CBC REVEALS THE 32 PARTICIPANTS WHO WILL BATTLE IT OUT TO BE NAMED CANADA'S SMARTEST PERSON

CBC’s new competition series CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON has narrowed down the field to 32 remarkable Canadians who will put themselves to the test, squaring off every episode for their chance to take home the title of “Canada’s Smartest Person.” Each week, Jessi Cruickshank, along with co-host Jeff Douglas, will guide viewers through the hour-long competition series, which explores how Canadians are smart, based on the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. In each episode four competitors go head-to-head in a series of entertaining and revealing challenges that test six areas of intelligence: linguistic, physical, musical, visual, social and logical, with one winner advancing to the championship finale. Then, in the climactic season finale, the eight weekly finalists will battle it out to claim the title of CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON. Audiences can join the fun and take on every challenge from home by downloading the CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON app or playing along online at cbc.ca/smarterstperson.

Hailing from the east to the west coast and everywhere in between, this diverse group of Canadians range from 16 to 71 years old and includes an artist, scientist, fire fighter and musician to name a few, each demonstrating that intelligence is about much more than IQ.

Introducing the competitors who will compete for the chance to become CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON:

• Yahaya Baruwa, 26, author and entrepreneur from Toronto, ON

• Alisia Bonnick, 20, novelist and psychology student from Stouffville, ON

• Max Cameron, 31, fighter pilot from Calgary, AB

• Brian Charbonneau, 33, drag artist and screenwriter from Sainte-Geneviève, QC

• Alea Ciecko, 23, psychiatric nursing student from Winnipeg, MB

• Mith Das, 29, copywriter from Toronto, ON

• Daryl Dillman, 24, orthopedic surgery resident from Cole Harbour, N.S.

• JP Doiron, 30, cheese salesman from North Rustico, P.E.I.

• Brent Hayden, 30, Olympian, private swim coach, and photographer from Vancouver,    B.C

• Dipna Horra, 39, audio-visual artist from Ottawa, ON

• Jennifer Hurd, 21, doctorate student from Ottawa, ON

• Cat Jahnke, 33, musician from Winnipeg, MB

• Rhiannon Jones, 30, stay-at-home mom from Chilliwack, B.C.

• Kaveh Kavoosi, 27, doctor from Aurora, ON

• Roselyn Kelada-Sedra, 30, actor and law student from Toronto, ON

• Kate LaFrance, 28, middle school teacher from Fredericton, N.B.

• Braden Lauer, 22, law student from Vancouver, B.C.

• Victoria Leenders-Cheng, 33, magazine editor from Montreal, QC

• Kiel Lemmen, 31, high school teacher from Port Coquitlam, B.C.

• Johnny MacRae, 27, poet from North Vancouver, B.C.

• Melanie Martin, 40, physicist and associate professor of physics and radiology from     Winnipeg, MB

• George Millar, 71, teacher from Edmonton, AB

• Nader Nadernejad, 16, high school student from Peterborough, ON

• Nick Nickerson, 49, retired naval communicator and cryptographer from Merrickville,    ON

• Norm Odjick, 42, Director General, Algonquin Nation Tribal Council from Kitigan Zibi,    QC

• Lisa Preston, 39, radio host from Mississauga, ON

• Mary Rose, 39, Ayurvedic cleaner from Victoria, B.C.

• Chris Sensenig, 37, master electrician from Welland, ON

• Tova Sherman, 52, CEO from Bedford, N.S.

• Ellen Snider, 48, executive director from Quispamsis, N.B.

• Albert Tam, 25, MBA candidate and arts administrator from Woodbridge, ON

• Chris Tessaro, 51, firefighter and poker player from Mississauga, ON

Website: cbc.ca/smartestperson/

Twitter: @CanadasSmartest #SmartestPerson

Media Headquarters is a leading Canadian television and digital media production company founded in 1999 by Executive Producer Robert Cohen. The company is widely recognized for producing popular series and original formats for worldwide markets. Media Headquarters has won numerous Gemini Awards, been nominated for an Emmy® Award and consistently makes the Realscreen ‘Global 100’ List celebrating the world’s best non-fiction producers. Media Headquarters’ slate includes factual entertainment, documentary, dramatic and children’s programing. For more information visit www.mediahqs.net.

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio, television, internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages.

A space for us all is CBC/Radio-Canada’s new strategy to modernize the public broadcaster and ensure that it continues to fulfill its mandate for Canadians and for future generations. Through to 2020, it will increase its investment in prime time television programming, and continue to create radio programs of the highest quality, while promoting the development of digital and mobile platforms and content.

For more information including series synopses, press releases, hi-res images, video clips and bios, please visit the CBC Media Centre at cbc.ca/mediacentre. Follow CBC’s publicity team on Twitter @CBC_Publicity.

Cathleen Saville, entertainment publicist

416.205.7976