Sun Life Financial Canadian Mathematical Olympiad

The CMO is sponsored by

The Sun Life Financial Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO) is Canada's premier national advanced mathematics competition. Candidates require an invitation from the Canadian Mathematical Society in order to participate.

The next CMO will take place in April 2013.

CMO 2012

• Competitor Results
• Results Announcement
• View the exam
• View the solutions

Invitation

1. The Sun Life Financial Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC) is the main qualifier for the CMO. Normally, the top 50 students from the COMC receive a direct invitation to write the CMO.
2. The next 50 - 75 top COMC participants are invited to write the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad Qualifying Repêchage (CMOQR). Students who do well on the CMOQR are then invited to write the CMO. Students participating in the CMOQR receive, electronically, a set of ten problems, whose solutions must be submitted within a week of receipt.
3. Normally, the top 3 students from the Alberta High School Mathematics Competition (Part II) and le Concours de l'Association Mathématique du Québec are invited to write the CMO.
4. The Chair of the CMO Committee may invite other students at his or her discretion. This may include students who perform well in provincial competitions, who have done well in past CMO, APMO or USAMO competitions, or who have participated in Olympiad training camps.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible to write the CMO and receive prizes, the student:

• must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada who is in full-time attendance at an elementary or secondary school, or CEGEP since September of the year prior to the CMO;
• be less than 20 years old as of June 30 of the year of the CMO; and
• must not have written the Putnam Competition.

Students who write the CMO agree to allow the CMS to publish their names and schools when announcing contest results.

Prizes

The First Prize winner in the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad receives the Sun Life Cup and $2,000. In addition, the Second Prize winner receives $1,500, the Third Prize winner receives $1,000 and students earning an Honourable Mention (approximately six students) receive $500 each.

Preparing for the CMO

It is important to emphasize that any student who is invited to write the CMO should be aware that success will require mathematics at a higher level than is taught in most schools, and therefore should prepare specifically for the competition. The CMS has several resources available for competitors.

Past Competitions

Oversight of the CMO

The Canadian Mathematical Olympiad is managed by the CMO Committee of the Canadian Mathematical Society. The terms of reference it operates under can be found here.

Annual competition reports can be found here.