CIAC 2026 Theme

Last year, CKSTEM introduced three new contests in the areas of Visual Arts, Creative Writing, and Photography. We believe that these contests allow for students' holistic development and success in today’s world.

CIPC, the Photography Contest, is designed to allow students to capture how innovations influence our lives and humanity. We also want our young photographers to show the impact of innovations on society. This will enable them to analyze, communicate and reinterpret the ideas and expressions.

Create a more sustainable world through a personal or school project. Students can tell their photo stories explaining their project and its impact. Students can pick any one of the following themes to create their project and take photos to show the project lifecycle:

• Theme 1: Create a project for renewable energy.
• Theme 2: Create a project for recycling.

• Education in the arts enables students to create ideas and images that reflect, communicate, and change their views of the world.
• The expectations in this contest align well with the arts curriculum. It involves using technologies and conceptual and aesthetic conceptions to record, enhance, communicate and reinterpret ideas.
• This contest focuses on the basic principles of photography. For young artists, it helps increase their understanding of the art of photography and various techniques used within, such as camera angles, lighting, etc.
• The evaluation rubric used in the contest provides further details on how the student’s work is evaluated and graded.

Contest Eligibility: Open to students in Grades 5-10

Contest Levels: Three levels based on the student’s current school grade

• Junior Level: Grades 5 & 6
• Middle Level: Grades 7 & 8
• Senior Level: Grades 9 & 10

Contest Date:

• Submission open: March 1 - 31, 2025

Contest Format: The contest is online, and students will be asked to submit their artwork.

Originality: We are looking for original ideas in these contests. We will conduct checks for plagiarism. So, please be sure to trust yourself and be authentic. We want to see the world through your eyes. You may surprise the world through your insight. Please create something you will be proud of, regardless of the outcome of this contest.  

All contest participants are eligible for the following awards:

• Gold Awards: Top 1% of students for each contest level. The award includes a customized medal & e-certificate.
• Silver Awards: Top 2-3% of students for each contest level. The award includes a customized medal & e-certificate.
• Bronze Awards: Top 4-6% of students for each contest level. The award includes a customized medal & e-certificate.
• Honors Award: Top 7-10% of students for each contest level. The award includes a customized medal & e-certificate.
• Certificate of participation: Given to all participants​.

* Because of the resources, CKSTEM will not pay for the international shipping to the schools. Awards will be sent to Canadian students, including schools and all other paid students. Students will also have an opportunity to join us in an award ceremony in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

• If you are a school staff interested in participating, you can find the registration package here. You may also contact us at info@ckstem.org. All contests are free for school registrations.
• This contest is not available for individual registration as we can not verify the work.

This composition quiz aims to help you check your knowledge of photo composition. You can access the quiz here.

You can download the Canadian Innovation Contests (CIC) brochure from here.

You can review the CIPC winning entries here.