means disqualification.

Practice & Prepare

30 free resources.
Built by us. Used by thousands.

Labs to drill the skills, full walkthroughs from past contests, and gamified playgrounds for younger students — all open, all free.

01 Order of Operations Labs Coming soon

02 Fraction Addition & Subtraction Coming soon

03 Compare Fractions Coming soon

04 Fraction Multiplication Coming soon

05 Mixed Fraction Multiplication Coming soon

06 Divisibility Lab Coming soon

07 Integer Lab Coming soon

08 Percentage Lab Coming soon

09 Powers Lab Coming soon

10 Triangular Numbers Lab Coming soon

Awards

Gold, Silver, Bronze, Honors — per level.

Gold Top 1%

Silver Top 2–3%

Bronze Top 4–6%

Honors Top 7–10%

Customized medal and e-certificate for medal winners; certificate of participation for all. Medalists are celebrated at the annual award ceremony in the GTA.

Advisory Board

The people behind the paper.

MATH PROFESSOR

Cerasela Tesleanu

CIMC Advisory Board

Math professor at Collège Stanislas Montreal specializing in Math and Algorithmics. She has trained gifted students for national and international competitions, and champions the STREAM approach — math taught alongside programming and robotics.

STUDENT ADVISOR

Ansh Agarwal

CIMC Advisory Board

Grade 12 student and bronze medalist in the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO) and the Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad (APMO), 2025. As student advisor, Ansh brings a competitor's eye to contest design across all nine grade levels.

For schools

Dashboards once you're in.

01

School leaderboards

Track top performers across your class or whole school during the contest window.
02

Completion tracking

See at a glance which students have started, finished, or are mid-paper.
03

Comparative averages

Your class against the overall average, per question and per section.

Registration

Two ways in.

Schools register a class.

Teachers proctor their own students; the same grade contest runs on the same day across the school. Schools get a contest package with full instructions.