Research programs

A 10-week research and mentorship program where students create and contribute to a citizen science project guided by an undergraduate student mentor. Students develop research skills, collect real data, and present findings.

The standard way to show quantitative rigour on an application to an American university, and the qualifying route to the AIME and the olympiad path beyond it. Twenty-five questions in 75 minutes on advanced algebra, geometry, number theory and combinatorics. For 2026/27 the A versions run November 5, 2026 and the B versions November 13, 2026. October 15, 2026 is the final registration deadline for a school that has never hosted before, so if no school near you offers it, ask a math teacher to sign up as a competition manager well ahead of that.

Your teacher registers the school by October 22 (October 15 for shipped exams); the contest is written October 29, 2026. Independent registration opens around September 16 only if your school is not participating. Top scorers are invited to the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad.

Phase 1 (Activation) of the 2026-27 Conrad Challenge runs August 27 to October 30, 2026; Phase 2 (Innovation) closes January 8, 2027, with the Innovation Summit April 21-24, 2027. Student teams pitch a commercially viable solution to a real-world problem.

The largest hackathon in the world, built entirely on open NASA and partner space agency data. Teams spend a weekend on a real challenge written by NASA experts, spanning software, data science, hardware, design and science storytelling. Alberta hubs ran in both Calgary and Edmonton in 2025. The 2026 edition runs November 14 to 15 with registration opening August 26, 2026, so check the site for the confirmed Alberta locations.

An online research incubator where you pick a problem that matters, get matched with a mentor and produce a real piece of work over the cohort, in anything from policy and economics to computer science and biology. It runs in three tiers: Research Foundations gives a certificate and community access, Research Fellows adds mentorship and project grants, and Research Scholars adds custom mentorship and a $10,000 scholarship. Applications for the next cohort open in November 2026, with a priority deadline of December 15, 2026 and a final deadline of January 4, 2027. Widely circulated figures about a $500 acceptance award and $30,000 in seed funding are not on the Non-Trivial site as of August 2026, so treat the tiers above as the published offer.

Canada's largest health science competition for high school students, run by a chartered HOSA association since 2014. Members enter one of about 30 events, from medical terminology to veterinary science and medical law, and the top three in each earn a place at the International Leadership Conference. You join through a chapter at your own school, or start one: five students, a president and a teacher advisor. The online Fall Leadership Conference runs November 15–22, 2026; SLC 2027 is in Toronto, March 1–3, and is high-school only.

Canada's largest regional science fair. Schools register October 1 to December 4 and independent entrants from December 10; every project must be registered with its ethics forms by February 4. Winning here is the route to the Canada-Wide Science Fair for Calgary students.

The CEMC entry point to competitive mathematics before Euclid, with a separate contest for each of grades 9, 10 and 11. Twenty-five multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, graded in three parts of increasing difficulty. A good first contest and the standard way Alberta students build toward Euclid and the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge. Canadian schools order by February 9, 2027 for the February 23–24, 2027 contests.

Premier Canadian programming and algorithm design challenge hosted by the University of Waterloo. Students apply advanced computer science and algorithmic research to solve complex problems. Top scorers are invited to the Canadian Computing Olympiad (CCO).

Canada's best-known senior high school mathematics contest, written each year by more than 25,000 students worldwide. Ten questions in 2.5 hours, mixing final-answer and full-solution problems. Results carry real weight in University of Waterloo admissions and scholarship decisions. Ask a math teacher to register the school. The ordering deadline is March 11, 2027 for the April 6, 2027 contest.

Highest level of chemistry competition for Canadian youth. You enter through the Canadian Chemistry Contest in April, which the Chemical Institute of Canada runs and uses to select for the Olympiad; national-team candidates then work through online problem sets, a take-home exam and a national camp. Preparation goes far beyond the high school curriculum, into organic, inorganic and physical chemistry. Top students represent Canada at the International Chemistry Olympiad.

Free conservation research and leadership program connecting youth 15–18 with nature through hands-on environmental research and conservation projects. Active programming available in Edmonton and Calgary areas.

Your class plants two sets of tomato seeds, one flown to the International Space Station, and compares germination. Free, teacher-ordered, and a real dataset.

Rigorous engineering challenge where high school teams design, program, and build industrial-size robots in a 6-week build season. Requires applied research in mechanics, CAD, and control systems. Many Alberta teams compete in the Canadian Rockies regional event.

4-H Alberta's Senior division runs from age 15 to 20. Members carry a project through the October-to-September club year and present it to judges. The project list reaches well past agriculture (Veterinary Sciences, Engineering, Welding, Entomology, Photography and Written Communications are all on it), grouped under four pillars including Science & Technology. Senior members can also compete at the spring Senior Symposium at Olds College for national and international travel selection; it charges a registration fee, and its dates are announced each year.

Free curriculum-aligned AI learning kits and guest speaker sessions that Amii provides to Alberta schools, including an AI in Junior High stream. Delivered by your teachers rather than applied to directly, so the way in is asking a teacher to bring it into your classroom.

Ten weeks of one-to-one research with a PhD mentor, ending in a paper, podcast or prototype. Tuition-based, with need-based financial aid.

Challenges like Energy Revealed, Eco 360 and Re-Energy prompt students to research local energy consumption or climate policy, then design and implement a data-backed emissions reduction strategy for their school or municipality.

Grade 9-12 teams design, build and program competition robots for game-based tournaments held locally across Alberta, fall through spring.

Distinct from the larger FRC, FTC teams design, build, and program smaller-scale robots using Java and Android-based technology. Requires applied research into control systems and computer vision. More accessible entry point than FRC with lower build costs.

Volunteer alongside science communicators at Calgary's science centre, running workshops, staffing exhibits and supporting summer camps. A steady way into science outreach experience, and one of the few STEM volunteer roles in Calgary open at 14 through the camp stream.

Paid IT work experience refurbishing and deploying computers, about 20 placements a year. You must have finished high school to apply.

Delivered through Alberta school boards, allowing students to research network vulnerabilities and earn industry-recognized certifications in cybersecurity, networking, and IT fundamentals directly through their high school.

Virtual platform with active Canadian school partnerships providing mentorship and micro-credentials in artificial intelligence, web development, and cloud computing. Students earn IBM-recognized badges upon completion.

Volunteer placements in AHS regional hospitals and clinics offering direct exposure to clinical environments, health administration, and medical technology. South Zone placements available for students in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and surrounding communities.

An observing group rather than a research placement. Members learn the constellations and the bright star names, follow the moon phases, keep an observation logbook, sketch or photograph the night sky, and work through the RASC observing certificates from the easy targets up to the faint ones thousands of light years out. The group meets monthly on a Friday evening at the Wilson Coulee Observatory just south of Calgary, and on Zoom, breaking for the summer. A RASC youth membership lets you use the observatory site on your own time; you register by emailing the youth group coordinator. The Edmonton Centre has no equivalent youth stream.

Paid internships that place high school students with Alberta employers in skilled trades, ICT, health, agriculture, forestry and energy. Students earn high school credits while working and can roll a placement into a Registered Apprenticeship. Free to students; start dates vary across the province.

Be a full-time student and a registered apprentice at the same time. Students split their week between school and an approved work site, earning one high school credit for every 25 hours on the job (up to 41 credits), while those hours also count toward journeyperson certification. Free application through Apprenticeship and Industry Training.

Earn high school credits and a post-secondary credential or workplace certification at the same time, across more than 20 options: skilled trades (welding, carpentry, pipe trades, automotive, heavy equipment), software and web development, IT, health care, aviation, business, culinary and construction. Offered at no direct tuition cost. Students enrol through their high school.

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.

A non-competitive award earned by logging hours in four areas: physical recreation, a skill, voluntary service and an adventurous journey, with a residential project added at Gold. It is the standard way to get formal, internationally recognized credit for the sport, clubs and volunteering you are already doing, and it is recognized in more than 130 countries. Over 4,000 young Albertans are enrolled. Bronze is presented by a community leader, Silver by the Lieutenant Governor and Gold by the Governor General or a member of the Royal Family.

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.

Paid six-week health research at the U of A through Alberta Innovates' High School Youth Researcher Summer (HYRS). Applications close mid-March.

Paid research in biomedical and health sciences at UCalgary through Alberta Innovates' High School Youth Researcher Summer (HYRS). Closes mid-March.

Paid six-week health research at ULethbridge through Alberta Innovates' High School Youth Researcher Summer (HYRS). Applications close late March.

Student applications open in early March and close in early April for the July-August placement. Paid summer research at the U of A for students underrepresented in STEM, ending with a celebration event in August.

A seven-month one-to-one mentorship with a U of A engineering student, for female high school students, with info sessions, faculty events, campus tours and design challenges in the Elko Engineering Garage. Intakes are announced through DiscoverE.

Applications are accepted through the DiscoverE form, with separate intern streams in Edmonton and Ottawa. ELITE is a paid summer program for Black youth in innovation, technology and entrepreneurship.

A University of Alberta student group running science workshops for high school students in Edmonton and at Augustana in Camrose, plus a free summer camp. The Interdisciplinary Science Competition is its oldest event, alongside health sciences, engineering and computer science workshops, and the six-week STEM Potential Enrichment Camp runs over the summer. Dates are posted per event rather than on a fixed calendar, so the homepage often reads "no events at the moment" between cycles; check the events page instead.

Applications for SHAD 2027 open in mid-September and close in early January. Month-long STEAM program on a Canadian university campus: solve real-world problems in teams, live in residence, and build a cross-country network.

Applications for the 2027 program reopen in fall 2026. A one-week program where Indigenous high school students conduct research alongside university professors and graduate students at the U of A.

CWSF 2027 runs May 29 – June 5 in Hamilton. There is no direct application: Alberta students qualify by winning at their regional science fair, then present original research against roughly 400 finalists from across Canada.

Team registration for the 2026 season is closed. iGEM's High School Competition is entered as a school team under a teacher acting as PI, not by individual students; teams design a synthetic biology project across the season for the international jamboree.

This challenge is not currently running. STEM Fellowship lists no active Big Data & AI Challenge cycle. Teams previously produced a peer-reviewed manuscript from open-data and AI research, with a finale in Calgary.

National innovation challenge where youth teams design and prototype STEM solutions to real-world problems. Teams receive access to industry mentors, workshops, and MindFuel's Connect2Innovate platform. 13+ years running with 5,000+ alumni.

Applications are open now across host universities including UCalgary, UBC, Queens, Guelph, York, TMU and U of T Mississauga. REO places high school students on real research, prioritising Indigenous, rural, refugee, newcomer and first-generation students, though everyone is encouraged to apply.

A student-run group in U of A engineering that brings free STEM project kits and mentoring to grades 5-12, building things like robotic arms and wind turbines.

The high-school stream is InSRA, a six-week paid Indigenous Summer Research Academy ($3,000 award, plus a $500 travel bursary) for students who have completed Grade 11, running alongside HYRS at ULethbridge. There is also a 3-week paid summer intern role for Gr 9+. Dates for the next cycle are not yet posted.

A paid Government of Alberta summer job for 16-18 year olds: seven weeks of forestry, wildfire and conservation work. Intake opens over the winter.

Two fully funded weeks at Perimeter Institute for Grade 11-12 students serious about theoretical physics. Travel, room and meals covered.

Applications typically close in mid-May for the August session. Week-long dive into quantum information science and cryptography at IQC, University of Waterloo (formerly QCSYS), with lectures, labs and direct researcher access.

Applications open in late November and close in mid-April for the following summer. A free U of T engineering program: a July intensive on the St. George campus, followed by biweekly events from October through February.

Postponed: U of T states Med YSP is pushed to Summer 2027. The program runs hands-on medical modules (human physiology, microbiology) with labs, lectures and discussions for high school students, open to Canadian and international applicants.

Regional neuroscience knowledge competitions for high school students in Calgary and Edmonton. Winners advance to the national Brain Bee where competitors analyze brain tissue and patient diagnoses. Top finishers represent Canada internationally.

Online academic program where students work directly with university tutors to research and draft a university-level paper. Research tracks available in medicine, computer science, engineering, and more. Builds academic writing and independent research skills.

A national physics exam for senior high school students, written at your own school. Your teacher arranges it through the CAP provincial coordinator.

Global tech education program where teams of young women identify a community problem, conduct user research, and build a mobile app or AI solution. Alberta participants can work remotely or through local hubs. Teams pitch to a panel of tech industry judges.

Applications close in mid-March each year, and the 2026 round closed 13 March. Teams of high school students propose an experiment to run on a real particle-accelerator beamline at CERN, and winning teams travel to carry it out.

Global science and math research competition. Students research a complex concept in life sciences, physics, or mathematics and translate that research into an engaging explanatory video (max 2 min for the 2026 competition). Grand prize includes a $250,000 scholarship.

Fully funded scholarships for high school students to join scientific expeditions to the Arctic or Antarctic. Students conduct hands-on environmental and climate field research alongside polar scientists, Indigenous knowledge holders, and global youth peers.

Specialized summer math camps, research workshops, and advanced problem-solving seminars hosted in partnership with UAlberta and UCalgary. Exposes students to university-level mathematical research and connects them with professional mathematicians.

A one-day engineering and geoscience challenge where high school teams solve timed, hands-on problems. Regionals feed the provincial finals.

Fully-funded regional summits covering themes like Energy, Water, and Agriculture. High school teams attend expert workshops, conduct environmental field research, and develop action plans to implement back in their local communities.

National cyber defence competition for Grade 9-12 teams, running October to May. Your teacher registers the team between April and October, not students.

The national exam is written in early April, with a training camp at UBC Okanagan for those selected. The Canadian Biology Olympiad is the qualifying route toward Canada's International Biology Olympiad team.

The world's largest pre-college science competition. No direct application: you qualify through an affiliated regional fair. Travel funded if selected.

Applications open April 1 and close in early July, with decisions by August 31. A free online research program from the New York Academy of Sciences where students team up on industry-set challenges with a mentor.

Rigorous virtual research institute for high school students. Accepted students work one-on-one with university professors across disciplines, from neuroscience to computer science, to produce a peer-reviewed research paper over 8 weeks.

A day on a medical campus: hands-on health-science workshops and career panels with clinicians. Your school registers about six weeks ahead.

Environmental research and proposal competition. Students research a local watershed issue, write a detailed solution proposal, and compete for funding to implement their project in their community. Top Alberta entries advance to regional and national judging.

Enrol through your school counsellor rather than applying separately. Dual Credit lets Medicine Hat Public students take real post-secondary courses while in high school, earning 5 to 30-level high school credits plus 3 post-secondary credits per course.

Applications for the 2026-27 cohort are open now. TKS is a 10-month after-school program where students go deep on AI, biotech and robotics and build projects with companies; alumni have reached research labs and startups before 19.

Summer research applications are open now, and the signature Introduction to Quantum Computing course runs from October. Qubit by Qubit teaches quantum computing to high school students, taught by PhD researchers with Google Quantum AI.

Open only where your school or district has joined SSEP as a community. Those teams design flight experiments from September 1 to November 3, 2026, with community submissions to NCESSE by November 12 for Mission 22 to the International Space Station.

Registration opens in mid-March; the exam is written at your school on the first Thursday of May. A demanding open-ended physics exam from the University of Waterloo that rewards months of independent study.

Students research global food security, agricultural technology, and sustainability, then pitch solutions to real agricultural problems with input from industry mentors.

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.

Multidisciplinary engineering competition where teams use CAD and CAM software to research aerodynamics, design, and race miniature compressed-air powered F1 cars. Alberta teams actively compete at national championships. Builds skills in design, manufacturing, and project management.

Canada's largest hackathon: 36 hours of building at Waterloo with 1,000+ students, travel, food and lodging covered. Applications reopen next summer.

Ethical hacking competition where teams research network vulnerabilities, cryptography, and server security, then compete in simulated real-time Capture the Flag (CTF) events. Regional and national levels with Alberta participation.

Two weeks of university engineering at U of T's St. George campus for Grades 10-12. A paid academy; applications open early March, early-bird round first.

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.

Design and submit an original Swift playground or iOS app to Apple. Open to under-18 high schoolers; winners get WWDC access and Apple developer tools.

Hackergal's national program for girls in Grades 9–12, built for the ones who have aged out of its Grades 6–9 hackathon. Ambassadors start Hackergal Clubs in their own school or community, run workshops, mentor newer ambassadors, and meet women working in tech, moving through four yearly stages from Role Model to Future-Ready Focus. Taking part also qualifies you for Hackergal's scholarship for graduating secondary students, which reopens in November 2026. The ambassador intake is closed at the moment with no reopening date posted.

Specialized enrichment bootcamps run by UAlberta's Computing Science department focusing on applying machine learning algorithms to game design and logic. Students explore AI concepts through hands-on programming projects.

These are childrens camps. Rattlers Athletics and the Child Development Centre run them for ages 6-17, with much of the programming aimed at elementary ages rather than senior high school research.

Registration opens in the fall, with regional fairs held between February and April. Winning at this regional fair is the only route to the Canada-Wide Science Fair for students in southeastern Alberta.

Registration is closed. UCalgary states the camp form "is no longer available" while the service is being updated. Active Living runs multi-sport and recreation summer camps on campus; sign up for their notification list for the next intake.

Exposure to Olympic-level sports science, biometric tracking, and physiological recovery research at state-of-the-art testing facilities used by Canada's national athletes. Students learn how elite performance data is collected and analyzed.

Open only to graduating secondary students in British Columbia entering first-year post-secondary. Alberta students are not eligible. Now called the YES Fellowship: a six-week paid summer research term at TRIUMF with an award of about $4,500 plus travel and housing.

High-level, day-long symposiums run by UAlberta and UCalgary LTS chapters on niche topics like stem cell research, space exploration, and AI ethics. Distinct from the Space Lab/Tomatosphere citizen science programs; these are lecture and lab-based days for high schoolers.

Open to Albertans interested in data science and the environment. Students analyze massive open-source data sets relating to marine biology, ocean chemistry, and climate from ONC's global sensor network. Virtual participation accessible from anywhere in Canada.

The camp runs the last week of July, with registration closing in mid-July. A five-day MacEwan design camp covering graphic design, app design, illustration, photography and videography.

For students aged 16+: Pre-College is a four-week summer immersive covering both Fine Art and Design at university level, and Arts-Bridge is a shorter two-week introduction for students who cannot commit to the full month.

Bootcamps and dual-credit courses focusing on the intersection of agriculture, drone telemetry, precision farming, and data science. Students use Olds College's smart farm and tech facilities.

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.

Registration for the regional qualifiers opens in early January. Alberta students compete in trades and technology contests at regionals, with winners advancing to the provincial competition and on to Skills Canada nationals.

The route to Team Canada at the International Physics Olympiad. Students qualify by writing the CAP High School Prize Exam (usually mid-April), and top scorers are invited to the national training camp at UBC in May, where the team is selected. High scorers who miss the May camp can join the online Canadian Junior Physics Olympiad camp in August. Talk to your physics teacher, since schools are notified each spring.

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.

Runs as a full-time summer course from late July to late August. The UCalgary Bioengineering Summer Institute gives high school students lab exposure to biomedical engineering ahead of a Schulich application.

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.

Part I is written in November and Part II in early February; your school registers you. The Alberta High School Mathematics Competition is the province's longest-running math contest, run by the U of A.

A one-hour, 30 question physics contest that opened to the rest of Canada in 2026, when OAPT extended its invitation beyond Ontario schools. Questions run from easy to difficult and reward physical intuition rather than formula memorization, which makes it a useful bridge between Physics 20 and the far harder CAP Prize Exam. Free to enter and non-programmable calculators are allowed. The 2026 contest ran May 20; a teacher can register the school up to a week before contest day.

Your teacher registers the school by late February; the exam is written between mid-March and early April. A 40-question multiple-choice physics contest run by the American Association of Physics Teachers, open to schools worldwide.

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.

A global talent program that names 100 Global Winners a year and backs them for life. Winners get a four-year post-secondary scholarship covering tuition and a living stipend, awarded on need and only where other financial aid does not already cover it, plus a fully funded residential summit, a laptop or tablet, and the ability to apply for funding for their own projects later on. It suits students who already run something that serves other people rather than students with a strong report card alone. Check the status before you plan around it: the most recent cohort announced on the Rise site is 2024, and as of August 2026 the apply subdomain redirects to the homepage with no open cycle posted.

Application portals open September 14, 2026 for the 2027 sessions. Explore is a federally funded bursary covering tuition, accommodation and meals for a spring or summer French immersion session in another province, for students aged 16 and up.

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.

An official civic agency, not a simulation. Members research and write policy proposals that go to City Council, run events on local youth issues and advise on decisions that affect young Edmontonians, which makes it verifiable government experience rather than a mock exercise. Meetings are open to the public if you want to sit in before applying. Other Alberta municipalities run comparable youth councils or advisory committees, so if you are outside Edmonton, check your own city or town's civic agency listings for the local equivalent.

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.

The qualifying fair for Edmonton students heading to the Canada-Wide Science Fair. The 2026 edition ran March 14 to 15 with registration open January 9 to February 28; the council had not posted 2027 dates when this was checked, so expect the same late-winter shape.

One fair day at Red Deer Polytechnic on March 20, 2027, with setup the evening before. A $10 entry fee applies per project, payable on or after the fair, and up to six of the top senior projects advance to the Canada-Wide Science Fair. Registration had not reopened when this was checked.

Two events in one weekend: the Lethbridge Regional Science Fair and the Science Olympics, a same-day design and build competition. Top projects in grades 7 to 12 are invited to the Canada-Wide Science Fair. The 2026 edition ran April 10 to 11; SATC had not posted 2027 dates when this was checked.

Fort McMurray's qualifying fair, judged on a Friday with public viewing and awards the Saturday after. Sponsors cover the cost so entry is free to students, and finalists from the junior, intermediate and senior pools advance to the Canada-Wide Science Fair. The 2026 judging ran March 27.

The qualifying fair for northwest Alberta, and the route to the Canada-Wide Science Fair for students around Peace River, Slave Lake and Valleyview. The 42nd fair ran March 25, 2026 with registration closing March 10, and five finalists went on to nationals in Edmonton. Organisers have said they expect a 2027 fair but had not posted its dates when this was checked.