Hamilton July 6, 2026

As we close out the 2025–2026 program year, Mathstronauts is proud to celebrate another year of meaningful growth in our mission to make high-quality STEM education more accessible and inclusive for youth across Canada.

This year, we reached 1,847 students through our afterschool programs, in-class programs, and outreach events .

We are proud to share that we continue to reach male and female students at nearly equal rates. Across our SPARK and STEAM Engine programs, 48% of participants were girls and 52% were boys, reflecting our ongoing commitment to gender equity in STEM.

 

Program Highlights

Expanded the STEAM Engine Program to the Yukon Territory

This year, Mathstronauts completed its inaugural programming in the Yukon Territory, delivering eight hands-on coding workshops to 153 students in grades 5 to 7 across Whitehorse schools, completely free of charge. The expansion was made possible through the generous support of the Canada Post Community Foundation (CPCF), the Pinnguaq Association through the Government of Canada’s Digital Skills for Youth program, and the Yukon Department of Education. Notably, 52% of Yukon participants were female, a reflection of our commitment to gender-inclusive STEM programming even in remote communities.

Expanding the SPARK Program 

Backed by a Grow Grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) and the Government of Ontario, the SPARK Program,  our free afterschool initiative for children ages 7 to 9, is growing significantly over the next three years. This year’s SPARK cohort alone reached 176 students across Hamilton through weekly hands-on STEM workshops that build teamwork, confidence, and coding skills in trusted community settings.

STEAM Engine Continues to Scale in Ontario

The STEAM Engine program — our in-class intro to coding workshop series for students in grades 5 to 8, reached 1,350 students across Hamilton and Toronto this year, in addition to the new Yukon cohort. Programming ran across Fall 2025, Winter 2026, and Spring 2026, demonstrating the depth of demand for this kind of accessible, in-school coding education.

Beyond our core programs, we also reached students through outreach initiatives, including:

  • The HWCDSB Summer Learning Program – In collaboration with the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board (HWCDSB), we delivered interactive math and coding sessions as part of the Summer Learning Program.
  • Excel in Style – An inspiring effort brought together  professional stylists who donated their time and skills to offer free hair services to Black youth. As a dedicated community partner, we enhanced the experience by hosting complimentary coding workshops, allowing participants to explore STEM learning following their styling appointments.
  • Town of Milton Hackathon, organized by the Milton Youth Task Force through the Youth Initiative program. As a supporting partner, our team contributed to event planning and logistics behind the scenes, while also mentoring participants and providing technical guidance throughout the hackathon.
  • HWCDSB’s The Junior Math Challenge – Our STEAM Engine instructor, Jacob Tjahja, was invited as a guest speaker to present at this year’s event. He spoke about the importance of math and shared his personal experiences learning STEM, offering students a glimpse into future pathways.

We remain deeply grateful to our funders, school board and community partners, teachers, students, and families for making this work possible. We’re working toward a future where every student, no matter where they come from, has a real chance to succeed in STEM.

About Mathstronauts
Mathstronauts is a federally incorporated, award-winning non-profit organization founded in 2016 in Hamilton, Ontario. Our mission is to remove barriers to STEM education and empower young people to develop digital technology and STEM skills. We deliver free, high-quality STEM programs to students in grades 3 to 12 in underrepresented communities across Canada.