The Let's Talk Careers (LTC) competition has achieved its largest participation to date, engaging more than 10,000 students across Canada in exploring post-secondary education and career pathways. This national initiative, which ran from October 27 to December 5, 2025, on the ChatterHigh platform, marks a significant expansion in student involvement and career awareness.
Record-Breaking Student Engagement
During the fall competition, students from 386 schools nationwide generated an impressive 932,756 page visits as they delved into career exploration. The program, designed to make career discovery interactive and accessible, saw participants increase their awareness of over 490 different occupations by an average of 9 percent between the competition's start and end.
In recognition of their active participation, 374 students earned bursaries ranging from $100 to $500. This financial incentive, combined with the engaging format, helped drive unprecedented levels of student involvement in career planning activities.
Partnerships Driving Career Exploration
The competition was made possible through collaboration between Skills/Compétences Canada and several key organizations including Let's Talk Science, NGen, NAV CANADA, Quantum Algorithms Institute, and ChatterHigh. Together, these partners provided students with opportunities to explore careers in skilled trades, sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), exposing them to hundreds of National Occupational Classifications (NOC).
"Reaching more than 10,000 students across Canada marks a significant milestone for the Let's Talk Careers Competition," said Shaun Thorson, CEO of Skills/Compétences Canada. "This level of participation shows that young people are eager to explore careers in the skilled trades and technologies. This showcases the real impact of LTC in helping students discover meaningful skilled career pathways."
Making Career Research Manageable
The ChatterHigh platform breaks down the often overwhelming task of career research into manageable components. Through interactive tools like interest profile building and daily question sets, students can explore career options in bite-sized segments that make the process engaging rather than stressful.
"When students contemplate what programs or occupations would be of interest to them, the idea of researching the possibilities can seem overwhelming," explained Lee Taal, CEO and Founder of ChatterHigh. "The Let's Talk Careers Competition breaks down the task of researching pathways and resources into bite-sized chunks and motivates students to get actively exploring."
Sustained Growth Since 2020
Since its launch in 2020, the LTC Competition has demonstrated remarkable growth across multiple metrics:
- Student participation has increased from approximately 6,000 students in the first round to over 10,000 in the latest competition
- School participation has grown from 200 to 386 institutions nationwide
- Page visits have more than doubled, showing an increase of over 110 percent
This expansion highlights the program's growing reach and influence in career education across Canada, providing students with valuable exposure to diverse career possibilities they might not otherwise encounter.
Expanding Career Horizons
Dr. Bonnie Schmidt, President of Let's Talk Science, emphasized the importance of exposing students to emerging opportunities: "The ChatterHigh platform provides some fantastic opportunities for youth! By viewing career professionals in diverse industries, students can see what's possible. For the most part, participants don't even know about half of the emerging opportunities, and if they don't know about something, how could they ever dream of it?"
The initiative supports students in identifying education and career options aligned with their interests while reducing the stress often associated with career planning. By presenting exploration as an engaging and rewarding experience, the program helps bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world career possibilities.
