Mensa Newfoundland and Labrador

Mensa Newfoundland and Labrador is Canada's youngest Local Group.

Membership

Though one of the local members has been with Mensa for several decades, the group did not have its first meeting until August, 2004. At the time, there were only 7 members in the entire province.

In October 2004, the local members held a special discounted student test day, which tripled their membership. A second discounted student test day was held in January, 2005.

Dispelling Stereotypes

A common stereotype across Canada has long been that Newfoundlanders are intellectually... challenged. 'Newfie' Jokes have long painted the locals as stupid, and have associated many "inventions" with the province - a prime example being a screen door for submarines.

In an interesting turn of events, the two student test days turned up the highest pass rate in Canada. While the average pass rate is 50% on regular tests (40% or lower on discounted tests), the participants in those test days turned up a 60+% pass rate. This resulted in some positive press locally, and stirred even more interest in the organization

Gatherings

In July of 2004, Marie Johnston made the decision to host an RG in St. John's, as a way to stimulate interest in Mensa locally, and give the local members a project to work on. Plans came together quickly, and the RG was shaping up to become bigger than any Canadian AG in recent years.

In October of 2004, the national board of Mensa Canada agreed to change the status of the gathering from "RG" to "AG". It will be held from May 19-22, 2006 in St. John's, Newfoundland