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STUDENT

ANNUAL NATIONAL SPEECH COMPETITION

REGISTER SOON
INVITATION - COMING SOON

January 3, 2027

DATE

Speak Up!

The Annual Persuasive Speech Competition invites students to deliver original 5–7 minute speeches on the theme “Making Canada Stronger" with specific topics addressed each year. Participants identify issues facing Canada, a province, or a community, explain their impact, and propose solutions. The competition accepts entries in English and French. Students are free to experiment with speech structure as long as they remain on theme. 

Price: Free

Location: Online

Prize: Each division winner recieves $250 plus $250 to donate to a non-profit

Division: Junior (Grades 6-9), Senior (Grades 10-12), and French (Junior and Senior)

Evaluation Criteria: Research (25%), persuasiveness (25%), speaking style (25%), and clarity of the problem and solution (25%)

Microphone

Third Edition

Date: February 11, 2024

Theme: Making Canada Stronger

Winners: 

  • Junior: Emily Qian (Winner), (2) Carolyn Smart, (3) William Wong

  • Senior: Yuri Salcedo (Winner), (2) Zhilun Yu, (3) Michaela Chan

Judges:

  • Preliminary: Lisa McLeese, Marilyn Lunde, Jordan Burg, Efrain Vasquez, John Robinson

  • Finals: Tracey Lee, Lisa McLeese, Jordan Burg, John Carmichael, Scott Stirrett

  • MC: Nikhil Gowd

Fourth Edition

Date: February 22, 2025

Theme: Making Canada Stronger

Winners: 

  • Junior: Olivia Liu (Winner), Durga Anand (Finalist), Logan Gordon (Finalist)​​

  • Senior: Nicole Liu (Winner), Muskaan Jaiswal (Finalist), Carol Qin (Finalist)

  • French: Eric Sweeny (Winner)​

Judges:

  • Preliminary: Richard Picotin, Jordan Burg, Marilyn Lunde, Efrain Vasquez, Arghya Dev Biswas Aryan, Arka Dev Biswas Deepra. Alaa Ibrahim, Ethan Curry, Massoma Kisob

  • Finals: Tracey Lee, John Carmichael, Nikki Cupit, Massoma Kisob, Vinayak Mishra, Robert McLeese

  • MC: Nikhil Gowd

Fifth Edition

Date: February 28, 2026

Theme: Making Canada Stronger

Winners: 

  • Junior: Emma Rinot (Winner), (2) Reyna Li, (3) Alysia Li

  • Senior: Zunaira Wasi (Winner), (2) Elise Nguyen, (3) Emmanuelle Etienne-Krief

  • French: Justin Huang (Winner), (2) Vicky Zhao, (3) Erin Sweeney

Judges:

  • Preliminary: Marilyn Lunde, Jane Hayward, Alaa Ibrahim, Pachaline Eze, Rowena Cahil, Richard Picotin

  • Finals: Paschaline Eze, Vinayak Mishra, Kevin Vuong, Tracey Lee, John Carmichael, Jordan Burg

  • MC: Nikhil Gowd

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