Grand Challenge 01
IBM

Challenge partner
Apply AI to a challenge proposed by IBM.
Challenge brief to be announced

Concept image.
Build what comes next.
Create AI agents, tackle partner challenges, and present your ideas alongside students from around the world.
July 5–16, 2027 Montréal, Canada
Workshops at Ax.c, an innovation hub in downtown Montréal.
An initiative by Créativité Québec, in collaboration with Westcoast Connection.

The experience
Through hands-on AI projects and partner challenges, students practice creating, questioning, collaborating, and explaining their decisions.
Develop an AI-powered prototype and explain how it works.
Check sources, question outputs, and decide when people need to intervene.
Work through different perspectives and contribute to a shared project.
Explain your proposed solution, its limitations, and the choices behind it.
Learning goals guide the experience; individual projects and progress will vary.
The venue
The bootcamp’s workshops and project sessions take place at Ax.c, a downtown Montréal innovation hub that brings together startups, investors, and experts. Students will develop their ideas in a setting designed for collaboration and innovation.
Ax.c · Place Victoria · Downtown Montréal
Explore Ax.c(opens in a new tab)


The Grand Challenges
Four partner challenges connect AI creation with real-world questions. Students will develop a proposed solution, build an AI-powered prototype, and present their work to the challenge partners at the end of the bootcamp.
Grand Challenge 01

Challenge partner
Apply AI to a challenge proposed by IBM.
Challenge brief to be announced
Grand Challenge 02
Explore an AI challenge from the aerospace sector.
Partner and challenge brief to be announced
Grand Challenge 03
Explore an AI challenge from the gaming sector.
Partner and challenge brief to be announced
Grand Challenge 04
A fourth challenge will expand the possibilities.
Sector and partner to be announced
01
Explore the brief and define a clear mission.
02
Develop an AI-powered prototype, check its behavior, and revise it.
03
Demonstrate your work and explain your decisions to the challenge partners.
An indicative progression: explore what agents can and cannot do, check evidence, and document limitations. Individual projects and progress will vary.
Illustrative workflow. This is not one of the announced partner challenges.
Imagine designing an event that brings young people together across cultures. Give your agents a clear mission, explore their proposals, and decide what makes the final plan.
Draft event concept
Global Youth Creative Exchange
Draft — human review required
Event brief
A fictional one-day gathering in Montréal where young people exchange ideas and create together.
Proposed program
Decisions for the human lead
This example shows how roles fit together; it does not show that an agent can guarantee accessibility or organize a real event on its own.
At the end of the bootcamp, teams present their proposed solutions to the challenge partners. They demonstrate what they built and explain the evidence, limitations, and human decisions behind it.
The problem your team addressed.
The prototype you built.
The decisions you can explain.
Why Montréal
In Montréal, research labs, creative studios, and people asking what technology means for society share the same streets. Students explore AI where science, creativity, and collaboration meet.
Signature moment
A visit to the IBM quantum computing system in Bromont, Québec.
Discover a different frontier of computing, explore how it differs from AI, and ask new questions about what technology could make possible.
Included in the camp. Visit details will be shared with participating families.

Meet students from around the world, exchange perspectives, and make Montréal a shared setting for discovery and connection.
For families
Give your child an opportunity to explore AI through meaningful projects, international collaboration, and decisions that call for human judgment.
Accommodation in McGill University residences does not imply academic sponsorship or endorsement by McGill University.
Eligibility, teaching language, technical prerequisites, supervision arrangements, and program inclusions will be detailed before registration opens.
Organizers
The program brings together Créativité Québec’s educational approach and Westcoast Connection’s international recruitment network.
Program vision and educational design.
Program collaboration and international recruitment.
FAQ
July 5–16, 2027
AI creation, international perspectives, and a Montréal experience. Receive program details, pricing, and registration announcements for summer 2027.
Joining the interest list does not reserve a place.