Undergraduates compete for $3600 in prizes in economics case competition
Students used academic knowledge and creativity in the Undergraduate Economics Council’s second case competition.

On November 8, the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM)’s Undergraduate Economics Council (UEC) hosted the Economic Case Competition 2025. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., 21 teams of students gathered in the classrooms on the second floor of the Instructional Centre to compete for a prize pool of C$3600. This year’s theme was Breaking Point: Canada’s Productivity Problem, prompting contestants to critically assess Canada’s stagnating industrial output.

The second edition of the event featured 10 teams in the Beginner Division, comprising first and second year students, and 11 teams in the Advanced Division, comprising third and fourth years. After registering and receiving name badges with their team titles, the students went to room IB 245 for the Introduction Ceremony, where they met their panellists. Then, the executives divided them among four other classrooms. From 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., two rounds of presentations occurred with a one hour lunch break in between for networking.

The attendees faced evaluation from nine judges from Scotiabank, the Bank of Canada, the C.D. Howe Institute, Deloitte, Alterna Savings, KPMG US, BacharLorai Global, and Infrastructure Ontario.

The Advanced Division’s University of Toronto Mississauga Management Competition Team (UTMMC) won the C$1250 grand prize after receiving the highest score from the judges for their presentation. UTMMC Mentees placed first in the Beginner Division, taking home C$750.

During the presentations, beginner and advanced students had six minutes and eight minutes, respectively to address the issue of Canadian productivity and propose practical solutions for it. After that the judges had time to ask questions to the students and provide feedback on slide organization, content, and other aspects of their presentations.

Although the UEC set the competition’s overarching theme, competitors had the liberty to choose how to address the problem. In this way, teams approached the issue through different case studies like immigration and the trucking industry.

After round one of presentations, the attendees, judges, and executives gathered once more in IB 245 for the lunch break and networking. Many students took this time to speak with the panellists and seek more feedback. 

Infrastructure Ontario Research Manager Anil Wasif, the judge for the Beginner Division, gave a keynote address after the break. He spoke about the problem of Canada’s drop in productivity. “For a long, long time we didn’t really talk about productivity, as much as we should have, and that has actually led us to getting exposed” he said. He also outlined that “we had over-reliance on certain ideas we believed in as a nation.”

Wasif discussed how this emergency has been heard from big banks and big companies, and now it’s being heard from small businesses. He ended with a question to the students: “If you were to do something to show results from a short-term, medium term, long-term perspective, what are some quick winds that you can sort of envision?” Waif also commended the teams for their performance throughout the competition. “The level of sophistication, even the beginners have shown, is very, very impressive.”

Ryan Manucha, research fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute and a judge for the Advanced Division, gave a five-minute speech at the end of the ceremony. He talked about “risk-taking in entrepreneurship,” but in the sense of “being a change agent in the world.” He mentioned the case of Gerard Comeau, a 62-year-old man who was fined after trying to bring more than 12 pints of beer he’d bought in Quebec into New Brunswick, an offence under New Brunswick law.

Manucha explained how, even though Gerard lost his case,  he provoked a “sea wave of policy change in 2018.” He added, “I encourage you to harness your innovation and your thinking and go out and do some incredible things in the world.” The panellist also took the time to recognize the “calibre” of the attendees’ performances. 

The Medium interviewed students, judges, and executives throughout the event on the importance of the competition and, at the end, what they had thought about it. 

“Competion would drive you to be better,” said Nicolas Fortun, Case Competition Director from the UEC. He posited that students “need a competition to practice skills and hone on the necessary preparations for pathways after they graduate.” 

Business Coordinator Hanna Patricia Paras of Scotiabank Wealth Management, who judged in the Advanced Division, explained how there are abilities that attendees work on that go beyond public speaking. “You get to work a lot in a collaborative setting and then that end result of presenting is also a lot of learning experience.”

The UTMMC Advanced Division champions explained how the UEC competition is useful for students. “Yeah, I mean, if you wanna go into consulting, it’s obviously like the most relevant kind of experience that you’re gonna gain,” said Sahaar Himmati, a member of the team.

However, according to her, this is not restricted to economic students. She stated that this “lower stakes” environment is a great space for learning. “I’m a bio major. I think doing case competitions helps with your public speaking, because regardless of what sort of career path that you take in life, you’re going to be required to communicate ideas.”

One of the most complimented aspects of the event was the fairness that the organization executives reached with the two rounds of presentations. “Yeah, I think, overall, it was a very good judge panel,” said Bahvya Mehra, member of Beginner Division champions UTMMC Mentees. “We had to present the same presentation to two different sets of judges…. So the overall result was given as a collaborative thing.” 

He also commented on how this event allowed participants to get in contact with professionals from big companies and firms. “That gives us, as students, the opportunity to connect with the people… and make long lasting connections that we can further nurture.” 

Jesse Chen, another member of the team, added how the feedback they received on their presentation was important. “[One of the judges] said, ‘less is actually more,’” reflecting on how the judges emphasized the importance of making clear, concise arguments as opposed to arguments overladen with details or redundancies.

The judges further complimented the students’ performances. “It’s great to see students try to come up with original ideas, and that’s kind of what we need for something like a productivity crisis,” said Bank of Canada Economist Saarah Sheikh, a judge for the Advanced Division.  

The UEC concluded the event with the promise of an even greater third edition Case Competition next year.