Science Rendezvous is a registered charitable organization dedicated to bringing exciting research and STEM experiences and programming to the public.  The Science Rendezvous namesake program is the annual free family festival that takes science out of the lab and onto the street~ This year we are back to in-person events!

Science Rendezvous invites you to join the fun and WONDER on May 10, 2025, with exciting line-ups of virtual, hybrid and in-person events happening all across Canada. Live demonstrations, STEM shows, interactive exhibits and explosive fun will be available for FREE. Additionally, the forth virtual edition of Science Chase will challenge motivated STEMists from across the country to complete STEM challenges, learn about Canadian research, solve problems and collect points to climb a national leaderboard. Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and ‘X’ and check our website for the latest news and updates for Science Rendezvous 2025!

In typical years, the Science Rendezvous festival is always the Saturday before Mother’s Day, and takes science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) research and innovation out of the lab and onto the street in true festive style for you to discover and experience.  Stage shows, robotics, virtual reality, large-scales experiments and demonstrations, science buskers and Science Chase races are designed to educate, delight and excite the young and the young at heart.  Hands on experiments, make-and-take projects, and demonstrations will allow you and your family to participate, and really get in the action.  The science of slime, liquid nitrogen ice-cream, fire tornadoes, walking on water, and explosions are some of our favourite activities!

Science Rendezvous is a registered charitable organization and is unique because it is created by scientists and innovators, and the next generation of STEAM students, the people who are the most passionate about STEAM.  We work with Canada’s top researchers and research institutes to present a coast-to-coast pop-up science centre on the street that is FREE for everyone. With over 300 events across 30 cities and 1000’s of mind-blowing activities, Science Rendezvous is Canada’s largest celebration of the amazing feats of science and engineering happening right here at home.

Science Rendezvous will inspire you and your family to WONDER on May 10 – come join us, and get your hands on science!

History

Science Rendezvous began as a joint program between the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, York University and Ontario Tech University in 2008. These founding partners saw the need to work together in order to launch an event of great enough scale and exciting content to engage the public in the vast wonders of science and engineering. Since that time, Science Rendezvous has grown to include many new educational programs, 30 of Canada’s top research institutions and over 285 community partnerships across 30 cities in 10 provinces and 2 territories. Today, it is the single largest one-day science festival in Canada.

Science Rendezvous is a science outreach pioneer in Canada, offering direct engagement with thousands of Canada’s top researchers and scientists at 300 simultaneous events and 1000s of hands-on experiments for the public to learn STEM principles and act as a scientist themselves.

The Science Rendezvous head office coordinates the efforts of nearly 6,000 volunteers and all participating institutions, reinvents public engagement with science through STEM education programs, festival programming instruction, and offers career development skill building and direction for event organizers all while promoting both the festival and Canadian science on a national level.

Our Mission

Science Rendezvous’ mission is to promote science and create educational programming based on current research to increase science awareness and increase science literacy in Canada. The educational programs and events of the festival day work to educate, engage and transform the general public from passive consumers of science and engineering to informed, educated, active, passionate champions with an understanding of science and the important role science plays in our rapidly changing world. The open-lab concept of Science Rendezvous day brings science and world-leading scientists face-to-face with the public. Through thousands of hands-on science experiments, interactive lab tours, and explosive demonstrations, Science Rendezvous demonstrates how science affects our daily lives, standard of living, and global competitiveness.

SR opens the doors of over $5-billion in science infrastructure to allow unprecedented educational experiences to the public at state-of-the-art laboratories and research facilities. Science Rendezvous offers a behind the scenes look into the career of a scientist, direct learning experiences and encourages more youth to consider science and engineering-related careers and study paths.

The importance of science to our collective future, both in terms of job creation and proper conservation of resources, should be a well-recognized concept. However, the scientific literacy rate within the general public has fallen and there is a prevailing apathy towards the sciences among youth. As a result, there has been a continuing erosion of funding for basic science in Canada. Yet, research and development are vital to innovation, growth in science and technology-based industries, and good economic health.

A science-focused day, such as that offered by Science Rendezvous, makes science education fun and contributes to enhancing public awareness and appreciation of what science can do.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity

Science Rendezvous seeks to connect Canadian science innovators to the public directly, provide educational programing and inspire the next generation to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. We seek to help create a more scientifically literate society so that people are empowered to make evidence-informed decisions for themselves and their families. When equity, diversity and inclusion considerations and practices are integral to promoting science awareness and scientific literacy then quality, relevance, creativity and accessibility impact are heightened.

With these goals in mind, Science Rendezvous is committed to:

• Promoting the integration of equity, diversity and inclusion considerations into programs, processes and decision making.
• Creating opportunities for the the broadest and deepest pool of potential participants in science outreach and intentionally engaging under-represented and disadvantaged groups in STEM.
• Making Science Rendezvous programs and events a welcoming and accessible environment for the public so everyone feels included in places where scientific innovation and discovery happen every day.
• Reaching the most diverse audiences using innovative approaches.
• Developing programming to develop diverse student executive teams and provide them with educational opportunities to gain valuable project management experiences for career development.
• Aligning research with, by or impacting Indigenous peoples with the best practices and policies identified through ongoing engagement with First Nations, Metis and Inuit Peoples and their organizations.
• Providing Discover Days events that identify and remove the invisible barriers that prevent many of Canada’s youth from accessing Science Rendezvous events.
• Collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data to measure, monitor, understand and report on challenges and progress made.