The Regional level of the Canadian Division of The International Geography Bee consists of two variants: the Championships Qualifying Exam (CQE) and the Regional International Geography Bee Tournaments.
1. International Geography Bee – Championships Qualifying Exam
The International Geography Bee Championships Qualifying Exam (CQE) is offered at all International History Bee and Bowl regional tournaments and online (it must be proctored by a teacher). At IHBB tournaments, students take the Qualifying Exam during the lunch break. For the 2023-24 school year, the cost is 15 USD or 20 CAD to take the test in person, and 15 USD to take the test online. The Qualifying Exam consists of 50 multiple-choice questions on all aspects of World Geography; students have 20 minutes to take the Exam.
Two separate Qualifying Exam versions are offered each year; the Beta Set CQE is given at International History Bee and Bowl tournaments that run on the Beta Question Set and the Alpha Set CQE is given at International History Bee and Bowl tournaments that run on the Alpha set of questions.
Students qualify for the IGB Canadian Championships and the International Geography Championships by accomplishing one of the following things:
1. Finishing in the top half of students in their age division who take their respective version of the CQE at any given tournament site. If there is an odd number of students, or if two students tie for the last spot, we “round up” so that 4 students out of 7 would qualify, for example, unless there was a tie for 4th place, in which case 5 (or more, if more than two students tied for 4th) would qualify.
2. Students can also qualify by finishing in the top half throughout Canada among all students who take the CQE within their age division for any given exam. These median scores are calculated for Beta and Alpha Sets for all students who have taken an Exam by March 1 for Beta Set, and April 1 (subject to change) for Alpha Set.
3. Students who score at the automatic qualifying level for the International Geography Championships: a score of at least 75 (if they are Varsity), 65 (if they are Junior Varsity), 55 (if they are Middle School) and 45 (if they are Elementary) – also qualify for the IGB Canadian Championships.
Students only need to qualify once (either on either version of the Championships Qualifying Exam or at any Regional Tournament, whether online or in-person) each year for the Canadian Championships, and once in every two year cycle (i.e. either in the 2022-23 or 2023-24 school years) for the International Geography Championships.
2. International Geography Bee – Regional Tournament
For the 2023-24 academic year, there will be one Regional Tournament for the International Geography Bee for students in Canada, the US and Latin America, which will be held online. These use buzzer-based questions and our online buzzer platform:
The 2024 Online Geography Bee of the US, Canada and Latin America
This tournament will be held on Sunday, February 18.