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Frequently Asked Questions

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  1. Where can I obtain more information about contests?
  2. Why should I write CEMC contests?
  3. What is a School Number and Confidential Password?
  4. I am a Teacher interested in ordering contests for some of my students. How do I place an order for any/all contests except for the CTMC?
  5. I am a Teacher interested in registering my students for the Canadian Team Mathematics Contest (CTMC). How do I register for the CTMC?
  6. Can I view my order?
  7. Can I make a change to my order?
  8. Can I make photocopies?
  9. When should I expect my contests to arrive? Can I track my order?
  10. My child is home-schooled. Are they still eligible to write the contests?
  11. I am a student. Can I register for your contests as an individual?
  12. When will Contest Results be available?
  13. When are the Contest Results booklet and solutions available and where can I find them?
  14. Where can I see the cut-off marks for various awards and view the averages for the recent contests?
  15. For Teachers to access the Online Certificate Generator:
  16. What resources are available to prepare me for the contests?
  17. How do I order CEMC books?
  18. Can a student from outside my school write with us?
  19. Where can I access the CEMC Online Ordering Terms and Conditions Information?

  1. Where can I obtain more information about the contests?

    Information for each contest is available on the individual contest pages on our website. The list of our contests can be found by clicking “Contests” on the left-hand menu of our homepage.

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  3. Why should I write your contests?

    If you enjoy mathematics or computer science and want to think about these areas in a different way, then you should write a contest. You don’t have to be the best student or even one of the top students in your class to do well or get some enjoyment out of a contest.

    Details about awards for the Beaver Computing Challenge, Canadian Intermediate/Senior Mathematics Contest, Pascal, Cayley, Fermat, Fryer, Galois, Hypatia, Euclid and Gauss contests can be viewed by going to the “Contest Awards and Recognition” page.

    Below are important points of interest related to some of our contests.

    Canadian Computing Contest
    • While the Canadian Computing Competition (CCC) is not required for admission to the University of Waterloo Math, we encourage you to participate as a high score can be an asset for your admission into the School of Computer Science.
    • Approximately 20 of the top CCC senior official participants from schools in Canada are invited to the CCO at the University of Waterloo each spring. Other outstanding participants, including those who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents attending school outside of Canada, may also be invited.
    • Results of the CCC and CCO will also be used for selecting the Canadian Team for the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), an international competition in informatics (computing) for secondary students from around the world.
    • The selection of CCO participants and the Canadian IOI team members is at the discretion of the CEMC Executive.

    Euclid and Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest (CSMC)
    • To be eligible for a Faculty of Mathematics entrance scholarship, applicants to our Faculty must write at least one of the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest (CSMC) or the Euclid Contest (writing both contests is encouraged), during the school year in which they are applying.
    • While the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest (CSMC) and the Euclid Contest are not required for admission to the Faculty of Mathematics, strong performance in either of these can help support your application for admission.
    • The Faculty of Mathematics encourages you to participate in both the Canadian Senior Mathematics Contest (CSMC) and the Euclid Contest because preparing for and writing these will help develop your problem-solving skills and prepare you for university. If you are not an Ontario high school student, you are particularly encouraged to do this to determine that you have sufficient mathematical background to enter University of Waterloo.
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  5. What is a School Number and Confidential Password?

    The Teacher organizing the contest requires the CEMC School Number and confidential password assigned to the school to place orders online. Also, the CEMC School Number and confidential password are required for the teacher to access participants' results after the contest is marked. The CEMC School Number and confidential password are emailed each September to the Head of Math of each school that has previously registered for our contests.

    Please note that school accounts are not individual teacher accounts. If a teacher leaves the school for a new school, they must contact us to be removed from their old school account and added to or create their new school account.

    If you did not receive or cannot find your CEMC School Number and confidential school password, please do not fill out a New School Application Form. If you are the Head of Math contact, you can retrieve your CEMC School Number and confidential password by submitting your email address in our “Login Help/Aide Login”. If you are still unable to retrieve your login information, we ask that you contact us by email or call (519) 888-4808 to retrieve this information.

    Please note: the CEMC School Number and confidential password must not be given to any students or parents. Only teachers managing contests for the entire school should have access to the CEMC School Number and confidential password.

    If your school is participating in our contests for the first time, please fill out the New School Application Form. It may take approximately 10 days to process the application before you receive the login details needed to order any contests. Please keep this in mind.

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  7. I am a Teacher interested in ordering contests for some of my students. How do I place an order for any/all contests except for the CTMC?

    As a Teacher, you can order our contests online. Only Teachers/Principals can register for contests. Once you order a contest and it has reached the "Processed" status, you cannot modify/edit the order.

    You must have the your CEMC School Number and confidential password to order contests. If you are the Head of Math contact person that we have on file and do not know your School Number and Password, please refer to question #3.

    For a step-by-step guide on with photo examples, please see our Contest Ordering Guide.

    A brief order description process is listed below:
    • Click on "Contests" on the left-hand menu of our homepage.
    • Click on "Contest Supervisor Portal" (left-hand menu below "Contests").
      • Please note: If you do not know your school number and password, click the "Retrieve Login Information" button and follow the prompts.
    • Enter the CEMC School Number and confidential password assigned to your school.
    • Click the “Login/Ouvrir une session” button.
    • Select the “Order Contests” button.
    • Review and update your school information:
      • Please ensure you have entered an Accounts Payable (AP) email address for your school, different from the Head of Math contact. The Accounts Payable contact is the person who handles the finances/invoices at your school.
      • Confirm/update the contact information for the Principal, Head of Math names and email addresses, and Head of Computer Science names and email addresses.
    • Once the information has been correctly changed, click the “Update and Order Contests” button at the bottom of the page.
      • Some of the other school information cannot be changed online. To make any other changes you can either email or call our office at (519) 888-4808.
    • In the top portion of the next screen, you will see a list of the contests that are currently open for ordering. Click the link for the contest you wish to order.
      • Any current contest orders that you have will be listed in the chart underneath, along with the status of your current orders, the date of the order, and other order information.
    • You will be brought to the “Contest Ordering” page, specific to the contest you wish to register for. Enter the Contest Manager’s first name, last name and e-mail address in the spaces provided. This is the Teacher that will facilitate this contest at your school.
    • Select the payment method from the drop-down menu. The options are Credit Card or Invoice.
      • Credit Card: Visa, MasterCard, and American Express payments are processed by Bambora. Bambora is a secure order processing and online payment facility.
      • Invoice: Once your order has been shipped, invoices are sent by the University of Waterloo Finance Department, not the CEMC. Please wait for your invoice to arrive before you make payment, as the invoice contains information that you will need in order to satisfy your payment.
        • Purchase Order: You will be immediately prompted to enter a Purchase Order (PO) Number. Please ensure you have your PO number ready to enter at this time. You will need to select whether or not this PO will be “Bill to School” or “Bill to Board”. If you select “Bill to Board” and we do not have your school board on file, you will be directed to contact us (have your school board address available) so that we can add it to our database. Once we add your school board, you will have to restart your contest ordering.
    • For the Pascal, Cayley, Fermat and Gauss contests, we offer two ways for the contests to be delivered.
      • Option 1: I want contest materials shipped to me and to have access to electronic copies (to be made available closer to contest day)
      • Option 2: I want electronic copies of contest materials only
    • Enter the number of contests you would like in each language (“English” or “French”) in the empty boxes within the provided chart.
      • Note: for the Beaver Computing Challenge and the Canadian Team Mathematics Contest, French is unavailable at this time.
      Please note: If you are registering for the Gauss or Beaver Computing Contest (BCC), you must order a minimum of 10 contests, whether or not you use all 10.
    • Click the “Next” button when you are finished. If you click “Go Back”, your data will not be saved and you will be taken back to the previous page with the list of contests currently open for registration.
    • The next page is the “Contest Order Confirmation” page, where you must confirm the information in the chart to be accurate and correct. Please read the information underneath the chart and confirm that you have both read and accepted the CEMC Policies and Conditions. The CEMC does not offer refunds, returns or cancellations of any kind at this time. Click the “Edit” button if you need to make any changes.
      • If you are paying by Invoice, your order will be submitted when you click “Confirm”. Please do NOT click the “Back” button.
      • If you are paying by credit card, clicking the “Confirm and Make Credit Card Payment” button will bring you to a secure webpage to enter your credit card information.
    • Click the “Confirm” button (if you are paying by purchase order or invoice) or the “Confirm and Make Credit Card Payment” button if you are paying by credit card. If paying by credit card, enter your credit card information on the secure webpage and click “Submit Payment” (if you exit the credit card screen before you click “Submit Payment”, your order will not be saved or placed and you will have to start over next time you log in).
    • If your order was successful: After you have confirmed/submitted your contest order, you are directed to a webpage that says your order has been successfully received. If you paid by credit card, it will say that your credit card transaction has been approved. If you are not redirected to this webpage, please log in again and review your “Current Orders”. If you do not see your order listed in the “Current Orders” chart, your contest order may have been unsuccessful. You should also receive a confirmation email if your order was successful.
    • If your credit card was declined: You will see an error message on your screen that will say: “Your credit card has been declined, and your web browser session is expired. Please click OK to login again”. Click the “OK” button, and you will be redirected to the login again and re-submit your order.
    • Schools will be E-mailed with a tracking number once contest materials have been shipped. The tracking number will also be shown in your “Current Orders” chart when you log in.
      • Please Note: You cannot place a new order for a particular contest that has already been ordered by your school. You must add to the original order. To do this, you can “Edit” or “Delete” any previous orders as long as they have not been paid, invoiced or are in the process of being shipped. If your order is applicable for editing or deleting, there will be a link provided in the Status/Modify section of your “Current Orders” chart, upon login.

    If you have any questions regarding your contest order or wish to change your order after it has been paid, invoiced, processed, or is in the process of being shipped, please email or call (519) 888-4808.

    Please do not delete an order that was placed by someone else at your school because they will not receive their original order.

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  8. I am a Teacher interested in registering my students for the Canadian Team Mathematics Contest (CTMC). How do I register for the CTMC?

    The Canadian Team Mathematics Contest (CTMC) is an exciting and challenging competition where participants work in teams to flex their mathematical problem-solving skills through fun and engaging activities. For more information about the CTMC and how to participate in our contest, you can review it on our Canadian Team Mathematics Contest webpage. For the CTMC, we do not ship contest materials. Teachers are required to print the materials to run the in-school contest.

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  9. Can I view my order?

    We encourage Teachers to log onto the website to view contest orders using their CEMC School Number and confidential password:

    • Click the “Contests” tab on the left-hand menu, then click on “Contest Supervisor Portal”.
    • Enter your CEMC School Number and confidential password and click “Login”.
    • Click on the blue “Order Contests” button and then you will be prompted to review your school’s information.
    • After reviewing your school's information, click the “Update & Order Contests” button. You should now see your contest order(s) located in the chart labelled Current Orders.
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  11. Can I make a change to my order?

    There is a very brief period during which you may be able to modify your order if your order has not already been paid, invoiced, processed, or is in the process of being shipped. You can log in, click the “Update and Order Contests” button and view your order status under the “Current Orders” chart If your order is applicable for modifying or deleting, there will be a link provided in the Status/Modify section of your “Current Orders” chart, upon login. You can also contact us for questions regarding this.

    If your order has already been paid, invoiced, processed, or in the process of being shipped, you will be unable to modify your order online.

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  13. Can I make photocopies?

    If you have received your contests and you require additional contest papers, please carefully read the instructions enclosed with your contest package and make photocopies. For all the contests except the Gauss Contest, the cost for photocopies is 1.5 times the original contest cost and payment must be included with the completed contests when you return them for marking. Photocopies are not allowed for the Gauss Contest. If you require additional Gauss Contests, the cost is still the regular price. Please email, or call our office at (519) 888-4808 to discuss adjust your order.

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  15. When should I expect my contests to arrive? Can I track my order?

    A “Date shipped” and tracking information is posted in our ordering system once we ship the order. We will also email you the tracking information once it’s available. We encourage you to login with your CEMC School Number and confidential password, view your “Current Orders” and track your shipment.

    We begin shipping contest materials approximately four to eight weeks prior to the official contest date. If schools have not received their contest materials two weeks prior to contest date, please track the order online and, if necessary, contact our office by email, or call (519) 888-4808.

    * We ask that schools monitor their own package tracking status to ensure safe delivery.

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  17. My child is home-schooled. Are they still eligible to write the contests?

    Homeschool Associations or parents that homeschool their children are able to participate in our contests as a ‘Homeschool’ provided that the students are 100% homeschooled. If the students attend or are registered with any public or private school whatsoever (even for an hour or two per week), these students are to participate in our contests at that school as a participant through that school (or in another school in their area if their school is not participating).

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  18. I am a student. Can I register for your contests as an individual?

    Students must register with their school or find a local school that will proctor them. Unfortunately, a student cannot register on their own – they must write through a school that is registered to participate in our contests. We suggest contacting your school to find out whether or not they have participated in our contests before. If they have not, registering as a “new school” is a simple process for the school Principal or Head Math Teacher to complete. Your school is welcome to contact us if they have any questions regarding this process, as we must handle matters with the school, directly.

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  20. When will Contest Results be available?

    We aim to have student contest results available approximately six to eight weeks after the contest date. Contest supervisors notified by email when they can review participants' results in the Contest Supervisor Portal.

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  22. When are the Contest Results booklet and solutions available, and where can I find them?

    We generate a results booklet and solutions for each contest. Most of these booklets and solution sets are posted on our website six to eight weeks after the contest date.

    To locate the Results and Solutions Booklets Accessible to the Public:

    • Click “Contests” on the left-hand menu of our homepage, then click on “Past Contests”.
    • Scroll to your contest chart.
    • The Result Booklet is listed in the chart, by year.
    • Click on the year you wish to download.
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  24. Where can I see the cut-off marks for various awards and view the averages for the recent contests?

    All cutoff marks and averages are listed on our website as soon as they are available (approximately four to six weeks after the contest is written). You can click “Contests” on the left-hand menu, then “Results”, then the “Statistics summarizing the results” link provided under the “Averages and Cutoffs” sub-heading. Scroll to the chart for the contest you are interested in.

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  26. For Teachers to access the Online Certificate Generator:

    If you need assistance when generating certificates for our contests, please look at the step-by-step guide found in the Contest Supervisor Portal on how to use the Certificate Generator.

    Note: Certificates will not be successfully generated until after Averages and Cut-offs are posted on the website, roughly four to six weeks after the contest is over.

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  28. What resources are available to prepare me for the contests?

    We offer several years of Past Contests and Solutions online. You can download these free of charge or click “Contests” in the left-hand menu, click “Past Contests”, and scroll to the contest that you plan to write. From the chart that lists the Past Contests, Solutions, and Results, click the year to receive the PDF files to be printed.

    These contests and solutions are not for sale; you may download these resources for free.

    In addition to past contests and solutions, there are other resources that can be used to prepare for the contests. Under “Contests” on the left-hand menu, click “Preparation”. Here, you can access links to various practice materials.

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  30. How do I order CEMC books?


    • Click “Books” in the left-hand menu of our homepage. Please review the general shipping information.
    • Next, click the “Enter Secure Site” button on the page. The catalogue of books will appear. You can view the description of the book by clicking the “title” or image of the book. Please note: There is a search option available to filter your options.
    • Clicking the book will bring you to the “Publication Details” page for that specific book. Here, enter the “Quantity” you require in the box below the image.
    • Click the “Add to Cart” button. A message will appear on-screen, reading “Successfully added to the cart.”
    • You can click the “Return To Catalogue” link to keep shopping or click the “Go To Cart” button.
    • Once you click “Go To Cart,” you will be able to review and edit the items in your cart. You will view the quantity, total price, and shipping/tax totals on this page.
    • If you would like to keep shopping, select the “Continue Shopping” button to return to the catalogue. You can also click “Clear Cart” if you’d like to empty your cart. Alternatively, select the “Checkout” button if you are ready to pay.
    • The “Checkout” button will bring you to the “Customer Details” page, where you are required to enter your shipping information and select your method of payment from the pull down menu. Click “Continue” when finished.
    • View your order details and click “Send Order”.
    • You will receive a confirmation email when your order has been successful.
    • Once payment is received,?please allow at least 10 days in Canada and 4-6 weeks outside Canada for delivery. Remote areas can take much longer. If your books are damaged or your shipment is incorrect, please contact our office by email or call (519) 888-4808.
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  32. Can a student from outside my school write with us?


    Yes, if the school that a student is enrolled in is not participating in a CEMC contest, they are welcome to write with another school that is participating. However, it is entirely up to the schools to decide whether to allow an outside participant.

    If a school welcomes a participant, this means that the participating school will be responsible for ordering and paying for all the contests (for regular and outside students) through the Contest Supervisor Portal. The Contest Supervisor of the participating school will also have to arrange for the outside student to write the contest in the school at the same time as their regular students. The school is responsible for communicating scores and for giving out awards for all students who participated in the contest(s) through their school.

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  34. Where can I access the CEMC Online Ordering Terms and Conditions Information?


    Access Online Ordering Terms and Conditions for the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (CEMC).

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