The Canadian Mathematical Olympiad Qualifying Repêchage (or just “Repêchage”) is an annual competition that serves as a qualifier for the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO). It typically runs at the beginning of February each year, shortly after results of the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC) are announced. Participation is by invitation only
The CMS wishes to thank the sponsors and partners who make our competitions programs successful.
2024 Repêchage
The competition has been marked.
We have emailed all participants to inform them of their results. If you are a competitor and can’t find your results in your email, first check your spam folder.
Those whose Repêchage results earn them an invitation for the CMO or the CJMO will be emailed a separate formal invitation with instructions within two more business days.
Anyone who wishes, can download the problem set to challenge themselves.
The official solutions for this year’s competition are also available for download.
Purpose
The Repêchage is intended for students whose COMC scores were just a bit below the cutoff score, for direct invitations to the CMO. That is, sometimes you make a small but costly mistake that obscures your overall problem solving talent. We want to provide you a “second chance” to demonstrate you deserve to write the CMO.
Structure
This is similar to a “take-home” exam.
Participants in the Repêchage get a week to solve a set of (usually 8) problems. The responses must show all your work. Students may submit handwritten work (scanned and uploaded) or PDF, such as from using LaTeX. The use of LaTeX does not factor into the scoring, but it does eliminate penmanship problems.
Results and the Olympiad
The results are normally announced before the end of February on this page and by email. At the discretion of the marker, the result may be “pass/fail” for an invitation to the CMO or may have detailed scoring released to the participants.
The competitors who demonstrate the most innovative, clear, and complete solutions are immediately invited to register for the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO), Canada’s most prestigious math competition for secondary students and the gateway representing Canada at the summer’s International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).
Students in grade ten or under who do well on the Repêchage, but not well enough for the CMO earn invitations to the Junior CMO (CJMO).
There are no other prizes or certificates for participation.
How Do I Earn an Invitation?
Students who participated in the COMC and did well, but did not qualify for the CMO are invited to write the Repêchage. Approximately 75 students are invited to write the Repêchage. Based on the results, roughly 20 of these students are selected and invited to participate in the top national math competition: the Canadian Mathematical Olympiad (CMO).
Eligibility
Students invited to write the Repêchage must complete a declaration that they meet the CMO Eligibility Requirements.
Preparing for the Repêchage
In addition to the archived Repêchage problem sets and solutions below, students are encouraged to use past COMC and CMO problems to help prepare for the Repêchage. The CMS also has other problem-solving resources available for competitors.
Archive
Feel free to download the problems or solutions from previous years to sharpen your problem solving skills!
2023 Repêchage
The results are in!
- 76 students were invited to write based on their results in COMC 2022,
- 65 competitors registered and submitted their work,
- 22 of these earned invitations to the 2023 CMO, and
- 18 other competitors earned invitations to the 2023 CJMO.
Score Distribution: This year, unlike in previous years, we are releasing scores to the participants. The Repechage was scored out of 100 possible points. The following histogram indicates the results.
| Year | Problems | Solutions |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Problem Set | Problems with Solutions |
| 2023 | Problem Set | Problems with Solutions |
| 2022 | Problem Set | Problems with Solutions |
| 2021 | Problem Set | n/a |
| 2020 | Problem Set | n/a |
| 2019 | Problem Set | Problems with Solutions |
| 2018 | Problem Set | Problems with Solutions |
| 2017 | Problem Set | Problems with Solutions |
| 2016 | Problem Set | Problems with Solutions |
| 2015 | Problem Set | Problems with Solutions |
| 2014 | Problem Set | Problems with Solutions |
| 2013 | Problem Set | Problems with Solutions |
| 2012 | Problem Set | Problems with Solutions |
| 2011 | Problem Set | n/a |
| 2010 | Problem Set | n/a |
| 2009 | Problem Set | n/a |
