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Contest Awards and Recognition

We believe that all students will enjoy and benefit from the experience of preparing for and writing our mathematics contests. Our contests are not examinations. There is no passing or failing grade. Information about how students and schools are awarded for their performance on our mathematics contests is listed below.

Teachers can login to generate and print full colour contest certificates onto blank paper, or to print student names onto the provided certificate templates.

Gauss Contest

Individual Awards

  • A Certificate of Participation is provided for each student.
  • A Certificate of Distinction is provided for each student scoring in the top 25% of all participants within their own school, for schools with at least 4 students registered.
  • A Certificate is provided to the highest achieving student in their school on each of the Grade 7 and 8 Contests, for schools with at least 10 students registered.
  • No student should receive an award for both the Grade 7 and 8 Contest.
  • The names of some of the top-scoring students among all those writing the contests at schools in Canada are posted online.

We also encourage schools and boards to recognize, both internally and externally, students who excel.

Team Awards

There is no team competition for these contests.

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Pascal, Cayley and Fermat Contests

Individual Awards

  • Every student scoring in the top 25% of all competitors receives a Certificate of Distinction.
  • Each School Champion receives a Contest Medal, at the discretion of the CEMC Executive.
  • The names of some top-scoring eligible students appear in zone, provincial, Canadian and international honour rolls (for regions with at least 30 participating students).
  • Each of the top five eligible students in Canada receives a Plaque.
  • For eligible students in the Fermat Contest only, each Regional Champion is awarded a prize of $200, at the discretion of the CEMC Executive.

Team Awards

A school's team score consists of the sum of the scores of the three highest scoring eligible students. Schools have the option of not participating in the team competition.

For schools in Canada, rankings and team honour rolls are provided at three levels: zone, provincial, and national (for regions with at least four competing teams). Canadian schools are also eligible for the Canadian Championship Plaque, Provincial Championship Plaques, and Zone Championship Certificates.

For schools outside Canada, rankings and team honour rolls are provided.

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Fryer, Galois and Hypatia Contests

Individual Awards

  • Every student scoring in the top 25% of all competitors receives a Certificate of Distinction.
  • Each School Champion receives a Contest Medal, at the discretion of the CEMC Executive.
  • The names of some top-scoring eligible students appear in zone, provincial, Canadian and international honour rolls (for regions with at least 30 participating students).

Team Awards

A school's team score consists of the sum of the scores of the five highest scoring eligible students. Schools have the option of not participating in the team competition.

For schools in Canada, rankings and team honour rolls are provided at three levels: zone, provincial, and national (for regions with at least four competing teams). Canadian schools are also eligible for the Canadian Championship Plaque and Zone Championship Certificates.

For schools outside Canada, rankings and team honour rolls are provided.

Eligibility

Any full-time student may compete in the Contests but only students who qualify as eligible contestants are eligible for inclusion on honour rolls and as part of a school's team score. An eligible student is one who meets the eligibility requirements below and who has properly completed a student response form by coding their CONTEST, AGE and GRADE.

Any student who does not meet the eligibility requirements or who does not code the information is welcome to write the contests.

  1. The Fryer Contest may be written by any student in Grade 9 or below.
  2. The Galois Contest may be written by any student in Grade 10 or below.
  3. The Hypatia Contest may be written by any student in Grade 11 or below.

Notes:

  1. Some students may be taking mathematics courses beyond their grade level. These students are still eligible to take the Contest appropriate to their grade level. For example, a Grade 9 student may be taking a Grade 10 mathematics course. Such a student is eligible to write the Fryer Contest.
  2. Exceptional students may elect to write a Contest beyond their actual grade level.
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Euclid Contest

Admissions and Scholarships

To be eligible for a Faculty of Mathematics entrance scholarship, applicants to our Faculty must write at least one of the CSMC or the Euclid Contest (writing both contests is encouraged), during the school year in which they are applying.

While the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest and Euclid Contest are not required for admission to the Faculty of Mathematics, strong performance in either of these can help you earn admission.

Official Contestants

Students that write the Euclid Contest inside Canada are classified as “Canadian School Official” provided they

  1. properly complete their Student Information Form,
  2. were born on or after January 1, 2002, and
  3. were in attendance at an elementary school, secondary school, and/or CÉGEP in Canada from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

All other students that write the Euclid Contest inside Canada are classified as “Canadian School Unofficial”.

Students that write the Euclid Contest in schools outside Canada are classified as “International School Official” provided they

  1. properly complete their Student Information Form, and
  2. were born on or after January 1, 2002.

All other students that write the Euclid Contest outside Canada are classified as “International School Unofficial”.

Unofficial Contestants

Students who are Unofficial Contestants will have their papers marked, but will not be included in team totals and their names will not be included on student honour roles. Students who are Unofficial participants and who are applicants to the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo will have their scores communicated to the Admissions and Scholarship Committees.

Individual Awards

  • Every student scoring in the top 25% of all competitors receives a Certificate of Distinction.
  • Each School Champion receives a Contest Medal, at the discretion of the CEMC Executive.
  • The names of some top-scoring Canadian School Official contestants appear in zone, provincial and Canadian honour rolls (for regions with at least 30 participating students). The names of some top-scoring Canadian School Unofficial contestants are listed separately.
  • The names of some top-scoring International School Official contestants appear in International honour rolls.
  • Each of the top five Canadian School Official contestants receives a Plaque and a prize of $500.
  • Each of the next top ten Canadian School Official contestants receives a prize of $200.

Team Awards

A school's team score consists of the sum of the scores of its three highest scoring official contestants. Schools have the option of not participating in the team competition.

For schools in Canada, rankings and team honour rolls are provided at three levels: zone, provincial, and national (for regions with at least four competing teams). Canadian schools are also eligible for the Canadian Championship Plaque, Provincial Championship Plaques, and Zone Championship Certificates.

For schools outside Canada, rankings and team honour rolls are provided.

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Canadian Senior and Intermediate Mathematics Contests

Admissions and Scholarships

To be eligible for a Faculty of Mathematics entrance scholarship, applicants to our Faculty must write at least one of the CSMC or the Euclid (writing both contests are encouraged), during the school year in which they are applying.

While the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest and Euclid Contest are not required for admission to the Faculty of Mathematics, strong performance in either of these can help you earn admission.

Official Contestants

All students that write the Canadian Intermediate Mathematics Contest at schools inside Canada or outside Canada are classified as “Canadian School Official” and “International School Official”, respectively, provided that they are in Grade 10 or below. All other students that write the Canadian Intermediate Mathematics Contest at schools inside Canada or outside Canada are classified as “Canadian School Unofficial” and “International School Unofficial”, respectively.

Students that write the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest in schools inside Canada are classified as “Canadian School Official” provided they

  1. properly complete their Student Information Form,
  2. were born on or after January 1, 2002 and
  3. have been in attendance at an elementary school, secondary school, and/or CÉGEP in Canada since January 1, 2020.

All other students that write the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest in schools inside Canada are classified as “Canadian School Unofficial”.

Students that write the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest in schools outside Canada are classified as “International School Official” provided they

  1. properly complete their Student Information Form, and
  2. were born on or after January 1, 2002.

All other students that write the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest in schools outside Canada are classified as “International School Unofficial”.

Individual Awards

  • Every student scoring in the top 25% of all competitors receives a Certificate of Distinction.
  • Each School Champion receives a Contest Medal, at the discretion of the CEMC Executive.
  • The names of some top-scoring Canadian School Official contestants appear in zone, provincial and Canadian honour rolls (for regions with at least 30 participating students). The names of some top-scoring Canadian School Unofficial contestants are listed separately.
  • The names of some top-scoring International School Official contestants appear in International honour rolls.
  • Each of the top five Canadian School Official contestants receives a Plaque and a prize of $300 for the Canadian Intermediate Mathematics Contest and $500 for the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest.

Team Awards

A school's team score consists of the sum of the scores of its five highest scoring official contestants. Schools have the option of not participating in the team competition.

For schools in Canada, rankings and team honour rolls are provided at three levels: zone, provincial, and national (for regions with at least four competing teams). Canadian schools are also eligible for the Canadian Championship Plaque, Provincial Championship Plaques, and Zone Championship Certificates.

For schools outside Canada, rankings and team honour rolls are provided.

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Beaver Computing Challenge

Individual Awards

  • A Certificate of Participation can be printed for each student.
  • A Certificate of Distinction can be printed for each student scoring in the top 25% in their school provided at least 4 students from the school participate.
  • For schools with less than 4 participating students, a Certificate of Distinction can be printed for students scoring in the top 25% of all competitors.
  • The names of some of the top-scoring students among all those participating in the challenge are posted online.

We also encourage schools and boards to recognize, both internally and externally, students who excel.

Team Awards

There is no team competition for these contests.

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Canadian Computing Competition and Canadian Computing Olympiad

Admissions

While the Canadian Computing Competition (CCC) is not an admission requirement to University of Waterloo Math, we encourage you to participate as high marks will be an asset for your admission into the School of Computer Science.

Official Contestants

Students that write the Canadian Computing Competition in schools inside Canada are classified as “Canadian School Official” provided they

  1. were born on or after July 1, 2001, and
  2. were in attendance at an elementary school, secondary school, and/or CÉGEP in Canada from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

All other students that write the Canadian Computing Competition in schools inside Canada are classified as “Canadian School Unofficial”.

Students that write the Canadian Computing Competition in schools outside Canada are classified as “International School Official” provided they

  1. properly complete their Student Information Form, and
  2. were born on or after July 1, 2001.

All other students that write the Canadian Computing Competition in schools outside Canada are classified as “International School Unofficial”.

Canadian Computing Competition (CCC) Awards

  • Every student scoring in the top 25% of all competitors receives a Certificate of Distinction.
  • The names of some top-scoring Canadian School Official contestants appear in honour rolls for both Junior and Senior competitions.

Canadian Computing Olympiad (CCO) Awards

Approximately 20 of the top CCC Senior contestants classified as Canadian School Official are invited to the CCO, held at the University of Waterloo.

  • Each CCO contestant receives a plaque for gold, silver or bronze standing based on their results in both the CCC and CCO competitions.
  • Each official silver medalist receives a $200 prize.
  • Each official gold medalist receives a $500 prize.
Note that top-performing Canadian citizens who are attending secondary school outside of Canada may be eligible for invitation to the CCO: please contact the CEMC for further details.
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Disclaimer

The CEMC reserves the right to use its discretion when publishing results and awarding prizes to individuals and teams.