Rules

The #OurStoriesOurVoices national contest invites you to select a person, place, event, or object in your community that other Canadians should know about. Then, share your research and analysis in a creative format of your choosing.

You will argue for the historical significance of your topic by connecting your local story to greater moments and movements in Canadian history and explaining why this story matters.

You will also support your work with primary and secondary sources and evidence of strong historical inquiry.

Additional short answer response questions in the application will ask you to identify your choice of topic and summarize why this story is important to your community and significant to Canadian history.

A panel of judges will review the submissions and select 30 recipients from across the country.

Deadline for student submissions: December 17, 2021

How to Participate

1. Select any person, place, event, or object that is important to your community’s past.
2. Come up with reasons why your topic is historically significant to Canada and support your work with primary and secondary sources.
3. Create a video (60 seconds maximum), essay/short story (500-600 words), photo essay (at least 5 images with captions), illustration, poem, song, radio broadcast (5-8 minutes), or any other project you wish on that topic.
4. Create a SurveyMonkey Apply account and open a contest submission form.
5. Upload your project, attach a signed Student Permission Form, and answer the supplementary questions.
6. Don’t forget to stay connected with the #OurStoriesOurVoices hashtag!

Eligibility

• Students must be aged 9-18 and living in Canada.
• A parent or guardian must sign the Student Permission Form if the student is under the age of 18. 
• Students must submit in one or both of Canada’s official languages (English and French). Submissions in other languages will be considered as long there is subtitling/translation in one of the two official languages.
• Only complete submissions will be considered.
• Team or partner submissions will not be considered; the creative response must have been produced by one student.
• Canada’s National History Society encourages the participation of minority groups such as francophones living outside of Quebec, anglophones living within Quebec, Inuit, First Nations and Métis, and others reflecting the diversity of Canada.

*Although you are permitted/encouraged to also be registered for your regional Heritage Fair and/or the Young Citizens program, it is not a requirement.

Judging Criteria

• Submission exhibits thoughtfulness and creativity.
• Creative response clearly identifies a topic and is within appropriate parameters (length, word count, etc.).
• Creative response is focused and polished (spell-checked/edited).
• Students are able to clearly convey the historical significance of their topic in their creative response.
• Students should correctly identify and reference any primary or secondary source evidence for their creative response. Any plagiarized content will render the submission ineligible.
• Any music, sound effects, images, or other similar material must be copyright-free or the student must receive permission to use the material from the rights holder. This material should be properly cited.
• Responses to short answer questions concisely and effectively identify choice of topic, explain why their story is important to their community, and describe its significance to Canadian history.

Prizing Opportunities

1. Thirty recipients will be invited to attend a two-day virtual youth forum (date TBD).
2. Recipients will have the opportunity to contribute to a post-contest publication that will be distributed to students and teachers across the country.
3. Contest recipients will receive a one-year complimentary subscription to their choice of either Canada’s History magazine or Kayak: Canada’s History Magazine for Kids.