The Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC) is a competition intended, as the name suggests, to challenge our best young mathematical talents nation-wide.  It is not a contest for every student, and it requires a considerable amount of mathematical maturity.

But it is important that teachers of younger students with significant mathematical ability encourage these students to begin writing the COMC at an early age.  There are several reasons for this.

• The questions on the COMC require full solutions, and so are more stimulating for bright independent thinkers.  They will find this exam much less tedious and routine than the standard multiple-choice format test.
• As students progress farther, and into higher-level contests, the open question format will be used more often.  Writing the COMC is excellent preparation for these tests.  In the past there has been some difficulty with Manitoba students who perform well in the multiple choice tests but have difficulty making the transition to full answer style questions in later years.  Writing such competitions earlier will help address this deficiency.
• The very best students will lose some significant opportunities for highest-level competition if they are not writing the COMC at an early age.  Most of the elite competitions and training opportunities in Canada are by invitation only, and the most significant determiner of who gets invited is performance on the COMC!  Students who do not write the COMC, therefore, are unlikely to receive invitations to such things, regardless of their potential.  Here is a partial list of COMC-dependent opportunities:
• The CMS/Esso National Training Camp is an annual elite Math Camp for students in grades 8 to 11 that operates by invitation only, based primarily on performance in the COMC.  The focus of this camp is to train future participants in the Canadian IMO team -- they begin to work with students showing potential for international-level competition four years in advance
• The Canadian IMO team is a select group of students who write the International Mathematical Olympiad, the highest-level high school math contest in the world.  The members of the Canadian team are hand-picked from our best students, with an eye on performance on the most challenging contests, including the COMC.  Of course the students considered first and foremost for this experience are those who have been groomed for it through participation in the COMC-dependent National Training Camp, above.
• The CMO (Canadian Mathematical Olympiad) is the national equivalent of the CMO; approximately 50 students across the country write the CMO each year, plus some regional representatives, but participation in the CMO is by invitation only; one of the required steps to qualify for an invitation is participation (and a good performance) in the COMC.

The confusion caused by the above discrepancy is further exacerbated by the fact that COMC literature is, I believe, sent only to high schools offering senior classes.  Therefore very good students at Junior High Schools or Middle Schools may not write this exam simply because their school is not made aware of the opportunity.

Here is my advice:

• Bright or enthusiastic students should be encouraged to begin writing the COMC in grades 9 or 10.  Any students who perform in the top 5 in the province in any of the ranked competitons should begin writing the COMC at the next opportunity, regardless of their grade level.  If they are below grade 10 in their classes, they should be given supplementary materials to accellerate their background so that they are prepared for the basic material.  A bright student should do well in this competition with a minimum of background, but it is hopeless to attempt a problem, say, regarding cartesian geometry, before  cartesian coordinates and graphs of equations have been seen.
• Students who are clearly bound for international competition in mathematics should begin writing the COMC no later than grade 8.  Of course, it is very hard to identify students of this calibre at an early age.  However, it is possible, for example, to have students in grades 6 and 7 writing the regular competitions for the next year or two (grade 7 students can write the Pascal; grade 6 students can write the grade 7 or 8 Math League contest or the Gauss contest); if they distinguish themselves at this level, there is a good chance that they are headed for top-level competition.
• Don't make COMC participation a large-group activity at any level before grade 10.  Target your best students in the earlier years.  Note, however, that it is quite common for a student who performs only moderately well in the multiple-choice format to excell in the full solution format because the latter requires more problem-solving and cognitive skills while the former requires more mechanical skill and exam-writing strategy.  Keep an eye open for students who may not distinguish themselves in the traditional ways, but have clearly exceptional problem-solving talent.  These kids will love puzzles and games, enjoy word games and may love to debate.  They will often be loners, and they constantly have new ideas about everything.  Their streak of creative originality will be clear to all -- whether or not it distinguishes them academically or shows itself in math class.  Don't make the mistake of confusing excellent memory and recipe-following ability with giftedness in problem-solving -- although often associated, these are very different skills, and it is quite common for a student to excel in one and not the other.
• NOTE:  A selection criterion of secondary importance for National Math Camp is performance in the Galois (grade 10 Waterloo) competition. The first 10 students for Math Camp are selected solely from the COMC results and the Galois competition is figured in for the remaining students.

Serious competitors should be writing the Galois competition starting in grade 8.  Note that they cannot write the Fryer competition at the same time -- so this is an option that should only be entertained for truly excellent students; all others should be writing the Fryer.  If students begin writing the Fryer competition in grade 7 (or earlier) it will help identify those rare candidates who should move on to the Galois by grade 8.