The statistics education committee (SEC) of the Statistical Society of Canada (SSC) organized and ran the Canadian edition of the 2024–2025 International Statistical Literacy Project (ISLP) poster competition. The ISLP is an initiative of the International Association for Statistical Education and the International Statistical Institute (ISI) where a poster competition is run every 2 years to promote students’ communication of statistical information. This poster competition is open to elementary school students starting in Grade 4 to bachelor’s-level postsecondary students. Winners of the Canadian edition go on to represent Canada in the 65th World Statistics Congress of the ISI in The Hague during October 5–9, 2025.

The SEC received 36 posters in all from students in Grades 7–9, 10–12, and at the bachelor’s level. Eighty-four students participated in the competition from 10 schools or universities spanning British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. The SEC was impressed with the calibre of posters received and awarded seven prizes to the top posters as follows.

In the Grade 7–9 category, Brendan Cai from Merivale High School in Ottawa placed first ($500) with the poster titled “Can Statistical Analysis Help Me Arrive at School on Time?” Judges were impressed by Brendan’s data collection and display of his analysis using advanced R language visualization tools.

In the Grade 10–12 category, Justin Ha from St. George’s School in Vancouver won first prize ($500) with the poster “A Study on Improving Interactions with Neurodivergent Individuals: Awareness, Volunteer Experiences, and Practical Approaches” whose interesting question, broad survey scope, and informative displays of descriptive statistics addressed a topical issue in accessibility. In the same category, Nicholas Kmita from Franco-Cité High School in Ottawa placed second ($300) with the poster “On the Relation Between Tags and Racing Paths of Trackmania Nations Forever Maps Using Classification Methods.” Kudos for implementing machine learning ideas at the secondary school level! The third-place ($200) winner is Jason Chung from Grandview Heights Secondary School in Surrey, British Columbia, with the poster “Does Raising the Minimum Wage Really Affect Unemployment?” whose use of linear regression analysis and graphical displays provides insights into an important economic question.

At the bachelor’s level, the first-place ($1,000) winner is the team of Afra Azad, Faiza Chowdhury, and Daniel Puente Cavazo from the University of Toronto with the poster “BMI, Booze and Blood Pressure: Quantifying the Effects of BMI and Alcohol Consumption on Blood Pressure.” Judges found the first-place poster to be a clear overall presentation and implementation of regression analysis in an epidemiological problem. Thinuri Welithotage from the University of Toronto was the second-place winner ($600) with the poster “Correlations Between Loneliness and Older Age.” The third-place winners ($400) were Braedon Petz, Austin Lau, and Louis Kunstmann from the University of Calgary with the poster “Red or Blue: Socioeconomic Factors Influencing a State’s Political Alignment: An Exploration on American States’ Voting Behaviour Using Regression Analysis.” The judges found these last two poster questions especially interesting, relevant, and well presented.

The next ISLP competition is expected to be held during the 2026–2027 academic year. For more information about the next competition, visit the Canadian ISLP competition website at https://islp.ssc.ca and watch for announcements. Finally, the SEC gratefully acknowledges support from the following sponsors: SSC, CANSSI, and CMS.