How does Canada choose its IBO team?

By a single national online exam, the Canadian Biology Olympiad, sat at school in April. The 2026 information document says the top four form the team, with limits of two team members per school and a spread across at least two provinces or territories. There is no second selection round.

Is the University of Toronto National Biology Competition part of the selection?

Not according to the 2026 rules, which say the team is chosen only on the Canadian Biology Olympiad exam. Older pages seen in search results describe an earlier system that used the Toronto exam and a practical portfolio. The organiser's site still encourages students to take the Toronto competition for its own sake.

Regular secondary school students living in Canada who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents, including first-year CEGEP students in Quebec. The school registers first and then each student registers. For 2026 a student also had to be under 20 on 1 July 2026, not yet at university, and never have competed at an IBO.

Is this guide written by a Canadian participant?

No. It is an outline of the official picture from published sources, with tips from BiOGuide. We are looking for a Canadian olympiad participant or coach to write a firsthand guide and replace this one.

Canadian Biology Olympiad (CBO/OCB): Official Outline of the Path to IBO

Canada sends four students to the International Biology Olympiad (IBO), most recently to the 37th IBO in Vilnius, Lithuania (12 to 19 July 2026).^2,8 We could not find Canada’s medal results for 2026 or 2025 in any source we opened, so this page does not quote any. It outlines how the path to the team works according to the sources we could read. It is a map of the structure, not an insider’s account of what the exam feels like.

Programme: Canadian Biology Olympiad / Les Olympiades Canadiennes de Biologie (CBO/OCB)
Organiser: A volunteer committee of biology educators, run as a not-for-profit^1,3
Who can enter: Secondary school students living in Canada who are citizens or permanent residents, through a registered school^3,6
Stages: One national online exam, team of four, summer skills camp, IBO
Official website: canadianbiologyolympiad.ca
Language: The name is bilingual, but the sources we read do not say whether the exam is offered in French; the IBO lists the website as English only¹

The path at a glance

Stage	What happens	How sure we are
CBO/OCB national exam	A one hour online exam sat at school in April; the only selection stage	Good: the 2026 information document and the official site
Team of four	The top four, with at most two per school and at least two provinces or territories represented	Good: stated in the 2026 information document
Summer skills camp	A training camp at a host university before the IBO; it does not select the team	Good for the 2026 host; dates and length are not confirmed for 2026
IBO	Four students travel, paying part of the cost themselves	Good: stated in the 2026 information document

Stage 1: the national exam

Selection rests on one exam. The organiser’s 2026 information document says the team is chosen on the CBO/OCB online exam alone.³ Students sit it at their own school, supervised by the teacher who registered the school. In 2026 it took place on Thursday 9 April from 1 pm to 2 pm Eastern Time.^2,3

The official site describes about 35 questions in about an hour.⁴ The 2026 document says two thirds of the exam is theory and one third practical, using true or false, multiple choice, fill-in and calculation questions. The practical questions are based on three laboratory activities announced in advance and on six common techniques.³ The exam is written and marked by the committee’s jury of professors and teachers.^1,3

Registration has two steps. The school registers first, at no cost, and must be a credit-granting school registered with its ministry; then each student registers individually.^3,5 The student fee for 2026 was listed as $25, and the deadline was 30 March 2026.³

To be eligible in 2026 a student had to live in Canada and be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, be a regular secondary school student (first-year CEGEP students in Quebec count), be under 20 on 1 July 2026, not have started university or gained a university-entry diploma before 1 January 2026, and never have competed at an IBO.^3,6

The official site describes awards in the IBO’s style, with roughly the top 10 percent as gold, the next 20 percent as silver and the next 30 percent as bronze, and says individual scores are not released.⁴ The IBO’s page reports about 300 students from 100 schools in 2025; we have only that one source for the size.¹

Stage 2: the team of four

The top four in the exam form the team, subject to three rules in the 2026 document: no more than two team members from one school, an initial selection that covers at least two provinces or territories, and no team member competing in another international olympiad in the same year.³ The same document warns that team members should expect to pay at least $2,500 towards attending the IBO, with limited funding available.³

This is a change from the past. The organiser’s FAQ confirms that a practical portfolio used to be part of selection and no longer is.⁶ Pages we saw only in search results describe that older system as two rounds, with the University of Toronto National Biology Competition and a school-based portfolio counting equally. If you read an older description online, it is probably that system.

Stage 3: the summer skills camp

The organiser runs a national skills development camp each summer at a host university. In 2026 it was at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna.^2,7 The IBO’s page describes five days before the IBO spent on laboratory equipment, experiments and data analysis.¹ The 2026 dates were listed as to be announced in the document we read.³

The camp does not choose the team; the four are already fixed by the exam.³ The 2026 camp page showed registration as full with a waiting list, which implies that students beyond the four team members attend, though the page does not say how many places there are.⁷

Points for an Author

If you went through this programme yourself, these are the points we most need you to settle. They are grouped here so that nothing uncertain is buried in the text above.

Where the sources disagree

The size and balance of the exam. The organiser describes about 35 questions, two thirds theory and one third practical;^3,4 the IBO’s page says 40 to 50 questions and about three quarters theory.¹ The IBO’s page is older in places, so we use the organiser’s numbers.
How the team is selected. The 2026 rules use the national exam alone.³ Pages seen only in search results describe an older system in which the University of Toronto National Biology Competition and a school-based practical portfolio counted equally. The organiser’s FAQ confirms the portfolio has been dropped.⁶
Where the camp is held. The IBO’s page gives Ontario Tech University as the host address;¹ the 2026 camp was at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus.^2,7 The host probably moves, but no source says so outright.

Gaps a firsthand author could fill

How Canada did at the IBO in 2025 and 2026. The organiser’s news page was under construction when we looked.
Whether the exam can be taken in French.
The dates, length, cost and number of places for the summer camp, and how students are chosen for the places beyond the team.
The 2027 exam date and the 2027 laboratory activities, which were still to be decided on the official site.
How the rule about two provinces or territories is applied when the top four all come from one province.
What the exam is actually like, how students prepare for the practical questions without a camp beforehand, and what they wish they had known.

A firsthand author can settle every one of these points. If that could be you, email us or read how it works.

BiOGuide tips for students aiming at this path

These are general tips from BiOGuide, not advice from a Canadian participant, and they apply to any student aiming at an IBO team.

Treat the one exam as the whole selection. There is no second round to recover in, so prepare for an hour in which speed and accuracy both count.
Read Campbell. The organiser recommends Campbell Biology, in any edition after 2016, and describes the level as senior high school plus first-year university.^4,6 Our notes on cell and molecular biology, animal physiology, plant physiology and genetics cover the same ground in a shorter form.
Study the announced labs and techniques. A third of the exam is practical questions drawn from three announced activities and a posted list of common techniques.^3,4 Our practical notes explain many standard methods.
Use the sample questions and past IBO papers. The official site posts sample questions from earlier exams and links to past IBO papers.⁴ More IBO papers are in our practice papers, and the IBO preparation guide explains the international format.
Get your school registered early. A student cannot register until the school has, and the 2026 deadline fell ten days before the exam.
Use the official channels for anything dated. Dates, fees and rules change every year. The organiser decides, not us.

Official links and sources

International Biology Olympiad, country page for the Canadian Biology Olympiad / Les Olympiades Canadiennes de Biologie (in English). ibo-info.org. The page is undated; it quotes 2025 participation but also an age cutoff from 2021, so parts of it are old.
Canadian Biology Olympiad, home page with 2026 content (official national site, undated, in English). canadianbiologyolympiad.ca
Canadian Biology Olympiad, 2026 competition information document (official national site, 2026, in English, PDF). canadianbiologyolympiad.ca
Canadian Biology Olympiad, competition page (official national site, undated, in English). canadianbiologyolympiad.ca/competition.html
Canadian Biology Olympiad, school registration page (official national site, undated, in English). canadianbiologyolympiad.ca/school.html
Canadian Biology Olympiad, frequently asked questions (official national site, undated, in English). canadianbiologyolympiad.ca/faq.html
Canadian Biology Olympiad, training camp page for 2026 (official national site, undated, in English). canadianbiologyolympiad.ca/training.html
Vilnius University Life Sciences Center, 20 July 2026, news report on the close of the 37th IBO (host university news, in English). gmc.vu.lt

Two more notes on sources. Fees are quoted as the organiser lists them. We did not find a government page on the programme, and two Canadian news articles about past team members refused to load, so this outline rests on the organiser and the IBO.

This outline was last checked on 8 October 2026 and will age. Spotted an error or out-of-date detail? Email r6394175@gmail.com.