Canada’s premier pre-university STEAM and entrepreneurship program.
One summer, lifelong impact.
Shad offers a suite of transformative programs designed to ignite curiosity, build confidence, and prepare students in Grades 10 and 11 to thrive in a fast-changing world. Through hands-on STEAM learning, immersive post-secondary experience, entrepreneurship projects, vibrant community-building, and real-world design challenges.
Shad aims to inspire, connect and supercharge the next generation of changemakers.
Days Immersive Experience
Areas of Discovery
Post-secondary Campuses
Mentor-to-Student Ratio
Every Shad program follows an intentional design. Throughout the month, the program is thoughtfully balanced across four interconnected sections: hands-on STEAM learning, community building, design and entrepreneurship, and exploration beyond the classroom and campus.
Shad’s programs are built around exploration. Rather than following traditional subject boundaries, learning is organized across five interdisciplinary areas of discovery that bring together science, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, the humanities, and emerging fields. Learning experiences vary by campus, with each offering a unique mix of workshops, projects, challenges, and discussions shaped by its academic strengths, local context, and areas of expertise. Together, they create opportunities for students to broaden their perspectives, deepen their curiosity, and explore new possibilities for their future. Learning topics may include:
Emerging Fields & Science Frontiers
Capture the knowledge frontier
The scientific disciplines shaping how we understand the living and physical world. This knowledge could include human health, genetics, chemistry, Earth systems, astronomy and the research methods that hold it all together.
The Code of Living Things
Decode the science of life at its smallest scale, from DNA and genetics to what shapes every living thing.
The Earth Lab
Step outside the classroom and into the field to discover how the Earth and its living systems actually work.
Exploring the Universe
Look up and look further. Explore the cosmos through astronomy, planetary science, and traditions of the sky.
Investigation & Research Methods
Build scientific thinking and evidence-based research skills, while exploring many ways of knowing what we know.
Matter, Molecules & Materials
Unlock the hidden logic of matter, from everyday chemistry to the materials shaping the future.
Sustainability & Human Impact
Dig into climate, sustainability, and the science of how human choices are reshaping the planet we live on.
The Science of Human Health
Explore healthcare science, from medicine and anatomy to mental wellness and how we heal.
Technology, Engineering & Innovation
Decode the tech innovations
The disciplines of making and building, such as artificial intelligence and robotics, software, biomedical and energy engineering, aerospace, creative media, and design that puts real human diversity first.
AI & Robotics
Engage with AI and robotics as both technology and ethics, learning how machines make decisions and when to question them.
Computational Thinking & Algorithms
Discover that computer science is less about computers and more about decomposing problems and building systems that work.
Creative Media & Game Design
Discover digital media as a craft, where every decision shapes how a person experiences what you’ve made.
Design, Build & Iterate
Discover that the most important engineering skill is the willingness to iterate, and that hands know things minds don’t.
Design for Community & Diversity
Challenge the assumption that technology is built for an average user, and learn to design for real human diversity.
Emerging Technology
Get early access to the frontiers reshaping our world, from quantum computing to aerospace and the technologies of tomorrow.
Engineering the Living World
Explore what happens when biology and engineering collide, from biomedical devices to nanotechnology and the ethics that come with both.
Sustainable Energy & Systems
Tackle the systems behind clean energy, sustainable transportation, and what it means to power a community responsibly.
Society, Culture & the Human Mind
Understand the human context
How humans make meaning, build societies, and understand one another. Explore this across creative arts, psychology, political science, sociology, ethics, and Indigenous knowledge.
Creative Arts & Expression
Discover art as a different way of thinking, one that reveals what no other mode of inquiry can reach.
Governance, Policy & Public Life
Discover how policy shapes daily life, and how to understand power well enough to one day use it.
Immersive Arts & Cultural Experiences
Discover that some things can only be understood by being inside them, where art becomes environment.
Indigenous Knowledge, Cultures & Future
Experience Indigenous knowledge as living, evolving systems that continue to shape land, community, and our collective future.
Narrative, Language & Communication
Discover that stories are the architecture of belief, and that learning to read them is a transferable skill.
Psychology & Human Behaviour
Discover that most of what drives human behaviour is invisible to the person doing it, including your own.
Sociology, Ethics & Justice
Examine how social structures distribute opportunity, visibility, and harm, and the ethical frameworks we use to judge them.
Value, Reasoning & Critical Thinking
Learn to think clearly in the presence of hard questions, where careful reasoning compounds over a lifetime.
Applied Problem Solving & Entrepreneurship
Navigate the business world
Where knowledge becomes action via human-centred design, venture building, business strategy, operations, financial literacy, and data reasoning, anchored by social innovation that measures success as collective good.
Business Strategy & Market Dynamics
Examine the strategy of organizations: positioning, pricing, and the deeper question of what makes people genuinely care.
Data Analytics & Mathematical Thinking
Discover that mathematics is not a subject but a lens, and that quantitative thinking clarifies almost everything it touches.
Entrepreneurship & Building Ventures
Discover that the great ideas that make it are rarely the smartest, but the ones whose founders kept going.
Financial Literacy & Economics
Discover that money is a system with rules, and that most people are never actually taught them.
Human-Centred Design & Innovation
Discover the design discipline that puts the person before the product, and the problem before the solution.
Interdisciplinary Problem Solving
Discover that complex problems don’t respect disciplinary boundaries, and neither do the people best equipped to solve them.
Organization, Operations & Project Management
Discover that operational excellence is its own form of creativity, and what separates good ideas from great companies.
Social Innovation & Community Impact
Explore what entrepreneurship looks like when collective flourishing, not individual gain, is what success actually means.
Leadership & Future Readiness
Learning to build the future
Get students ready for what’s next. Hone skills such as public speaking, leadership, negotiation, wellbeing, creative confidence, mentorship, and a capstone challenge, with personal growth treated as rigorously as any subject.
Communicating with Confidence & Impact
Build the presence to be heard, one of the most durable advantages a person can ever develop.
Creative Confidence & Divergent Thinking
Build creative confidence as a muscle, not a personality type, including the courage to suggest ideas that might not work.
Empathy, Resilience & Self-Awareness
Treat mental health, resilience, and self-awareness as the foundation of high achievement, not the supplement to it.
Innovation Challenge & Learning Showcase
Bring everything together by applying it to a real problem, and present what you’ve built to an actual audience.
Leadership & Team Dynamics
Discover that leadership reveals itself under pressure, often in ways that surprise even the most prepared person.
Pathways, Mentorship & Career Exploration
Discover that the most useful career advice rarely comes from a career fair, and what does instead.
Relationships, Community & the Shad Network
Learn to distinguish between performing networking and actually building trust, in a community that shows up for life.
Strategic Thinking & Negotiation
Practice making real decisions under real pressure, where the skill is not winning arguments but knowing when to move.
Shad partners with some of Canada’s top post-secondary institutions to deliver immersive learning experiences on campuses from coast to coast. From living in residence and exploring state-of-the-art facilities to connecting with faculty, mentors, and fellow participants, each Shad campus provides a unique setting for the same transformative experience in innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership, and community.
Montréal, Québec
Halifax, Nouvelle-Écosse
Sudbury, Ontario
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Waterloo, Ontario
Campus availability may vary each year.
Some institutions will not host a program in 2026.
Shad partners with some of Canada’s top post-secondary institutions to deliver immersive learning experiences on campuses from coast to coast. From living in residence and exploring state-of-the-art facilities to connecting with faculty, mentors, and fellow participants, each Shad campus provides a unique setting for the same transformative experience in innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership, and community.
Montréal, Québec
Halifax, Nouvelle-Écosse
Sudbury, Ontario
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Waterloo, Ontario
Campus availability may vary each year.
Some institutions will not host a program in 2026.
Shad partners with some of Canada’s top post-secondary institutions to deliver immersive learning experiences on campuses from coast to coast. From living in residence and exploring state-of-the-art facilities to connecting with faculty, mentors, and fellow participants, each Shad campus provides a unique setting for a transformative experience.
Montréal, Québec
Halifax, Nouvelle-Écosse
Sudbury, Ontario
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Waterloo, Ontario
Campus availability may vary each year.
Some institutions will not host a program in 2026.
Most Shad participants have experienced the program through our signature Live-In program. Building on this foundation, Shad has expanded its offerings to include four distinctive program pathways that share the same commitment to innovation, community, and personal growth, creating more ways for students to experience Shad.
Live-in Program
Live on campus, build lifelong friendships, and immerse yourself in university life while tackling real-world challenges.
Shad
Passez en mode déconnecté pour profiter de conversations plus approfondies, d'amitiés significatives et de découvertes sans distraction.
Shad A-Plus
Learn to drive real-world impact through a powerful blend of humanities, arts, business thinking and STEM.
Francophone
Expand your perspective, and connect with students from across Canada in an immersive French-language environment.
Shad
L'innovation sans frontières. La même expérience Shad transformatrice avec plus de flexibilité et une approche numérique conçue pour le monde d'aujourd'hui.
For more than 45 years, Shad has helped future leaders discover new possibilities, build lasting confidence, and develop the skills and connections to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
des participants de Shad
recommandent Shad
des participants de Shad
rapport sur l'amélioration de la pensée critique
des participants de Shad
se sentent mieux équipés pour résoudre des problèmes difficiles
des participants de Shad
affirment que Shad a amélioré leurs capacités de communication
Here are various common questions that come up about Shad and our programs:
Programme / Général
Shad propose une série de programmes immersifs conçus pour éveiller la curiosité, renforcer la confiance en soi et préparer les élèves de 10e et 11e année à s'épanouir dans un monde en constante évolution.
Live-in / A-Plus / Unplugged : 5 juillet - 31 juillet | 24/7
Virtuel : 6 juillet - 31 juillet | Du lundi au vendredi, 11h00 - 17h00 ET
Le programme Shad Domicilié est hébergé dans nos campus postsecondaires soigneusement sélectionnés et le programme Shad Virtuel est géré par l'Université d'Athabasca.
Apprenez-en plus sur l'expérience Shad Domicilié et l'expérience Shad Virtuel ainsi que sur nos deux options de programme - Débranché et A-Plus.
Bien que nous prenions en considération les options de campus que vous préférez, Shad choisit en fin de compte votre campus afin de promouvoir une expérience pancanadienne pour tous les participants.
Les membres de l'équipe , bien qualifiés, travaillent d'arrache-pied pour s'assurer que tous les aspects de l'expérience - académique, logistique et sociale - répondent ou dépassent les attentes.
Nombre de ces membres dévoués de l'équipe sont des professeurs d'université de premier plan. Des bénévoles provenant de tous les secteurs de l'université et du milieu des affaires s'ajoutent également au mélange pour créer une expérience dynamique. Tous les membres de l'équipe et les bénévoles souscrivent au code de conduite le plus rigoureux qui soit, tel que défini et maintenu par Shad Canada.
Non. Les participants à Shad doivent s'engager à participer au programme pendant toute sa durée.
Les élèves qui ont besoin de mesures d'adaptation en raison d'un handicap, de pratiques culturelles ou religieuses ou de tout autre motif protégé par les droits de la personne doivent communiquer avec Shad Canada le plus tôt possible afin de discuter de leurs besoins en matière d'adaptation et de s'assurer que Shad Canada peut répondre à leurs besoins. Il convient de bien réfléchir avant d'accepter l'offre de participation.
Les demandes peuvent être envoyées à info@shad.ca
Shad peut donner droit à des crédits d'études secondaires pour les participants de la Saskatchewan, du Manitoba, de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador, de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard et de la Nouvelle-Écosse. L'expérience Shad peut également être considérée comme une expérience en partenariat avec le secteur pour les élèves de la MHS de l'Ontario et répondre aux exigences du CAS pour les élèves du diplôme de l'IB. Les participants au campus virtuel Shadont également la possibilité d'obtenir des diplômes de l'Université d'Athabasca.
