The 2015 Canada Day Challenge is Officially Launched

The Honourable Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, today launched the 2015 Canada Day Challenge.

The Canada Day Challenge is an annual contest that invites young Canadians aged 8 to 18 to express their creativity and show their pride in being Canadian by presenting an entry in one or more than one category, as follows:

• Draw it! – present a poster, a drawing or a painting
• Snap it! – present an original digital photograph
• Write it! – present a short story, a poem or an essay

A total of nine finalists will be selected, three in each category. Of these nine finalists, three will be chosen as national winners to represent each category, and their work will be featured on the winning posters of the 2015 Celebrate Canada program.

The nine finalists will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Ottawa for two (the finalist and a parent or legal guardian) to participate in Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill. The nine finalists will also have the opportunity to work with a team from the National Film Board who will guide them in the production of an individual short feature on their adventure in the National Capital Region.

The official partners of the 2015 Canada Day Challenge are the National Film Board, Parks Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Encounters with Canada, the Trans Canada Trail, Canada Post, the Canadian Museum of History and the Royal Canadian Mint.

For more information on the contest, entry rules and regulations, as well as additional learning resources, visit the Canada Day Challenge website at Canada Day Challenge 2015: http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1292268977681/1292268977684

• This year’s theme is “Strong. Proud. Free.”
• Young Canadians are invited to present entries related to Canadian history, culture and identity that highlight key milestones in the history of our country on the road to 2017, when Canada will celebrate its 150th anniversary.
• Contestants may submit entries in all three categories.
• Contestants may submit as many as five photographs in the Snap it! category.
• Entries will be accepted from January 1 to March 20, 2015.
• The finalists will be announced in spring 2015.
• The winning entries will be exhibited at the Canadian Museum of History from June to September 2015.

“In 2015, Canadians from all walks of life will celebrate several milestones in our country’s history. I invite young Canadians from coast to coast to take up the Challenge and share their perspective on these events with us. Show your creativity, use the resources at your disposal and express yourself to help us celebrate Canada—a country that is strong, proud and free.”

—The Honourable Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages