CBC’s “Canada’s Smartest Person,” the number one new Canadian series this fall, has crowned Braden Lauer of Vancouver, BC with the coveted title – he emerged victorious in a two-hour season finale, beating out the seven remaining finalists in a series of all-new intelligence tests.
The 22-year-old is in his second year of law school at the University of British Columbia.
Lauer has never paid a cent for his education, having received five different academic scholarships. He is on the board of the UBC Law Student’s Society and volunteers at Pro Bono Students Canada, an organization that provides free legal advice to those in need. In his free time, Lauer is an avid tarot card reader, a gift he sees as a marker of strong intuition.
“Being on ‘Canada’s Smartest Person’ has been the opportunity of a lifetime,” says Lauer. “I hope winning the title inspires students and young people in the country to pursue their goals with passion and determination.”
Over the past nine weeks, Canadians across the country have been able to engage in real-time with the series’ unique intelligence tests and develop their own personal intelligence profile using the Canada’s Smartest Person app. The interactive experience has been a momentous success; with over 180,000 downloads it is CBC’s most downloaded interactive television app. It also boasts over one million individual completed intelligence tests and over 6.6 million page views. Based on nine weeks of competition on the app, Waterloo, ON has emerged as the country’s smartest city, and P.E.I. takes the title of the Canada’s smartest province.
This original Canadian series, developed by Media Headquarters and CBC, is an international as well as domestic success, with the format being acquired to date in five different countries.
Photo: Canada’s Smartest Person/CBC
