Your monthly connection to youth STEM in Canada

A few years ago, each of them set up a project board at a regional STEM fair somewhere in Canada. This month, all eight are heading to Phoenix to represent the country at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). It’s the world’s largest youth science competition!

Selected at last year’s Canada-Wide Science Fair in Fredericton, they’ve spent the months since preparing for an event that brings together nearly 2,000 students from over 60 countries. Their projects span robotics, environmental engineering, antifungal resistance, wastewater filtration, infectious disease modelling, computational biology, neuroinflammation research, and wearable safety technology.

Canada has a strong record at ISEF. We’re cheering for all eight.

Meet the 2026 Team Canada-ISEF delegation

What’s Happening at YSC

Regional STEM Fairs

Fairs are happening across Canada throughout April. If you’re competing, good luck — we believe in you! If you want to cheer on the next generation in person, there’s nothing quite like it.

Find your nearest fair

CWSF 2026

May 23–30 at the Edmonton EXPO Centre and the University of Alberta. We’re still looking for volunteers, judges, exhibitors and sponsors!

Learn more about how to get involved

YSC Turns 60

On March 28, Youth Science Canada marked 60 years since its incorporation as a national organization.

Read our full 60th webstory

What’s Happening This Month

Upcoming Opportunities

• Let’s Talk Science Challenge: A free, team-based STEM competition for Grades 6–8 with a quiz and engineering challenge, in person and online across Canada. Competition starts mid-April. Learn more
• Let’s Talk Cancer (Multiple Dates): A free, in-person symposium for Grades 11 and 12 on cancer biology with hands-on activities at various locations. Find a location
• Canadian Innovation Week (May 11–15): A week of events across the country, dedicated to celebrating Canada’s innovators. Find local events

See all opportunities for more details

Worth Your Time

• Janice Pang started doing lab work at 13 as a science fair student at the Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair, competed at CWSF and ISEF, and is still on the GVRSF committee today. She’s now a fifth-year PhD candidate at U of T who just published in Science Signaling and is spinning out a biotech company from her research on long noncoding RNA therapeutics. BiotechTV interviewed her this week about the research, the startup, and the moment at CWSF when she realized she could make a career out of science.
• Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen launched aboard NASA’s Artemis II on April 1, becoming the first Canadian to reach deep space. The crew is on its way to the moon right now, splashing down April 10. CBC has been covering the mission since liftoff.
• Patti Leigh said yes in 1983 when someone needed help building a science fair in BC. Forty years later, STEM fairs in that province are funded in perpetuity. Her story is an interesting read
• If you’re heading into a science fair presentation this month, what judges are actually evaluating isn’t the project itself; it’s whether you can think through uncertainty out loud. The Q&A is where it’s really decided. (Article is written for the US, but the advice is still sound! Some specific details might be different for Canadian STEM fairs, however.)

This Month’s Thought

Right now, across Canada, students who started just like this year’s eight TC-ISEF members are presenting their projects for the first time. Most don’t know yet what’s possible from here.

Neither did Janice, when her name was called at CWSF.

— Stuart

P.S. Are you heading to a regional fair this month as a student, volunteer, or judge? Send me an email. I’d love to hear about your experience.