In each of a series of preliminary competitions, a set of contestants are given a set of challenges designed to test their abilities in one or more of the following intelligence concepts: linguistic, logical, musical, physical, social and visual. For each challenge, the contestants are provided a score based on their rank against their fellow contestants. After the first set of challenges, the two contestants with the highest scores head into the final mega-challenge testing their abilities in all six areas. There is also an interactive component where viewers at home can play along and match their intelligence against the competitors and the rest of Canada in real time. All the preliminary competition winners of the mega-challenge are brought back for the finale, those contestants who go through a similar but different set of challenges. The winner of the finale is named Canada's Smartest Person.