Guidelines for Qualifying
In Quebec, students in grades seven to nine are eligible to compete in junior tournaments, while any debater may compete in a senior event.
Senior National Debating Championships – This tournament is held every spring. The QSDA runs the Provincial Championships as a qualifying tournament in the fall or early winter. The top school teams, usually around six or seven, are eligible to attend the Nationals. No school may send more than two teams to the National Championships, unless QSDA is invited to send additional teams beyond what other provinces would send ( such as when we host ). No team may substitute one debater for another. Delegates qualify together as a team. If any student, and hence the team, is unable to attend, the next team on the list will be invited. Students may attend the Nationals as many times as they want, and must be in a minimum of grade 9.
CSDF Senior National Debating Seminar – This week-long workshop type Seminar is now held in the Fall, usually in November. QSDA has adopted an application process to select students who best ìembody the spirit of the National Seminarî. Four students from different schools advance as individuals for the English category. In addition, QSDA may be invited to send additional delegates in the Bilingual category. These delegates must also be from different schools, although overlap with the English category is allowed. Students may only attend the National Seminar once and must be 14 years old as of the previous January 1.
World Qualifiers – Three students each year are invited without restriction to try out for the National team at the World Qualifier, which is held during the two days before or after the National Seminar. The delegates are chosen by a selection committee, appointed by the QSDA board and is independent of the board and does not consist of any coaches of the applicants. Candidates are chosen based upon their debating experience, performance at a tryout, and their willingness to commit to the National Debating team if selected.
Junior National Debating Championships – Held in the spring of each year, usually in early May, this tournament is the highest level for junior debaters in Canada . Each province is eligible to send a delegation of six or eight debaters. Quebec debaters qualify for this tournament at the Junior Provincials, held in March or April. The top debaters at this tournament are eligible to attend the Junior Nationals. Schools are permitted to send two debaters to the Junior Nationals. Debaters qualify as individuals, but then teams are created and students debate primarily as teams at Junior Nationals, but the format does change from year to year. These debaters may or may not have been partners at the Junior Provincials, or even from the same school, as delegates qualify individually for the Junior Nationals.
Oxford Cup Debating Tournament (formerly the North American Championships) – This event is held in the Fall every year in British Parliamentary format. The top two teams from different provinces are invited to attend the Oxford Schools Championships. QSDA holds a qualifier to select teams ( around six ) for the North Americans. Like the National Championships, teams qualify as school teams and no substitutions are allowed. The limit is also two teams per school.
National Public Speaking Championships – This event is held in Winnipeg at St. Johnís-Ravenscourt School each February. Each province sends two or three students, selected at the Loyola Public Speaking tournament. There are a variety of speaking events. Students can qualify for the World Public Speaking Championships if they do well in Winnipeg.