Terms & Conditions

1. ELIGIBILITY: The Investintech - CAJ Data Journalism Scholarship is open to all students who are the age of majority and are currently attending a credible university or college within the country. The student must be accepted to or enrolled in a diploma or full-time undergraduate or graduate journalism program in Canada.Non-journalism program students who have experience in journalism may also apply, but they will need to show evidence of their interest and skill in journalism as part of their submission.

By entering the Scholarship as described in these Scholarship Rules, entrants represent and warrant that they are complying with these Scholarship Rules (including, without limitation, all eligibility requirements), and that they agree to abide by and be bound by all the rules and terms and conditions stated herein and all decisions of Sponsor, which shall be final and binding.

Any students (including, but not limited to, employees, consultants, independent contractors and interns) who have, within the past six (6) months, held employment with or performed services for Sponsor or any organizations affiliated with the sponsorship, fulfillment, administration, prize support, advertisement or promotion of the Scholarship ("Employees") are not eligible to enter or win.

2. ENTRIES: To enter the Scholarship, you must meet the eligibility requirements of the scholarship as stated on the Investintech - CAJ Data Journalism Scholarship homepage. You must then fill in the online entry form with the required information along with the submission attached. By confirming your eligibility, submitting your details and attaching your work, you will be entered for consideration. Entry limit is one application submission per student. Subsequent attempts made by the same individual to submit multiple entries by using multiple accounts or otherwise may result in disqualification of the entrant.

Only contributions submitted during the Scholarship Period will be eligible for entry. No other methods of entry will be accepted. Entries are limited to individual students only. Use of a false identity and account will disqualify an entry. The Sponsor is not responsible for entries not received due to difficulty accessing the internet, service outage or delays, computer difficulties and other technological problems.

Entries are subject to any applicable restrictions or eligibility requirements listed herein. Entries will be deemed to have been made by the authorized account holder of the email at the time of entry and qualification. Multiple participants are not permitted to share the same email address. Should multiple users of the same email account, as applicable, enter the Scholarship and a dispute thereafter arises regarding the identity of the entrant, the Authorized Account Holder of said email account at the time of entry will be considered the entrant. "Authorized Account Holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization which is responsible for the assigned email addresses, or the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. Proof of submission of an entry shall not be deemed proof of receipt by the website administrator. When applicable, the website administrator's computer will be deemed the official time keeping device for the Scholarship. Entries will be disqualified if found to be incomplete and/or if the Sponsor determines, at its sole discretion, that multiple entries were submitted by the same entrant in violation of the Scholarship Rules.

3. CRITERIA, SELECTION PROCESS: Submissions must follow the guidelines listed on the official scholarship homepage. Entries can include the submission of data stories produced for all types of media platforms: radio, television, print, online, and multimedia. Content must be submitted in English or French with the appropriate information from the participant. It must not contain any plagiarized material. Any and all quoted material should be cited appropriately along with relevant source links or attribution required. The treatment of sources and methods used in the written portion of the submission must be done in accordance with journalistic guidelines. This rule also applies to any images, data, or graphics used.

Jury members will read each submission for coherence, quality, and style. They will also check for the use, accuracy, and credibility of sources and data used within the submission.

The only entries that will be considered eligible are entries received by Sponsor within the Scholarship Period and that follow all requirements. The odds of being selected depend on the number of eligible submissions received and the quality of the submission. The Sponsor and jury reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to choose an alternative winner if a possible winner has been disqualified or is deemed ineligible for any reason.

Applicants who choose to submit work that has been produced as part of a team of two or more, must submit their proof of work that was used to help develop, write, and contribute to the story. The proof of work must support what is presented in the applicant’s main submission. Proof of work can include written drafts, time-stamped work, images or media files, datasets in digital file formats or via link. By submitting such proof of work, the applicant confirms that they own the original work and that the data and research is authentic, that any data submitted as proof of work comes from the applicant’s research or is gathered from authoritative sources and not fabricated. Should there be any conflict or doubt as to the ownership and credibility of that proof of work, the Selection Jury retains the right to either further question the applicant or deem the entrant’s submission as ineligible. The applicant cannot resubmit a new application post-deadline. As stated above, only one entry submission per student will be accepted.

The selection process will consist of a review period lasting from April 15th - 26th, 2024 during which each member of the jury will carefully review each submission.

During the review period, the committee will meet and discuss their selections of eligible entries they deem are qualified. The longlist will consist of no fewer than ten (10). From this longlist, jury members will debate and select a shortlist. The shortlist will consist of no less than three (3) and no more than five (5) submissions. From this list, the jury members will be responsible for selecting one winner. This decision is at the sole discretion of the jury.

The jury is bound not to divulge or discuss any of the submissions submitted for the prize with anyone outside of the jury. The jury agrees to discuss the submissions under consideration only with their fellow jury members. The jury vows to pick the best submissions regardless of the entrant’s geography, gender, or ethnicity.

4. JURY COMMITTEE, QUALIFICATIONS: The jury committee will consist of three journalists who will review applications and select the Winner.

Investintech.com will work in collaboration with the CAJ to create a jury that includes judges with extensive experience and multiple credentials at notable and authoritative media outlets. The official selection committee that will determine the winning submission will include one Investintech.com representative and one CAJ member to provide input during the selection process. Each jury member will be carefully selected,reviewed, and recommended by the CAJ. Journalists will be chosen based on their background, experience, and area of expertise. At least one of these members will be fluent in French to help evaluate submissions that are in French.

To learn more about the writing credentials and journalism experience of the selection jury members, please visit the Data Journalist Scholarship Selection Jury page.

5. WINNER AND NOTIFICATION: Sponsor working in collaboration with the selection jury will announce the prize winner ("Winner") on April 29, 2024 ("Announcement Date"). The final shortlisted candidates will be notified by email that they have been selected as the winner for the award. The Notification of Winner shall be deemed to have occurred immediately upon the email announcement being sent by the Sponsor.

6. PRIZE: One (1) student will receive the following one-time cash prize of $1,000 CAD. No more than the stated number of prizes will be awarded, and the prize listed above will be awarded. No prize substitution is permitted, except at the discretion of the Sponsor.

The winner will also receive a free one year membership with the CAJ on an “as-is” basis. It will include access to services and subscriptions that are available to all registered CAJ members for one year. It is at the sole discretion of the winner to register for those accounts. Free service accounts offered by the partners of the CAJ and the features offered through them are provided at the discretion of those partners. The winner will not hold the CAJ responsible for any loss of data, technical failure or issue resulting from those complimentary accounts and services.

A free pass to the CAJ National Annual Conference in Toronto from May 31- June 2, 2024 will be awarded to the recipient of the scholarship, as well. It is at the sole discretion of the CAJ to determine a substitute prize, if any, for any passes, both in-person and digital. The terms and conditions of a digital pass will abide by the regulations set by the CAJ. In the event of a digital event, the pass does not include costs incurred for the use of the Internet to view the event, membership plans for the use of technological conferencing platforms, or the data used to access workshops online. The pass for a physical, in-person event does not incur costs for the travel to the location venue or accommodations within the city in which the data school is held. It is up to the winner to make their own arrangements. The free pass includes all access to workshops, presentations, swag, and information seminars for which the registration pass is eligible.

7. PAYMENT AND DELIVERY OF THE PRIZE: Payment of the cash prize will be provided by cheque and made payable to the winning recipient’s college or university as stated by the student upon submission of their application. The prize will be placed on deposit towards the student’s tuition account and used to pay any fees owed to the college or university. Any remaining funds will be made available to the recipient via direct deposit or cheque mailed to the address provided by the student.

All necessary information required by the university to accept such payments (student number, social insurance number, date of birth, address, etc.) is to be provided by the student to the Sponsor. The Winner’s personal information will be kept confidential and destroyed afterwards.

The CAJ will deliver the one year free membership and one free pass to the CAJ National Annual Conference (May 31 - June 2, 2024) at their discretion in a manner that is convenient for both the association and the winner.

In the event the winning student leaves the college or university stated on their Scholarship application between the Submission date and the Selection date the Winner is announced, the payment receipt of the prize will be decided upon between the Sponsor, the CAJ, and the Winner.

Should the conference be cancelled or delayed for whatever reason, an announcement update will be posted on the main scholarship page.

8. PRIVACY: Personal information collected through the entry form will be used for the purpose of determining the eligibility of the student, contacting the Scholarship winner, and helping in processing the payment to the educational institution. Collected information will not be used for any other purpose or disclosed to third parties. Information collected from entrants in connection with the Scholarship is subject to the Sponsor's privacy policy, which may be found here.

Both the Winner and entrants retain all rights to their written work. The Sponsor will not modify, alter, or edit submissions in any manner. While the Sponsor will not publish or post any work without the express permission of the winner, it is the Sponsor’s intention that the winning submission be published or linked to on a winners list to further promote the scholarship. The manner in which the submission will be posted or linked to is to be decided upon by the Sponsor.

As part of the submission process, all applicants will be asked for a short bio and/or photo and any details to have used in announcements, marketing material, and testimonials. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that all personal information submitted is accurate and is suitable for being published online. The applicant will not hold the Sponsor liable for any abuse or misuse of that information by third parties after the information is made public on the Sponsor’s website.