iCAN 2024 was hosted virtually on August 24th in Toronto, Canada

The 9th annual edition of the International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada, iCAN 2024 was held virtually in Toronto, Canada. This was the 5th years in which the event was held virtually. The competition progressed in two stages: (1) The Preliminaries and (2) The Finals.

The Preliminaries: The Preliminaries were open for a six-month period (January 15 – July 15), during which applicants were required to complete and submit their application forms via email. This stage served as the initial phase for applicants to qualify for the competition and advance to the Finals. All applications were thoroughly reviewed by the Organizing Committee and Jury Members to verify the legitimacy of the presented entries (including inventions, innovative products, and scientific research projects) and to ensure they met the qualification criteria for the competition. Once applications passed the initial review, the ideas were evaluated based on written descriptions, images, and/or other external links and media sources.

The Organizing Committee and Jury reviewed a total of 756 applications from 50 countries and regions, qualifying 596 entries for the Finals, of which 326 proceeded to compete. The Jury examined the written descriptions and visual data provided in the application forms to nominate Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medal winners, determining which entries would proceed to the Finals.

Incomplete applications or proposals containing unacceptable themes or hazardous content were filtered out and disqualified during the Preliminaries. Additionally, applicants who failed to maintain consistent communication via email with the iCAN Team (including the Management and Coordination of the Registrar) were also removed from the competition for maintaining a long-term incomplete status on their submissions.

The Finals: Applicants who met the essential requirements of the Preliminaries qualified to proceed to the Finals, where they were asked to submit a video presentation of their nominated innovations.

These videos were subject to further examination and review by the Jury during the selection process for the Finals Award Winners. The Finals Awards featured several prestigious honors, including the Grand Prize, Semi-Grand Prize, Best Invention Awards (across various categories), Canadian Special Awards (presented by the host organizations: ICO, TISIAS, and Inventors Circle), and International Special Awards sponsored by official delegations participating in iCAN 2024.

On August 24th, the following were uploaded to the official iCAN 2024 website for “The Finals”:

• iCAN 2024 “The Finals” Award Winners Announcement (by List)
• iCAN 2024 Keynote Speaker Presentation by Howard A. Lim (HOW Creative)
• iCAN 2024 “The Finals” Movie Showcase
• iCAN 2024 Official Catalogue Online

All video submissions from the Finalists were thoroughly examined by the Organizing Committee, Jury, and International Delegation Leaders to select the Finals Award winners. These videos were also used to create the iCAN 2024 “The Finals” Movie, featuring mixed footage. This year’s Finals highlighted a keynote presentation by Howard A. Lim, titled “From Concept to Creation: Designing a World-Class Brand.” The official catalogue provided comprehensive event details, including congratulatory messages from the committee, partners, and international delegations, as well as a directory of exhibits.

Participating Countries: A total of 50 countries and regions officially participated in iCAN 2024.  iCAN 2024 was joined by participants from all over the world in almost all continents and regions:

Asia, North/South Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East.

Collaborating Organizations: A total of 81 units/organizations around the world including national invention associations, universities, research institutes and inventor clubs joined to collaborate with iCAN 2024 Organizing Committee and Team.

The primary goal of iCAN is to create a unique platform that unites the creativity and innovation initiatives of Canadian inventors with the global community. It offers participants a valuable opportunity to expand their international networks and business activities, promote their inventions, new products, and research projects, and achieve the significant milestone of winning iCAN Awards from Canada, granting worldwide inventors an extraordinary international success.

The 9th International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada, iCAN 2024, was organized by the Toronto International Society of Innovation and Advanced Skills (TISIAS), with support from the Innovation Initiative Co-operative Inc. (The Inventors’ Circle), International Federation of Inventors’ Associations (IFIA), World Invention Intellectual Property Associations (WIIPA), and The Patent Invention Magazine. The event was held virtually on August 24, 2024, in Toronto, Canada.

iCAN is Canada’s premier event for global inventors, showcasing continuous growth and improvement since its inaugural edition in 2016. From 2016 to 2024, iCAN has drawn participants from 96 countries across all continents, including North, Central, and South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Oceania. This has solidified iCAN’s status as a truly global platform for creativity and innovation, held at the heart of Toronto’s multicultural landscape.

iCAN 2024 attracted 756 inventions from 50 countries and regions worldwide, including North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. All applicants first participated in the Preliminaries, competing for Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medal Awards. The Organizing Committee and Jury then qualified 596 inventions to advance to the Finals, where Finalists submitted additional video presentations. Following further evaluation, 326 inventions were selected as winners of the Grand Prize, Semi-Grand Prize, Best Invention Awards, and Special Awards.

The Finals event took place on August 24th, with all program contents uploaded to the organizer’s website: http://www.tisias.org/ican-finals2024.

• iCAN 2024 “The Finals” Award Winners Announcement
• iCAN 2024 Keynote Speaker Presentation
• iCAN 2024 “The Finals” Movie Showcase
• iCAN 2024 Official Catalogue Online

Following the Finals, all iCAN 2024 award winners received their awards and recognitions via international airmail throughout September. Awardees were invited to submit photos of themselves with their awards to be featured in the iCAN 2024 Group Photo Collage, which will be published on the TISIAS website and various social media platforms by the end of the year.