Beaver Computing Challenge

• Students in Grade 6 or below are eligible to participate in the Grade 5/6 BCC.
• Students in Grade 8 or below are eligible to participate in the Grade 7/8 BCC.
• Students in Grade 10 or below are eligible to participate in the Grade 9/10 BCC. 

Contest dates:  

• The Beaver Computing Challenge is usually held in the month of November. Contest dates for 2025/2026 will be updated in March 2025.

Contest timing: Contest Supervisors are expected to administer the contest within the two-week contest period. We encourage schools to administer the contest as close to the beginning of the school day as possible in their respective time zones.

• 12 multiple-choice questions out of a total of 72 (Grade 5/6).
• 15 multiple-choice questions out of a total of 90 (Grade 7/8 and Grade 9/10).
• Time allowed for completion is 45 minutes.
• Written in school, participants write online, individually.
• Some calculators permitted. 

The BCC is a problem-solving competition that emphasizes computational and logical thinking. The questions draw inspiration from computer science topics but only require familiarity with concepts covered in the mathematics curriculum across all Canadian provinces. 

Below are links to a few resources and classroom support that can help with preparation for the Beaver Computing Challenge (BCC):

• Online Practice Contest: Participants and supervisors are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the contest platform prior to the official contest date using the BCC Practice and Live Challenges website, made available closer to the official contest date.
• Past Contests: Participants can review and attempt past contests to gain a better understanding of the contest format, level of difficulty and time management. The CEMC has published contests and their solutions from previous years in the Past Contests section of Tools and Resources.  
• CEMC Visits Schools: Experts from the CEMC are available to conduct problem-solving workshops for students and educators. Visit CEMC Visits Schools to learn more. 

• Contest Supervisors should arrange to have their participants write the contest at school and are responsible for ensuring that participants are supervised appropriately.
• Participants and supervisors are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the contest platform prior to the official contest date by using the BCC Practice and Live Challenges website.
• Through their supervisor, each participant will be provided a username and a password to access the secure online contest platform. They will input their information and submit their responses. Participants will not receive their results immediately.

• Results will be available in the Contest Supervisor Portal approximately one week after the end of the two-week contest period. Certificates of Participation and Certificates of Distinction will be made available.

   

The following is a list of the steps for supervising educators as they prepare for and proctor the BCC.

Before the Challenge

1. If your school has never participated in any CEMC contests before, you'll need to apply for a CEMC school account before you can order contests for your students.
2. There are three separate Challenges: Grade 5/6, Grade 7/8 and Grade 9/10. Students may participate in at most one Beaver Computing Challenge in a school year.
3. Order the BCC online. You will be asked for the total number of students participating in the BCC - students will choose the grade level they are writing at the start of the contest by clicking on the appropriate, grade-specific button (such as "Grade 7/8 BCC"). Be sure to check that your email address is correctly recorded as the Contest Supervisor email.
4. Arrange for the Challenge to be held during the weeks of the Challenge. Each participating student will need access to a web browser connected to the internet.*
5. Approximately one week before the Challenge, a list of user ids and passwords will be available in the Contest Material Repository in the Contest Supervisor Portal.
6. Encourage participants to log in and attempt the practice Challenges.
7. Even closer to the Challenge, you will be emailed an additional password that participants will need to access the current year's Challenge.

* Schools typically conduct the BCC on one of the days during the contest weeks. However, if schools have a large enrollment and/or limited space, they may choose to run the Challenge on multiple days. It's important to minimize interaction between participants who have completed the Challenge and those who have not. The BCC emphasizes participation over competition.

Day of the Challenge

1. We encourage you to provide scrap paper and pens/pencils to participants to assist them in solving the problems. 
2. Some calculators are permitted.
3. Explain the format of the Challenge:
   1. At the Grade 5/6 level, there are 12 multiple-choice questions graded out of a total of 60: 4 questions in Part A worth 6 each, 4 questions in Part B worth 5 each, and 4 questions in Part C worth 4 each.
   2. At the Grade 7/8 and 9/10 levels, there are 15 multiple-choice questions graded out of a total of 90: 5 questions in Part A worth 8 each, 5 questions in Part B worth 6 each, and 5 questions in Part C worth 4 each.
   3. Each unanswered question is worth 2 up to a maximum of 5 unanswered questions at the Grade 5/6 level and a maximum of 6 unanswered questions at the Grade 7/8 and 9/10 levels.
4. Instruct participants to visit the BCC Practice and Live Challenges website and use their user ids and passwords to log in. Also give them the additional password needed to access the current year’s Challenge.
5. Ask participants to carefully provide their name, grade and gender (optional) as instructed.
6. Inform participants that the system will give each of them exactly 45 minutes to answer the questions.
7. Contest Supervisors must ensure that the integrity of the contest is maintained. For example, try to prevent communication between participants and ensure they work individually.

After the Challenge

1. Results will be available in the Contest Supervisor Portal approximately one week after the two-week contest period ends. Certificates of Participation and Certificates of Distinction can be printed using the certificate generator in the Contest Supervisor Portal.
2. The names of top-scoring students among all those participating in the BCC will be posted online.
3. Solutions will be available online. They will include Connections to Computer Science outlining how the problems are related to computer science and its applications. 

Contest fee per participant: $3.00  

Processing fee per order, applies to all contest orders: $5.00  

For the BCC there is a minimum order requirement of 10 contests.  

This contest is tax-exempt within Canada and internationally.  

The CEMC does not offer refunds, returns or cancellations of any kind. 

We believe that all students will enjoy and benefit from the experience of preparing for and writing our mathematics and computer science contests. Our contests are not tests or exams. There is no passing or failing score. Information regarding the criteria for awarding individual students and schools based on their performance is provided below.

Individual awards

• A Certificate of Distinction can be printed for each participant scoring in the top 25% of all participants within their own school, for schools with at least 4 participants.
• The top-scoring participants' names in the Challenge are available online.  
• We also encourage schools and boards to recognize and celebrate the achievements of those participants who excel.

Opt-out option:  

Our contests allow participants to opt out of having their names displayed in publicly accessible results booklets if their score is high enough to be listed on an honour roll. Their names will, however, still be published in the school results which we provide securely to the organizing educator. 

Beaver Computing Challenge 2023