Bourstad and FinÉcoLab: CIRANO provides young people with the tools to understand, decide, and act in economics and finance

How can we prepare the next generation to navigate a world where financial and economic decisions are everywhere? To answer this question, CIRANO is launching the 2025–2026 edition of its two flagship initiatives, accessible to thousands of young people across Canada: Bourstad, the educational stock market simulation, and FinÉcoLab, a toolkit of games for learning economics in a different way.

FinÉcoLab: learning through play

Designed as a playful laboratory, FinÉcoLab offers teachers interactive educational games that immerse their students in real-life situations: managing a budget, weighing consumer choices, understanding how a market works. FinÉcoLab transforms the classroom into an experimental space where economics becomes lively and tangible.

Completely free and available online at finecolab.com, these tools are supported by the Autorité des marchés financiers, CIRANO’s main partner for this project.

Bourstad Program: Diving into the world of stock market investing as early as high school!

With the Bourstad Program, students experience portfolio management and responsible investing by reacting to the evolution of real financial markets. More than just a competition, Bourstad is a learning experience that develops decision-making skills, economic analysis, and social responsibility. Schools can integrate these educational activities throughout the year and/or register their students for the 39th edition of the Bourstad competition, scheduled for February 9 to April 10, 2026.

This cutting-edge online platform allows students to step into the shoes of an investment advisor for a fictional saver, while reacting to the fluctuations of real markets. The application also provides support features for teachers and those overseeing private simulations and the Bourstad competition in schools. Teachers and students taking part in simulations therefore benefit from rich, comprehensive, and varied support. Details on how schools can register for the 2025–2026 Bourstad Program are available at www.bourstad.ca.

Building informed citizens

“The results of the CIRANO Barometer 2025 show that understanding economic and financial issues remains a challenge in Quebec and Canada. With FinÉcoLab and Bourstad, we want to offer young people concrete and accessible tools to develop their skills, reflect on their choices, and better prepare for the future,” emphasizes Nathalie de Marcellis-Warin, CEO of CIRANO.

Exceptional engagement in the Bourstad 2025 competition

The Bourstad 2025 competition concluded in style with a ceremony at CIRANO on June 2, presided over by Ms. Julie Paquin, Director of Financial Education at the Autorité des marchés financiers. The jury, chaired by Ms. Julie Ducharme, CFA, Vice-President and Portfolio Manager at PH&N Institutional, selected 123 winners who shared a total of $41,500 in scholarships.

Here are the top winners of the Bourstad 2025 competition in various categories, along with the recipients of the Autorité des marchés financiers Special Financial Education Prizes:

Portfolio Management

• Rayan CHEHADE (Collège Bois-de-Boulogne)

• Jia Xin CHEN* (Montréal QC)

• Luc DUVAL* (Bromont QC)

• Ze Yue LI (École secondaire internationale de Montréal)

• Alexa PHILIPPE (Collège de L'Assomption)

• Rebekah Victoria SAINT-AMOUR (Collège de L'Assomption)

• Emilie SALLAUD (Collège Bois-de-Boulogne)

• Samantha YU (École secondaire internationale de Montréal)

Responsible Investment

• Amira BOUHENCHIR (Collège Bois-de-Boulogne)

• Leonardo ONTIVEROS (École secondaire internationale de Montréal)

• Théo PARENT (Université du Québec à Chicoutimi)

Financial Performance

• Fabiana Cecilia ABREU SALAZAR (Champlain College Saint-Lambert)

• Louis DURAND (Université du Québec à Chicoutimi)

• Éli LANGEVIN (Cégep régional de Lanaudière à Joliette)

• Alexis LANGLOIS (Université de Montréal)

• Pol MONNIER (HEC Montréal)

• Samy MOUMNI (Collège Laval)

• Dominic TREMBLAY* (Saint-Hubert QC)

Overall Performance

• Rayan CHEHADE (Collège Bois-de-Boulogne)

• Lucas DONICI (Collège de L'Assomption)

• Théo PARENT (Université du Québec à Chicoutimi)

• Catalin PETCU* (Repentigny QC)

• Emilie SALLAUD (Collège Bois-de-Boulogne)

• Samantha YU (École secondaire internationale de Montréal)

Autorité des marchés financiers Special Financial Education Prizes

• Vincent BOILY (Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, high school)

• Olivier GRAVEL (École Saint-Jean-Eudes)

• Daoyuan HUANG (Vanier College)

• Chris Merten JULOT (Collège de L'Assomption)

• Maksym KUZMENKO (École secondaire Mgr Richard)

• Jeremy SIMARD (Cégep de Trois-Rivières)

* Public participants who are not university students.

In addition, six students stood out by receiving the Autorité des marchés financiers Special Financial Education Prizes, each accompanied by a $500 scholarship. Candidates for these special prizes were invited to share their experiences and reflect on the good or bad decisions they made throughout the simulation, thereby highlighting the lasting lessons they drew from it.

Congratulations to all the winners and to the 3,100 participants of this 38th edition of the Bourstad competition!

For more information on CIRANO’s financial education activities, you can watch this short video produced for CIRANO’s 30th anniversary.

Learn more
Visit the Bourstad website