CanSpell National Spelling Bee

:"Canadian Spelling Bee" redirects here. The Spelling Bee of Canada, founded 1987, is a separate competition."The CanWest CanSpell National Spelling Bee is a spelling bee held annually in Canada since 2005. The bee is affiliated with the United States-based Scripps National Spelling Bee and uses similar rules and word lists. It is organized by CanWest Global Communications, parent company of 10 of the regional newspaper sponsors.

Competition

As of 2008, regional finals are held in 22 Canadian cities from Victoria to St. John's.

The winner in each regional final participate in the national final in Ottawa each April. The 22 regional winners also qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Media and the Bee

The CanSpell finals enjoy significant coverage from CanWest-owned media outlets. A documentary on the event was produced in 2005, a live broadcast was aired in 2007, and edited versions of the finals were broadcasted in 2006 and 2008. These broadcasts were all aired on Global Television. Live webcasts are also featured each year.

All CanWest dailies except "The Province" participate in the spelling bee. Other newspaper sponsors include the "Winnipeg Free Press", "The Telegram" in St. John's, "The Daily News" in Halifax, "The Chronicle-Journal" in Thunder Bay, and "The Guardian" in Charlottetown.

The Saturn brand of General Motors has been the presenting sponsor for 2005 and 2006. Saturn dropped in 2007 and was replaced with Canada Post. Other national sponsors include Air Canada, AIC Limited, Oxford University Press, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and the Lord Elgin Hotel.

Competition Statistics

National champions

Notes

External links

* [http://www.canada.com/national/features/canspell/index.html Official CanSpell website]