Elbows Up: Getting Dead Serious About National Security
The 2026 National Public Administration Student Case Competition was launched on February 11, 2026 and hosted virtually on February 21, 2026.
The case challenge
This year’s challenge required participating teams to develop the focus and priorities for a new national security strategy, to be briefed to the National Security Committee of Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister.
In their presentations, teams had to:
- Identify 3-4 core national security priorities on which the new national security policy should focus;
- Make a clear, concise, and compelling argument as to why the 3-4 priorities chosen should be the focus of the new national security policy (including analysis of national security expert literature, government reports/documents and available data on the incidence and severity of national security incidents in Canada in recent years);
- Propose at least one substantive policy intervention (for each of the priorities selected) that can help mitigate the risks in that domain (including specific details on policy instrument and authority being used, implementation feasibility, communications challenges, and a rough estimate of costs);
- Provide a title for the new national security strategy that captures the essence of threats and the government’s response to them.
Documents relevant to the case include:
The organizing committee
Eugene Lang (Queen’s University) and Ian Roberge (York University) co-organized the 2026 iteration of the competition, with the support of the following individuals:
- Brigid Waddingham, School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University
- Asala Abbas, Glendon School of Public and International Affairs, Glendon Campus of York University
- Nafisa Nawal, School of Public Policy and Administration, York University
The juges
The judging panel included:
- Noah Morris (Head Judge)
- Craig Hutton
- Violeta Quintanilla-Webb
- Kimberly Rebenchuk
- Vincent Rigby
- Christina Santini
(Detailed bios are available here.)
The teams
Thirteen teams from coast to coast participated in the competition. Scroll down to see photos of the participating teams and their presentations.
To watch the opening and awards ceremonies :
Winning teams
Shepherd Prize (Gold): Concordia University
For a second year in a row!
Team:
- Naomi Abramovich
- Brendan Metrakos
- Katherine Chisholm
- Olivia Integlia
- Ruxandra Chirila
Coach(es):
- Meghan Joy
- Joe Faragone
- Geoffrey Kelley
Silver Prize: Carleton University
Team:
- Yvonne Chen
- Winnie Guo
- Jared Rabinovici
- Fariha Ahmed
- Joel West-Sadler
Coach:
- Amanda Clarke
Bronze Prize: Glendon College
Team:
- Hana Shaeffer
- Amanda Wagner
- Sanga Achakzai
- Isabelle Ayala
- Elina Chantreau
Coach(es):
- Francis Garon
- Andrew Mackey
Participating teams (in order of presentations):
- Dalhousie University
- Toronto Metropolitan University
- Queen’s University
- Carleton University
- McMaster University
- York University
- University of Toronto
- University of Alberta
- Concordia University
- University of British Columbia
- Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy
- Simon Fraser University
- Glendon College
Sponsors
We are grateful for the support of our sponsors for the 2026 competition: Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP), School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University, and the Glendon School of Public and International Affairs, Glendon Campus of York University.
Teams presentations
1. Dalhousie University
2. Toronto Metropolitan University
3. Queen’s University
4. Carleton University
5. McMaster University
6. York University
7. University of Toronto
8. University of Alberta
9. Concordia University
10. University of British Columbia
11. Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy
12. Simon Fraser University
13. Glendon College
