About the event

The CANDEV Data Challenge is a series of events aiming to bring together students during 48 hours to solve data science challenges from participating Government of Canada (GoC) partners. Participants are supported by mentors and technical experts throughout the competition. It is a unique opportunity for students to broaden their skills by working in a team on a concrete challenge and attending technical workshops presented by experts. It is also a great opportunity to network with recruiters from various federal departments and agencies.

The upcoming virtual event will be take place from February 4 to 7, 2022 (Friday to Monday). Please see the Schedule for more details on the activities. The series is at its third edition with the first two held at the University of Ottawa in October 2018 and January 2020.

This third edition of CANDEV is the first ever virtual event, expanding opportunities to reach students across the country. The event is set to take place over the course of four consecutive days. The competition itself will take place from Friday noon to Sunday noon. The various activities are described in the Schedule tab.

Any student enrolled in a Canadian post-secondary institution with an interest in programming or problem-solving is invited to participate in CANDEV. Participants of the challenge must be 18 years of age or older and must be have the equipment required (laptop and proper internet connectivity) to attend the virtual event. Students with an interest in acquiring functional programming and data analytics experience from any field are encouraged to participate, as the event is not limited to software programmers.

The Data Challenge provides students with an opportunity to network with professionals in the data science community and potentially find employment within the federal public service. It is also an excellent activity to develop programming and analytical skills though our technical workshops and by developing solutions to real business challenges. All participants are invited to apply to the non-advertised recruitment pool from which StatCan and partnering departments can offer permanent, casual or other positions.

The CANDEV team at Statistics Canada is responsible for the organization and execution of each event. The team is made up of a group of professionals who started in 2017 with the planning of our first ever event in partnership with the University of Ottawa. The team is led by the three members of our Leadership team: Heidi Boles, Sarah-Maude Bossé, and Olivier Godard.

For a data challenge to succeed, enthusiastic people with a variety of skills need to come together and work as a team. You don’t need to know how to code! Everyone has expertise that could be valuable for this challenge—whether it be conceptualizing ideas, understanding and manipulating datasets, developing a new product, or communicating a story effectively.

CANDEV involves data challenges that relate to data management and usage, especially challenges encountered in government departments. The data challenges are provided by StatCan and partnering Government of Canada departments. New challenges are submitted for each event.

Yes, students are welcome to form their own teams in advance of the event. Should you wish to create your own team, each participant needs to register on the CANDEV application as an individual. Have one of the group members select the option to create a new team on the application, this will generate a Team ID. All of the other team members will then need to use this Team ID to select the option to join a team on the application. All teams must be made up of no more than 4 participants; however, you do not need to have a full team to join the challenge together.

No, you can register as an individual or as a group (with a maximum of four members). If you register as a solo participant or a smaller group (three or less), you will be matched with others to form a complete group of four.

Consult the Terms and Conditions