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National Student Paper Competition

Connecting talented graduates with the Government of Canada

The National Student Paper Competition (NSPC), an annual competition, offers a unique opportunity for talented graduate students to connect with senior public servants, nurture their leadership skills, and expand their network within the federal public.

For more information about the competition or the submission process, contact the NSPC team at nspc‑cneu@csps‑efpc.gc.ca.

National Student Paper Competition: Promotional Video

Video: National Student Paper Competition: Promotional Video

This promotional video features testimonials from past winners, judges and organizers of the National Student Paper Competition.

Video: National Student Paper Competition: Promotional Video

Transcript

Transcript: National Student Paper Competition: Promotional Video

[00:00:00 Video opens with colourful animated graphics. Upbeat music plays throughout video. Text on screen: National Student Paper Competition 2024-2025 / Concours national d'essais universitaires 2024-2025.]

[00:00:08 Josianne Paul appears full screen. Text on screen: Acting Director, Policy and Strategic Relationships.]

Josianne Paul: Hello. I am Josianne Paul, Acting Director of the Policy and Strategic Relations team here at the Canada School of Public Service, and my team is responsible for implementing the National Student Paper Competition.

The National Student Paper Competition is open to Canadian graduate students, regardless of their field. The aim is to bring fresh ideas to the federal public service, while allowing them to connect with senior officials, expand their network and facilitate their employment within the federal public service.

[00:00:38 Colourful animated graphics, then Paul Pilieci appears full screen. Text on screen: Director General, Policy, Priorities and Partnerships.]

Paul Pilieci: My name is Paul Pilieci. I'm the Director General of the Policy Priorities and Partnerships Director here at the Canada School of Public Service. My role in the National Student Paper Competition is to oversee the team that provides the wonderful support for the competition, as well as to participate in some of the judgment.

The National Student Paper Competition is, in my opinion, essential to the Canada School of Public Service as it's one of the key initiatives that really helps us build bridges between the public service and academia.

I decided to hire a number of the winners of the National Student Paper Competition because it's really evident that they bring the types of skills and information really relevant to the federal public service of today.

[00:01:16 Colourful animated graphics, then Lydia Laflamme appears full screen. Text on screen: 2022-2023 National Student Paper Competition Winner.]

Lydia Laflamme: There were several media articles about my essay and that also led to several people trying to connect with me. So it mainly helped me create a network of contacts that will serve me in the long term to develop ideas a bit similar to this one.

[00:01:33 Colourful animated graphics, then Shah Zaib appears full screen. Text on screen: 2024-2025 National Student Paper Competition Winner.]

Shah Zaib: I think I absolutely would recommend them to participate. It's an opportunity to connect with graduate students from across the country. It's the opportunity to think about what is impacting Canadians today and what policy research that can make a very positive impact on our communities. And then being able to listen to thoughts and ideas of other people and the issues they are bringing forth as part of the competition is also very interesting.

[00:02:04 Colourful animated graphics, then Neil Bouwer appears full screen. Text on screen: Visiting Professor of Practice, McGill University.]

Neil Bouwer: Policy is a vocation, and policy is a muscle that needs to be exercised, so participating in a national student paper competition is one way to give expression to people that have ideas about how to solve the collective problems facing Canada. So, it's an opportunity to try effective policy writing, to think creatively about the different options of how to make impact, and then to communicate that effectively to a series of seasoned practitioners, such as myself, and to really communicate that forward.
So, I think for the students, this is a real opportunity to practice public policy, to apply the skills that they've learned and their interest in solving Canada's problems, and to do that in a professional setting and to get feedback that is going to help them be more effective in the workplace.

[00:02:46 Colourful animated graphics, then Caroline Pitfield appears full screen. Text on screen: Executive Faculty Member, Canada School of Public Service.]

Caroline Pitfield: This is a great opportunity to make your voice heard, refine your thoughts and, most importantly, help shape the future of the public service and the country itself at a very important time. I would also say that it is not a bad idea to make friends in the public service if that is where your interests will take you.

[00:03:09 Colourful animated graphics, then Patrick Obendoerfer appears full screen. Text on screen: Senior Policy Advisor, Social Development Policy, Privy Council Office and 2014-2015 NSPC winner.]

Patrick Obendoerfer: After joining the competition, I leveraged some of that experience to gain a role at Indigenous Services Canada in the policy sector. And then I was an advisor to the Chief Financial Officer there. And then I worked in Strategic Policy. I'm now a senior advisor at the Privy Council Office, where I work in social policy.

I would encourage any student to join the National Student Paper Competition. It gave me the opportunity to take the concepts that I had in the paper that I wrote and present it to the team that actually could make a difference in applying it. It gave me an opportunity to meet some of the most senior executives in the Government of Canada, including the Clerk of the Privy Council. And it introduced me to what it's like to brief in the Government of Canada and ultimately what my career would be like in the future.
And so, it's a great introduction into the public service, and I highly recommend the experience to anybody who can join.

[00:03:57 Animated CSPS logo appears. Text on screen: canada.ca/school.]

[00:04:04 Canada wordmark appears.]

About NSPC

Background information

Launched in 2013, the NSPC is an annual competition organized by the Canada School of Public Service in partnership with the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration and the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies.

The aim of the competition is two-fold:

  • introducing innovative ideas and bright new thinkers to the federal public service
  • enhancing federal public service excellence and encouraging high performance

Benefits and outcomes of the competition

  • A strong partnership between the federal public service, universities and higher-education associations that encourages graduate students to apply academic knowledge and skills to inform Canadian public policy and the federal public service.
  • An increased number of promising graduate students in different fields of expertise across Canadian universities working with the federal public service and contributing with innovative, research-based ideas to enhance the lives of all Canadians.
  • A talented, diverse, inclusive and modern workforce equipped with the skills needed to embrace new workplace challenges, design services, mobilize knowledge, and respond to the country's evolving needs.

Prizes

The winner of the competition will:

  • receive four mentorship sessions with senior public servants across a four-month period
  • be invited to attend or present at academic and governmental conferences and panels

The winner and the top five finalists will:

Winners

Winners

Stephanie Deò

Stephanie Deò: Separating Homes from Speculation: A Public Finance Market-Design Approach to Canada's Housing Crisis (2025-2026)

Stephanie Deò is a second-year PhD student in economics at Simon Fraser University. She holds a bachelor's and master's degree in economics, completing both in just over three years after beginning her Undergraduate studies in 2021. Prior to academia, she worked as a Journeyman Hairstylist and operated her own business during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stephanie has held leadership roles including Vice President Academic for the Society of Undergraduates in Economics and served as a Graduate Student Representative on the Faculty of Arts Council at the University of British Columbia. She also gained policy experience from interning in the CEO's office at the Alberta Energy Regulator.

Her research focuses on first-world development, particularly the distributional effects of policy on the middle class and the intersection of income, consumption, and wealth inequality in North America. Her current work aims to bridge academic research and practical policy.

Past Winners

2024-2025

Shah Zaib and Harshad Krishnaraj Video: Protecting Canada's Seniors from Cyber Fraud—Education, Awareness, and Policy Solutions

Shah Zaib

Shah Zaib: Protecting Canada's Seniors from Cyber Fraud: Education, Awareness, and Policy Solutions (2024-2025)

Shah Zaib is a graduate student pursuing a Master of Information Security and Privacy at the University of Calgary. He holds a Bachelor of Management Information Systems from the University of Alberta. Passionate about data integrity and digital safety, Shah has led enterprise-level data-governance, quality-monitoring, and cloud-automation initiatives in the financial and energy sectors.

Harshad Krishnaraj

Harshad Krishnaraj: Protecting Canada's Seniors from Cyber Fraud: Education, Awareness, and Policy Solutions (2024-2025)

Harshad Krishnaraj is a dedicated information security researcher currently pursuing a Master of Science in Information Security at the University of Calgary. His research focuses on critical areas of modern cyber security, including privacy vulnerabilities in neural networks, public Wi-Fi security challenges, and cryptographic attack prevention.

2023-2024
Rajender Singh

Rajender Singh: Hooked Online: A Call for Canadian Leadership in Addressing Internet Addiction (2023-2024)

Rajender Singh is a PhD candidate at Western University in London, Ontario. He conducts policy research at the intersection of technology, society, and the market. Specifically, his research investigates the novel strategies employed by Big Tech companies to enter and dominate the global education market while positioning themselves as neutral and altruistic players.

His other research involvements include studying the policy responses of U-15 Canadian universities during the COVID-19 pandemic, utilizing internet data and digital methods for social and educational research, and examining pedagogic practices in neurodiverse settings to formulate recommendations that transform educational practice.

2022-2023
Lydia Laflamme

Lydia Laflamme: Encouraging Environmentally Responsible Eating Behaviours Through Experimentalist Governance

Lydia Laflamme, one of two winners of the 10th National Student Paper Competition, is a master's student in political science at Université Laval in Québec. She is a member of the Research Chair on Democracy and Parliamentary Institutions, the Université Laval Research Group in Politics and Cognition, and the Leadership Chair in the Teaching of Digital Social Sciences. Her main areas of research are political psychology and electoral politics in Quebec and the rest of Canada. More specifically, she studies intergroup conflict, the impact of identity on political attitudes, and the connections between voter well-being and behaviour.

David Jones

David Jones: Strategic Recommendations for Health Canada

David Jones, one of two winners of the 10th National Student Paper Competition, is a policy analyst and advisor, specializing in economics, healthcare and public policy. Currently, David is midway through the Master of Public Policy degree at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy of the University of Toronto. He also studied Economics at the University of Cambridge in the UK. David is passionate about providing high-quality research, analysis and advice that both supports efficient policy-making and improves the welfare of society.

2021-2022
Video: Winner of the 9th National Student Paper Competition - Aisha Barkhad

Aisha Barkhad Video: Climate Change, Globalization, and Inequality: How Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases are Threatening Human Health in Canada

2020-2021
Video: Winner of the 8th National Student Paper Competition - Bhajan Gill

Bhajan Gill Video: Western University

Visit the CAPPA website to learn more about the top papers from past editions of the NSPC.

Application process

Application process

  • Are you a talented Canadian graduate student looking for an opportunity to apply your knowledge to advance the federal public service?
  • Are you interested in building your network by connecting with senior officials in the Government of Canada?
  • Do you have an inspiring and innovative idea that can improve a Canadian policy or program?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, consider applying to the NSPC.

Eligibility criteria
  • Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada
  • Graduate (master's and doctoral) students enrolled in a publicly funded Canadian university for at least one academic term during the 2025–2026 academic year, on a full-time or part-time basis

The NSPC initiative is committed to contributing to a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive Canadian public service. We strongly encourage the participation of students from equity-seeking groups, including graduate students with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ students and BIPOC students.

How to apply

If you are interested in participating in the NSPC, you should:

  • Contact a professor or supervisor in your Canadian university program or faculty to sponsor and support you through the competition's application process.
    • Submit the paper to the professor or supervisor for final approval.
    • Once your professor or supervisor approves the final draft, they are to complete the online application form and submit three versions of your paper.
  • The link to the submission portal will be available when the competition for 2025-2026 begins.

For more information on the specifics of how to apply, please refer to the application checklist tab.

Select your topic

The NSPC is designed to allow graduate students to share inspiring and innovative ideas on topics related to governance and the federal public service. Papers should focus on the current priorities and concerns of the Government of Canada. All submissions on any other issue relevant to the federal public service are also welcome. To understand our current priorities, see in particular:

More information is available on the websites of the Privy Council Office and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Each paper should be a forward-looking think piece that explores innovative ideas and approaches to help position Canada and Canadians for the coming decade through solutions delivered by the Government of Canada.

In determining the paper's topic, applicants may want to consider the following questions:

  • What are your ideas about how to ensure that the federal public service is ready to meet the needs of the future?
  • What are the major social, economic, technological and/or environmental challenges facing Canada in the next decade? What policy strategies should Canada pursue to address them?
  • What emerging topics will have a significant impact on the federal public service and service excellence for Canadians?
  • What would it take to move your idea from policy approval to implementation?

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Democracy
  • Federalism in Canada
  • Canadian sovereignty
  • Values and ethics of public servants
  • Indigenous rights, governance and reconciliation
  • Digital government, artificial intelligence and data literacy
  • Public service innovation
  • Climate change, green economy and sustainable development
  • Economic growth
  • Foreign and interprovincial trade
  • Optimization of government spending
  • Cost of living and housing affordability
  • Geopolitics and national security
  • Sustainable immigration
  • Sustainability of social programs
  • Energy
Paper criteria

Submitted papers must meet the following technical requirements:

  • A single-authored paper, either in English or in French
  • A new work or one adapted from an earlier original academic course or academic research work
  • A maximum of 1500 words (excluding the cover page, bibliography, footnotes or endnotes, appendices or any tables, charts and figures)
  • Paper uses a standard citation style
  • It is highly recommended that the paper adheres to the following structure:
    • Introduction and background (for example, past and current policy context)
    • Policy options and recommendations
    • Analysis and conclusion
  • Submitted in each of the following three formats
    • PDF, including:
      • cover page with the paper's title and word count
      • author's name and email address
      • university and program of study
      • name and institutional email address of professor or supervisor who is submitting the paper on behalf of their student
    • MS Word
      • Identical content to PDF version
    • MS Word, including:
      • cover page with only the title of the paper and the word count; do not include the author's name and university
Application checklist
  • 1. Find a professor or supervisor from your university program or faculty to endorse the paper and provide necessary information. (See application form.)
  • 2. Define a topic for the paper based on the competition criteria.
  • 3. Review the paper to ensure it meets the guidelines:
    • 3.1 The paper is a maximum of 1500 words, excluding the cover page, bibliography, footnotes/endnotes, appendices or any tables, charts and figures.
    • 3.2 The paper follows the recommended structure (consult the paper criteria section).
    • 3.3 The paper uses a standard citation style.
  • 4. Submitting the paper: Three copies
    • 4.1 A PDF version including:
      A cover page formatted with cover page including title, author name, email address, word count, university, and author's university program. Name and institutional email address of professor or supervisor.
    • 4.2 An MS Word version including:
      A cover page formatted with cover page including title, author name, email address, word count, university, and author's university program. Name and institutional email address of professor or supervisor.
    • 4.3 An anonymous MS Word version including:
      A cover page with name of paper and word count only, omitting author's name and university.
Evaluation process

Evaluation process

The submitted papers will be evaluated using the matrix below.

Relevance to the federal public service
  • The issue is a priority of the federal public service
  • Identifies the importance of the selected topic, as well as the key drivers
  • Demonstrates potential practical application by the federal public service
Relevance to the broader Canadian population
  • The issue is a concern to the broader Canadian population
  • Offers clear, realistic advice that will benefit the broader Canadian population
Originality and innovation
  • Presents a novel, well-thought-out and feasible approach
  • Understands the topic, proposes innovative approaches and solutions to new and existing challenges for Canada
  • Takes a unique perspective on or dimension of an issue of concern for Canadians
Research and references
  • Well-conducted research supports the arguments
  • Draws from diverse sources of academic research and/or government publications
  • Includes complete citations and follows a consistent reference style
Structure and writing style
  • The paper follows the recommended structure (consult the Paper criteria section under Application process)
  • Even flow of the paper with a logical sequence of ideas
  • Free of typos and grammatical mistakes

After all submissions have been evaluated and the scores for each essay have been tallied, the five highest-scoring essays will be selected and the authors contacted.

To determine the winner, the top five finalists will be asked to present their work to a virtual panel of senior government executives. The panel will evaluate and rank the presentations to determine the winner based on their:

  • articulation of knowledge and integrated skills
  • ability to communicate, argue and defend innovative ideas
  • confidence and collaborative interaction with the panellists
  • willingness to propose meaningful policy recommendations to inform and enhance the federal public service and Canadian society
Key dates

Key dates

Description Date
Online submissions open October 8, 2025
Online submissions closed February 13, 2026
Announcement of top 5 finalists Spring 2026
Presentation of finalists' papers before virtual panel of senior public service executives Spring 2026
Announcement of the winner Spring 2026
Accommodations

Accommodations

  • This competition is designed to remove barriers, ensure a fair assessment, and allow all candidates to fully demonstrate their competencies. Accommodation measures are available to applicants upon request by email or voluntary indication on the online submissions.
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