Your next action
Ask your teacher about COMC 2026 entry. If your school cannot host it, check an available Open Writing Centre. Before booking, confirm the Competitive Division conditions if you want to be considered for CMO.
- Season / status
- COMC 2026 registration information is available; a centre place depends on capacity.
- School order deadlines
- 14 October for courier delivery; 21 October for PDF delivery. Payment is due 22 October 2026.
- Competition dates
- 29 October 2026 in the Americas; 30 October elsewhere, with an authorised overseas exception described below.
- Canadian school price
- CAD30 per PDF entry, minimum three; CAD35 per courier entry, minimum five. Open Writing Centre charges can differ.
- Who registers
- School staff; independent students use a listed centre when their school does not participate.
CMS dates, prices and centre availability
Entry information checked 24 September 2026. CMS gives an inconsistent weekday beside 21 October. The date also appears in its fee table; confirm the portal deadline. No cutoff time zone is stated for registration.
Organiser
Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS).
Route
Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC) → invitation to CMO/CJMO as appropriate → CMS selection and training → IMO.
How to enter
Most students register through a teacher or school organiser. Students whose schools do not participate can seek an available Open Writing Centre through the independent-student route. The CMO Qualifying Repêchage was discontinued in 2026; older diagrams including it are outdated. International COMC entry is separate from Team Canada eligibility. COMC 2026 entry and advancement, student FAQ, CMO
For cross-border schooling, home education or national-team eligibility, read the shared eligibility guide and obtain the national organiser’s ruling.
COMC 2026: which division can lead to CMO?
The new Competitive and Global divisions matter when you arrange a sitting. Under the CMS 2026 changes, Competitive Division entry requires all three conditions:
- You qualify as an official contestant.
- You are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, or you write at a Canadian school or designated university.
- You start between 13:00 and 15:30 EDT (UTC−4) and finish within 150 minutes of starting.
Other official contestants enter the Global Division. Only the Competitive Division offers prize-money eligibility and possible CMO invitations. Meeting its conditions does not guarantee an invitation or establish Team Canada eligibility.
Normally, overseas entrants write on Friday. CMS allows an otherwise eligible overseas student to use Thursday’s Competitive Division window when registered independently with CMS. Ask CMS to confirm the arrangement before choosing a host; a local Friday sitting must not be assumed to qualify.
Official participation, home schooling and supervision
For official COMC 2026 status, CMS requires students to be under 19 on 30 June 2026 and in full-time elementary, secondary, Cégep or home education from at least 15 September. The full 150-minute paper must be supervised under approved conditions. Calculators, phones and other electronic devices are prohibited. Home-school and enrichment-centre entrants may need a separately approved proctor; an unofficial score does not carry award eligibility. Check the official participation and proctor rules.
What to practise for COMC
The same 12-question paper is used across grades, in English or French. Tell your teacher which language you need. The 150 minutes cover four 4-mark, four 6-mark and four 10-mark questions, for 80 marks. Full solutions are required in the advanced section. In the first two sections a correct answer can earn full credit, but written working may preserve partial credit after an error. See the CMS student FAQ.
When practising, keep a separate answer sheet and write a justification even when an answer alone would suffice. This makes the step from short questions to proofs easier to diagnose. Use our proof-writing guide to check whether each conclusion follows from what you have shown.
The division, eligibility and paper-format sections above were checked on 24 September 2026. They describe COMC 2026; recheck future seasons.
Past papers and solutions
The CMS page separates CMO and CJMO and lists official problem sets and solutions. It also publishes winners and score statistics. CMO and CJMO are different competitions; use the heading and year to choose the right file.
Previous results
CMO and CJMO results covers the domestic programme. For international appearances, medals and contestant records, use Canada in the official IMO archive. A national-round award and an IMO medal describe different achievements.
Find papers from other countries · Understand result tables and medal cut-offs
Suggest a correction or an updated official notice
If your school does not take part
Use the Open Writing Centre route on the official COMC page. Confirm a place, the centre fee, supervision and any earlier deadline before paying.
Use the short organiser-enquiry checklist · Find practice for this country