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Shad Canada's

FUTURES DAY

PEI

STEAM & Discovery
with Shad Canada

October 15, 2026
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Sessions held at UPEI

October 15, 2026

STEAM & Discovery

9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

with Shad Canada

Sessions held at the University of Prince Edward Island

In partnership with:

Sponsored by:

Futures Day Schedule

TIME

SESSION

8:30 - 9:00 a.m.

Arrival

9:15 - 10:15 a.m.

Welcome & Keynote Speaker

10:30 a.m.

Session A

11:45 a.m.

Lunch

1:00 p.m.

Session B

2:00 p.m.

Group activity

3:00 p.m.

Leave for home

8:30 - 9: 00 a.m.

Arrival

10:45 a.m.

Session A

11:45 a.m.

Lunch

1:00 p.m.

Session B

1:45 p.m.

Group activity

3:00 p.m.

Leave for home

Workshops, Seminars &
Place Explorations

Anatomy: Form & Function

Ever wondered how the human body is built and why it works the way it does? Step into the Faculty of Medicine Medical Laboratories for a hands-on anatomy experience. Get up close with real anatomical specimens and see how form and function connect throughout the body. Then explore augmented reality technology, where life-sized anatomical holograms let you interact with the human body in a whole new way. Join us to investigate, explore, and experience anatomy like never before, and get a feel for what it’s like to learn in a medical laboratory setting.

Beyond the Plate: Where Can Foods & Nutrition Take You?

UPEI

Want to hear where your interest in food, health, science, and people can take you? Join graduates of UPEI’s Foods & Nutrition Program as they share their journeys from the classroom to their current careers, including dietetics, food product development, school food programs, and food safety and regulation. Hear about their experiences at UPEI, their career paths, and their advice for students considering this field. A Q&A will follow the presentations. Come explore the possibilities and discover where your interests could take you!

Biotechnology Joint Degree (With Holland College)

UPEI

For students interested in science and the local job ecosystem, this session will include a short (15-20 min) information session that explains the different pathways of the biotechnology/bioscience joint program. We will then tour one of the islands biotech research spaces (Croda) for the rest of the session (20-25 min) which is one of the locations students might find themselves during their 3rd year Work in learning placements in the program.

Candy Market Simulation

UPEI – McDougall Faculty of Business

Step into the world of business and marketing! Participants will be divided into teams representing different markets and will be given a unique type of candy to sell. Through this interactive activity, you’ll explore key concepts related to market entry, marketing strategy, and business decision-making while competing to maximize your sales. The challenge? Your success will determine how much candy you will have at the end of the session (and how much candy you take home with you!)!

Cryptography: Your Secret’s Safe with Math!

UPEI

Students will explore what makes encrypted data secure. Starting from very basic encryption schemes to warm-up, the students will have numerous opportunities throughout the seminar to work together to break codes and determine together what makes it weak or strong. The talk will end with a brief discussion on a modern cryptoscheme (RSA), which, surprisingly, requires only basic knowledge of modular arithmetic in addition to grade 9 math to implement.

Dead Internet Petting Zoo: Meet the bots, AI influencers, content farms, and other creatures roaming your feed

The internet has acquired some strange new wildlife. In this interactive seminar, students become digital naturalists, encountering bots, AI influencers, content farms, fake experts, and other creatures thriving in algorithmic environments. Through provocative examples, quick polls, and short case studies, we examine their habitats, camouflage, and spread: Who made them? What keeps them alive? Why did the algorithm put them in front of us? Who benefits when we click? Rather than simply playing “real or AI,” students look beneath the content to the platforms, data, money, and human behaviour that let synthetic media flourish, while encountering future pathways in AI, cybersecurity, journalism, psychology, and technology policy.

Ethics and storytelling: how to become a Journalist and communications expert

Holland College, Journalism and Communications

Do you love writing, photography or video production? The Holland College Journalism and Communications program is the right place for you. In this interactive presentation, you will have a chance to talk to current students and instructors about the program and participate in hands-on exercises where we will discuss journalistic ethics and storytelling methods.

Failure Analysis - Major Catastrophe through the Lens of an Engineer

UPEI Engineering

Why do engineering failures happen, and how can better design decisions prevent them? In this activity, you will investigate different real-world failure cases, identify the sustainability and ethical factors that contributed to the problem, and propose a design change that could have reduced the risk. You will analyze evidence, discuss trade-offs, and connect your solution to key sustainability principles. By the end, you will see how every engineering decision can have far-reaching consequences for people and communities.

From Hobbies to Career

STEAM PEI

What could your interests and strengths become? In this interactive workshop, you will explore how your hobbies, interests, and personal strengths can connect to future careers and opportunities. You will reflect on what motivates you, explore possible career pathways, and use Canva to create a personalized vision board that brings your goals to life. You’ll then identify practical steps you can take to move from where you are today toward your future goals.

Hands-On Environmental Science

Holland College

Have you ever wondered how scientists solve real environmental problems? In this interactive session, you will use environmental tools, tackle hands-on challenges, and work with others to investigate a real-world scenario. Along the way, you’ll test your problem-solving skills, play a fun activity, and discover how environmental professionals help protect our water, land, and communities. Could a career in environmental science be the right fit for you?

Intro to the World of Rehab

Holland College – OTA PTA Program, Health Studies

Do you enjoy helping people meet their physical and lifestyle goals? Are you interested in the rehab professions? This is the session for you! Come see what the Occupational Therapist Assistant and Physiotherapist Assistant program is all about! Learn where it can take you – both for a career and as a start to further education in the rehab world!

Lights, Camera, Sim! Behind the scenes of the Clinical Learning and Simulation Centre

UPEI Faculty of Medicine’s Clinicial Learning and Simulation Centre

How do we take healthcare education to the next level? See UPEI’s Clinical Learning and Simulation Centre and explore various simulation rooms. You will get to see behind the scenes of what it takes to deliver ultra-realistic training by using high-tech manikins, Hollywood level makeup and special effects, and realistic hospital rooms!

Making Life Better for Animals: The Role of Animal Welfare Scientists

Atlantic Veterinary College

Do you love animals and want to find a job where you find ways to make their lives better? Animal welfare science is a field where you can help design systems where companion, farm, or wildlife/exotic animals thrive. In this session you will learn more about what its like to be a researcher who’s main goal is to improve the lives of animals through experimental studies.

Pathways - Exploring Career and Workplace

Holland College

The Pathways program (Holland College) is a one-year program where students explore career interests, earn credits, and job-shadow workplaces to help individuals who are still undecided about career and school. In this session, you will learn more about the program and complete some career development activities.

Plumbing & Pipefitting: Trades in Action

Holland College Plumbing/Pipefitting

Explore the plumbing and pipefitting trades, including career pathways and job opportunities. Get a hands-on introduction to the tools and techniques used by professionals, with a demonstration and interactive activity.

Seven Grandfather Teachings

UPEI

Creating a Mixed-Media Reflection key chain. 45-minute craft for High School students to explore the Grandfather Teachings. This craft combines physical art with high-school-level personal reflection on the Grandfather Teachings: Wisdom, Love, Respect, Bravery, Honesty, Humility, and Truth.

Social Detective

UPEI

Have you ever wondered why some neighbourhoods are healthier than others, or why your playlist says something about where you grew up? Sociologists ask why when everyone else accepts what. In this hands-on workshop, you become a social detective, taking a puzzle you care about and designing a real research approach to crack it open. What is your question? Who would you study? What evidence would convince you that you’re right? Working in teams, you will build a research design and pitch it to the room. By the end, you will have a tool you can apply to almost any problem, whether you go into medicine, engineering, business, or the arts. Come ready to question everything you assumed was normal.

Steady Under Pressure

Holland College

Preparing for college, university, and a career requires good self-help and coping tools to support your success. Join in for a fun, interactive session where you will practice simple tools you can use daily to manage stress and build resilience, by learning how to friend your nervous system to help your body stay calm and feel more confident in school, work, and life. 🌟

The Mystery of Sinking Cities: A QFT Inquiry Challenge

Why are some of the world’s cities sinking, and what questions should we be asking about it? In this highly interactive workshop, students learn the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) while exploring this real-world challenge. Rather than seeking the “right” answers, participants discover how asking better questions deepens learning and sparks curiosity. Working together, students investigate images and information about sinking cities, develop their own questions, and reflect on how questioning drives discovery and problem-solving. This session builds one of the most valuable skills for future learning and leadership: asking thoughtful, purposeful questions.

What exactly is a Kinesiologist and what do they do?

T3 Fitness and Kinesiology; UPEI

Join two local Kinesiologists for a dynamic session exploring the diverse world of movement science. We will dive into the clinical side of injury rehab—showing you how we rebuild function after an accident or sports injury—and put you to the test with live physical performance assessments. Come ready to move, try out real testing equipment, and learn how a career in Kinesiology opens doors to healthcare, rehabilitation, and high-performance training.

Keynote

Gord McNeilly

Gord is a provincial politician who has served for seven years as a Liberal member representing Charlottetown-West Royalty. Prior to entering politics, he was a professional motivational speaker, working with hundreds of organizations across Canada to help them look at change in a different way. He is also the founder of UFIT, a fitness company that has trained hundreds of thousands of people over a 25-year span.

Gord played professional basketball and served as a military fitness instructor and health promotion officer during his career serving his community.

Gord is the Opposition House Leader, the Health Critic for the Official Opposition, and the first Black politician elected in PEI’s history.

Gord’s keynote will take you on a fun journey and encourage you to look at your future differently. The power to believe is within each person and needs to be nurtured and brought out through different lenses. His keynote address will have you laughing, engaging with others and challenging you to believe in yourself, as well as in the communities you will be part of and serve.

Gord will mix music with light activities to get you feeling alive as you tap into your leadership qualities. Together, our group will feel alive and be inspired to make lasting change.

For more information or questions about the day, please contact:

Leila at leila@shad.caÂ