JDC West explained

Jeux du Commerce West, JDC West Business Competition or informally, JDC West is an annual business competition featuring top business schools and students from across Western Canada, as well as the largest undergraduate business competition in Western Canada. The first competition, hosted by UBC, occurred January 20–23, 2006, and attracted over 400 students. JDC West was modeled after Jeux du Commerce (a similar competition held annually in Quebec.[1] [2] The competition moves from host university/city to host university/city each given year.

Structure

Each university sends one team of 50+ representative students to participate respectively in one of 10 Academic Competitions, 1 Parliamentary Debate, 1 Athletic Competition or 1 Social Competition. Points are awarded and accumulated towards a team being declared "School of the Year".

Academics

There are 10 core Academic Competitions. That being said, an organizing committee may add any number of additional academic cases, providing that the core academic cases (listed below) are included. Each competition has 3 students from each team participate. In each case competition participants have a fixed amount of time to review the facts and prepare before presenting to the industry judges and experts.

Current academic events for JDC West are:

Debate

Each debate team has 4 students. They have 30 minutes to review the proposal before presenting. As it is in parliamentary style, one team is designated Team Government and the other Team Opposition.

Athletics

The hosting school chooses the sport each year. The teams include both male and female competitors.

Challenge

Each Challenge team has 4 students - two males and two females. The Challenge portion of the JDC West competition is arguably the most arduous on its competitors who are on-call for ten social challenges to be completed in less than 48 hours at any time of day or night. These entertaining challenges are known to include spirit, mental and physical challenges that bring the 4 students together in a way no team sport could. These challenges test students adaptability, enthusiasm and team work to the extreme.

Additional awards

Participation - Focuses on the spirit of each school during the competition weekend. The team that cheers the hardest, shows up for the most events, and is the life of the party takes the prize.

Charity - Has two awards. One for the number of hours that school commits to their charities of choice and the second for the amount of dollars raised for their charity of choice.

Participating Schools

The following schools are or have been participants in JDC West:

UniversityBusiness Faculty Name
(if named)
First Year Participating
British Columbia Institute of TechnologyBCIT School of Business2017
Simon Fraser UniversityBeedie School of Business2006
University of AlbertaAlberta School of Business2006
University of British ColumbiaSauder School of Business2006
University of British Columbia Okanagan2009
University of CalgaryHaskayne School of Business2011
University of Lethbridge2006
University of ManitobaAsper School of Business2007
University of Northern British Columbia2007
University of ReginaPaul J. Hill School of Business2006
University of SaskatchewanEdwards School of Business2006
University of VictoriaPeter B. Gustavson School of Business2006
University of Winnipeg2013

History of the Games

History of JDC and JDC West

The original Jeux du Commerce, French for "Commerce Games" started as a Business Student Competition in 1989 in Eastern Canada. They were created in 1988 thanks to the initiative of some students of HEC MONTREAL who wanted to strengthen the links between the students of business administration through the province of Quebec. Mister Patrice Bourbonnais was the student heading a team of co-founders, including Patrick Bérard and Benoît Lessard, as well as others students. The School of Hautes Etudes Commerciales (French business school) of Montreal was the first institution host of the Games (Sets) of the Business in January, 1989. Jeux du Commerce grew throughout the years and became one of the largest events hosted by REFAEC. In 2003, Yannick Denis-Trudel, the president of REFAEC at the time had a vision to expand "the games" to the rest of Canada. In an attempt to unify the country under the Jeux du Commerce banner, he took on the task of inviting a group of delegates from across Canada to visit the games and see what they were all about. Students returned to their schools excited, but lacked a bit of direction in terms of establishing the games in their own regions. The year after, Yannick made another attempt to get the rest of Canada excited about the games and created a competing team called "Team Rest of Canada" or "Team ROC". The intention was to allow those visiting the games to actively take part in the games, rather than just watch from the sidelines. Student's went back to their respective schools with an excitement to bring Jeux du Commerce to their respective regions. At Roundtable 2005, one bid to host the event in the Western Region by students from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, Co-Led by Jeff Potter and Nik Laufer-Edel. Another bid was put forth for the Ontario region by Guelph Humber. The Western bid was approved by the presidents of the western business schools of the Canadian Business School Council and allowed JDC West to take its first steps to be actualized.

In 2006, over 1,200 business students from 13 Eastern universities in Canada chose to compete. Since its inauguration, the JDC has become a prestigious annual event noted for its academic excellence and superior teamwork development. Like JDC West, JDC consists of Athletic, Social, Debate and community involvement components.

The JDC legacy expanded to Ontario schools in 2009, in a competition branded as JDC Central. Following the success of 'Jeux du Commerce' a desire was expressed to create similar games in Western Canada, ultimately leading to a Commerce Competition on a national scale. The Western Games were dubbed JDC West.

The JDC West Business Competition was incorporated as a not-for-profit in 2010 prior to JDC West 2011. In 2011, a volunteer Board of Directors was voted in by the Presidents of the participating business schools' students societies in collaboration with their JDC West Team Captains. This board is composed of active JDC West alumni and the current Organizing Committee's External Co-Chair. The board's main roles are to oversee the long-term strategy, risk mitigation, relationship management and high level financial health of the competition to ensure its long-term sustainability.

Competition Venues

YearLocationHost SchoolCo-ChairsStudents competing School of the YearThemeWinning Team Captain(s)
2006Vancouver, British ColumbiaUniversity of British Columbia
Sauder School of Business
Jeff Potter & Nik Laufer-Edel> 400University of British Columbia
Sauder School of Business
SustainabilityMike Tung
2007Vancouver, British ColumbiaUniversity of British Columbia
Sauder School of Business
Conor Topley & NJ Thompson> 450Simon Fraser University
Beedie School of Business
Business EthicsJasmine Cumberland & Lejla Pekaric
2008Lethbridge, AlbertaUniversity of Lethbridge
Lee Spraklin & Christine Odney> 450University of British Columbia
Sauder School of Business
Managing Responsibly in a Global EnvironmentTory Nash
2009Edmonton, AlbertaUniversity of Alberta
University of Alberta School of Business
Jessica Leung & Nick Nemish> 600University of Alberta
University of Alberta School of Business
Inspiring InnovationMaureen Walsh
2010Prince George, British ColumbiaUniversity of Northern British Columbia
Jonathon Gray & Farouk Ramji> 600University of British Columbia
Sauder School of Business
Humanitarian LeadershipDenea Campbell
2011Saskatoon, SaskatchewanUniversity of Saskatchewan
Edwards School of Business
Stephanie Ulm & Matthew Bennett> 550University of British Columbia
Sauder School of Business
Going Against the GrainRobert Harmer
2012Edmonton, AlbertaUniversity of Alberta
University of Alberta School of Business
Koryn Stamler & Nathan Petersen > 550University of Regina
Paul J. Hill School of Business
Fueling ProductivityKyle Gibson & Ally Pilkey
2013Vancouver, British ColumbiaUniversity of British Columbia
Sauder School of Business
Pia Ghosh & Andy Nesta > 575University of Saskatchewan
Edwards School of Business
Lasting ImpactsKelsey Heggie & Cole Thorpe
2014Regina, SaskatchewanUniversity of Regina
Paul J. Hill School of Business
Emily McNair & Victoria Johnson> 600University of Regina
Paul J. Hill School of Business
Beyond ProfitsMason Gardiner & Lyndon Kifferling
2015Victoria, British ColumbiaUniversity of Victoria
Peter B. Gustavson School of Business
Cody Patchell & Alec McKay> 600University of Manitoba
Asper School of Business
World of OpportunitiesLuke McKim & Eben Rawluk
2016Saskatoon, SaskatchewanUniversity of Saskatchewan
Edwards School of Business
Kara Leftley & Anastasia Stadnyk> 600University of British Columbia
Sauder School of Business
Achieving ExcellenceFaizal Shivji & Kevin Dhami
2017Edmonton, AlbertaUniversity of Alberta
University of Alberta School of Business
Dan Park & Joshua Tang > 600University of Regina
Paul J. Hill School of Business
Empower New BeginningsCari-Lynn Schoettler & Danielle Lane
2018Calgary, AlbertaUniversity of Calgary
Haskayne School of Business
Mitch Orr & Katherine Tikkanen> 600University of Saskatchewan
Edwards School of Business
Embracing DiversityTanner Gattinger & Ryan Nieman
2019Burnaby, British ColumbiaSimon Fraser University
Beedie School of Business
Bethany Chan & Mavis Lum > 600Simon Fraser University
Beedie School of Business
Shaping TomorrowTom Kadota & Ryan Wong
2020Regina, SaskatchewanUniversity of Regina
Paul J. Hill School of Business
Mason Gardiner & Cari-Lynn Schoettler> 600University of Regina
Paul J. Hill School of Business
Growing ForwardKyle Hodge & Georgia Iannone
2021Winnipeg, Manitoba (Virtual)University of Manitoba
Asper School of Business
Stephanie Kalo & Daniel Molinski> 550Simon Fraser University
Beedie School of Business
Age of InnovationMolly MacLeay & Andrew Wong
2022Winnipeg, Manitoba (Virtual)University of Manitoba
Asper School of Business
Stephanie Kalo & Tony Quach> 550University of British Columbia
Sauder School of Business
The Human AdvantageLydia Yoon & Zachary Goldthorpe
2023Saskatoon, SaskatchewanUniversity of Saskatchewan
Edwards School of Business
Megan Evans & Karmyn Kay> 550Simon Fraser University
Beedie School of Business
Triumph Through PerseveranceWayne Yan Muk & Yu Bin Chae
2024Edmonton, AlbertaUniversity of Alberta
University of Alberta School of Business
Darby Walton & Kevin Zentner> 550University of Regina
Paul J. Hill School of Business
Success Through SustainabilityLauryn Schindel & Anthony Parisone

External Links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jeux Du Commerce web page. 13 March 2024.
  2. Web site: HEC Montreal description of Jeux du Commerce. March 13, 2024.