Want to get paid to eat poutine? Here’s how

You may want to rethink your New Year's resolution.

Applications are now open for judges of La Poutine Week, which means you could be eating some of your city’s best poutine for the sake of research.

La Poutine Week got its cheesy start in Montreal seven years ago, and now more than 350,000 restaurants submit their own version of the gooey masterpiece for the contest. Although poutine is traditionally a Canadian dish, restaurants from across the world now participate in the festivities.

Judges from each participating city will receive up to $99 to purchase their poutines. Registration for the role of official judge closes on Jan. 15.

Even if you don’t score the title of official judge, you can still go try the participating poutines and vote online for your favourite.

Not only will there be one champion poutine, but there is also subcategories like the most original poutine, people’s choice and judges’ choice.

Although the traditional poutine consists simply of fries, cheese curds and gravy, the contest is open to vegan, dessert and other variations of the dish. Some of the winners from last year’s contest include poutines laid atop a traditionally sweet Beaver Tail, one inspired by the Vietnamese soup Pho, and many with – gasp – vegetables.

Registered restaurants will receive promotional material, voting cards for their guests and will be featured in advertisements on La Poutine Week’s social media platforms.

Participating restaurants will be unveiled in late January.

Click here to apply as a judge, and here to register your restaurant.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Jenna Wheeler or call (250) 819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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Jenna Wheeler

Jenna Wheeler is a writer at heart. She has always been naturally curious about what matters to the people in her community. That’s why it was an obvious decision to study journalism at Durham College, where she enjoyed being an editor for the student newspaper, The Chronicle. She has since travelled across Canada, living in small towns in the Rockies, the Coast Mountains, and tried out the big city experience. She is passionate about sustainability, mental health, and the arts. When she’s not reporting, she’s likely holed up with a good book and her cat Ace.

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