Six new competitors face off Sunday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. (8:30NT) on CBC for their chance to get one step closer to the “Canada’s Smartest Person” title

New this season, a $20,000 donation will be made in the winner’s name to a charity of their choice

Sean O’Neill, host of CBC’s Crash Gallery, to appear as celebrity guest judge

Following another round of revealing intelligence challenges, Brittain Bancroft, a mechanic from Minto, NB, became the fourth competitor to advance on CBC’s hit series CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON. He will join Calgary’s Maria Samson, Edmonton’s Joshua Williams and Stephanie Harvey of Québec City in the finale, where he will continue to battle for the title of “Canada’s Smartest Person” and, new this season, a $20,000 donation to a charity of the winner’s choice. The search will continue next week with six new competitors going head-to-head Sunday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. (8:30NT) on CBC for the fifth and final spot in the season finale, with the help of celebrity guest judge Sean O’Neill, host of CBC’s Crash Gallery.

Next week’s competitors represent regions from across Canada, including: Tristan Campus, a registered nurse from Mississauga, ON; Dustin Herbison, 29, a high school shop teacher from Kelowna, BC; Wali Shah, 21, a speaker and spoken word poet from Mississauga, ON; Michelle Salt, 31, a Paralympian from Calmar, AB; Eric Yue, 40, a recreational hockey league commissioner from Victoria, BC; and Melissa DeCiantis, 25, an arborist from Mississauga, ON.

Each week on CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON, host Jessi Cruickshank (The Goods), with special guest judges, guides the competitors and viewers through the hour-long competition series, which illuminates how Canadians are smart based on the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. In each of the first five episodes, six competitors will go head-to-head in a series of fun 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, five finalists will battle it out to claim the title of CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON and a $20,000 donation made in their name to the charity of their choice.

New this season is CSP SmartPlay, where viewers can join in on the fun from home by playing along in real-time during the broadcast, and CSP LIVE, an exclusive behind-the-scenes interactive show, hosted by Joe Motiki and streamed live Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET – both accessible via the CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON Facebook page.

Find CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON:
Website: cbc.ca/smartestperson
Twitter: @CanadasSmartest #SmartestPerson
Facebook: facebook.com/canadassmartestperson
Instagram: @CanadasSmartest

-30-

About Media Headquarters
Media Headquarters is a leading Canadian television and digital media production company founded by executive producer Robert Cohen. The company is recognized worldwide for producing popular and innovative original content. Media Headquarters’ productions have earned dozens of international awards and the company consistently makes the Realscreen ‘Global 100′ List celebrating the world’s best non-fiction producers. Media Headquarters specializes in the creation of unscripted series, formats, drama and children’s programming. For more information visit mediahqs.net/.

About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. We are Canada’s trusted source of news, information and Canadian entertainment. Deeply rooted in communities all across the country, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also provide international news and information from a uniquely Canadian perspective.

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.

For more information or to request interviews, please contact:
Simon Bassett, publicist
simon.bassett@cbc.ca
416.205.8533

‍