In 2014 Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties (MARL) secured an invitation to participate in the USA High School Ethics Bowl. For two consecutive years Manitoba sent teams to compete at the USA competition held at the University of North Carolina Parr Centre for Ethics. Although the students’ experience was very positive it was determined for the growth of the Ethics Bowl, MARL would concentrate their efforts of expanding through the public school system in Manitoba followed by Canada. The USA Ethics Bowl provided an endorsement which greatly supported the vision of a Canadian version.

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Between 2016 to 2018, with the support of the University of Manitoba Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics and the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba High School Ethics increased participation from six to sixteen high school teams. In 2018 the first ‘Coupe éthique des écoles secondaires’ was held at the Université de Saint-Boniface with six teams making the Ethics Bowl a truly bilingual Canadian event. 

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On April 24 and 25, 2019 the first Canadian High School Ethics Bowl was held at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR), an endorser since 2015. The inaugural event included a full day of ethical games and opportunities for students and supervisors to strengthen their critical thinking skills and collegial ties. Participating teams were from Manitoba and British Columbia.

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2020 saw an expansion to Edmonton, Kamloops, Saskatoon, and Toronto. During the covid pandemic, an online platform was developed to continue and further expand activities to new cities. There are now events in over twenty cities in eight provinces.

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Today, the Ethics Bowl remains anchored in Winnipeg, being the location where the National Final of the High School Ethics Bowl is held, in both official languages. This has been possible with the continuing support of MARL, as well as the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Université de Saint-Boniface, and the Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.​

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Ethics Bowl Canada is the non-profit organization that is now in charge of supporting the promotion and organization of the Ethics Bowl in Canada. After an informal consortium was set in place by the early organizers, Dr. Nicolas Fillion and Jeffrey Senese were charged with laying the foundations for a formal cooperative organization that would become Ethics Bowl Canada. This organization was incorporated on April 3rd, 2023. It is structured around a countrywide membership, thousands of participants and volunteers, tireless committee members, general managers and coordinators generously devoting their time to the day-to-day affairs of the organization, and a volunteer Board of directors.

 

In addition to the High School Ethics Bowl, Ethics Bowl Canada now offers a junior bowl for students in grades 7-11, as well as a college bowl for students in colleges, CÉGEPs, and universities. It has an entire student department where our youth acquire experience and develop leadership skills, and many more exciting developments are in the works!​