The Hunter Prize for Public Policy is run by the Centre for Civic Engagement, a non-partisan Canadian organisation that researches public-interest questions, and is funded by a donation from the Hunter Family Foundation, with The Hub as media partner. Each edition puts one hard national problem to the public and invites anyone with a workable answer to write it up. The 2026 question asks what policy reforms could support Canadian entrepreneurs by increasing business formation and scale-up over the next decade.
It follows a long slide in Canadian business dynamism: self-employment fell from 17.3% to 12.8% over 25 years, and the rate of new business entry dropped from 15.2% to 12.3%, behind the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Entries are short synopses of no more than 1,500 words.
Ten finalists then expand their idea into a full costed proposal, a five-member panel of founders, investors and economists ranks them, and the finalist papers are published. Earlier editions took on health care, housing and economic growth.
Benefits & funding
- Grand prize of $25,000 for the winning proposal.
- $5,000 for the runner-up.
- $2,500 each for the proposals placed third through tenth.
- Total prize pool of $50,000.
- Finalist proposals are published by the Centre for Civic Engagement, and each finalist also writes an op-ed article in support of their proposal, published at TheHub.ca.
- Entry is free. Prize money for a co-authored entry is split among its authors.
Eligibility
- Open to Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and people holding refugee, student or work visas.
- Canadian citizens living outside Canada may enter.
- Entries are accepted in English or French.
- One submission per author. Entries may be co-authored, and all authors must be named on the form.
- No age, degree or professional requirement is published; the form asks only for occupation and home town.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
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Residence required
Canada
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Application process
- 1Read the guidelines and this year’s challenge question on the prize page.
- 2Draft a synopsis of 1,500 words or less, with no figures or tables.
- 3Enter through the online form, which fixes the structure: a title, the issue as one question of at most 25 words, recommendations in at most 100 words, a problem overview in at most 500 words, the proposed policy solution in at most 600 words, and considerations and path forward in at most 400 words.
- 4Add your name, email, phone number, occupation, town or city and country, declare a co-author if you have one, confirm that you meet the eligibility requirements, and submit by 3 August 2026.
- 5The Centre adjudicates entries between 3 and 30 August 2026 and selects ten finalists.
- 6Finalists refine their work into a proposal of roughly 2,500 to 3,000 words with cost estimates and an implementation plan, where figures and tables are allowed, plus an op-ed for TheHub.ca. The judges then review, the papers are published, and the winners are announced on 13 November 2026.
Program timeline
Launch; entry period opens
3 June 2026
End of the entry period shown on the prize timeline
2 August 2026
Entry deadline stated in the guidelines and on the entry form
3 August 2026
Internal adjudication; ten finalists selected
3–30 August 2026
Finalists announced; proposals refined
31 August – 11 October 2026
Final review by the judging panel
12 October – 8 November 2026
Finalist proposals published
9–13 November 2026
Winners announced
13 November 2026