Contest Rules

The contest will accept entries between May 31, 2017, and August 21, 2017, at 11:59:59 p.m. (PST).

·  Canadians aged 12-24 years old

·  Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada or legally allowed residents in the country

·  This contest is not open to employees, immediate family members of employees or persons living under the same roof as an employee of ESDC

Answer the question:
How can we reduce poverty in Canada? There are three categories:

1.  Visual – design a poster, infographic, photo collage or any visual art
2.  Written – submit a short article, proposal, poem or essay of no more than 500 words
3.  Video/Audio – create a video or audio piece no longer than two minutes

Each category will be divided into two age groups: ages 12-17 and ages 18-24.
Entries must be submitted to ESDC through the #ReducePoverty Youth Contest entry form. Submissions received in any other manner will not be eligible.

·  All submissions must be presented in at least one of Canada’s two official languages, English or French, or contain no text at all.

·  Video and audio submissions must be no longer than two minutes.

·  Each entry must be submitted by one individual only. For entries submitted by more than one individual (for example, entries submitted on behalf of a group or an organization), only the individual identified on the entry form will be invited to participate in the poverty conference.

·  All entrants must have a signed consent and release form (available in PDF and HTML) for each individual appearing in their submission.

An entry will be disqualified if:

·  it is late, illegible or inaudible, incomplete, forged or reproduced;

·  any third-party trademarks, brands and/or logos are used or displayed in any part of the submission, obviously or subliminally;

·  it negatively depicts another person, country, race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation or disability; or

·  it contains content deemed offensive or inappropriate including but not limited to nudity, vulgarity or violence.

Entries will be selected on the basis of creativity, innovation and overall impact.

Selected individuals will be invited to join the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Jean-Yves Duclos, at a Canadian poverty reduction conference in September 2017 to showcase their entry.

Travel expenses will be covered at standard rates as per the National Joint Council Travel Directive.

Once ESDC has verified that all requirements have been met by the selected participant, ESDC will contact them to arrange travel and accommodations.

Each selected participant will be required to complete and sign a “selected participant licence, consent and release” in order to participate in the conference.

If for any reason a selected participant cannot be reached through the contact information provided, or does not respond within seven days of being contacted, or if there is any reason they cannot participate in the conference, the entry will be declared null and void, and another participant will be selected.