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Youth-led Community Action Projects

Department of Canadian Heritage and Community Foundations of Canada: Working Together to Support Youth Action in Communities

Over the past year Community Foundations of Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage partnered on a pilot program aimed at supporting youth to take action on ideas that would engage them in their communities as volunteers, citizens, and change-makers.

Eighty-eight (88) Youth-led Community Action Projects were supported by the program through the participation of 21 community foundation youth councils in five provinces: BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and New Brunswick. Collectively, over 3,100 youth aged 12-25, and over 900 adults were directly involved in planning and implementing these projects, and over 14,000 young people from two to 25 were indirectly involved.

The $127,000 given in grants levered over $300,000 in additional contributions from local communities. Grants ranged from $250 to $2,500 and were assessed by youth committee members at local levels, and allocated by a National Selection Committee comprising YAC members from across the country.

The projects were required to be:

• Youth-led (i.e. proposed and implemented by youth - normally ages 11 to 25);
• Volunteer-based (i.e. no salaries or remunerations paid to youth involved);
• Beneficial to both youth and the community;
• Supported by the community (two letters of support required).

Projects were also required to secure at least 50% funding (cash or in kind) from the community or other sources, with grant requests not exceeding $2,500.

Although many projects are still underway or just getting started, this initiative has already seen many positive results. Descriptions and photos of funded projects will continue to be added over coming months, along with comments about their experience from some of the youth who participated in the projects.

In addition, National Selection Committee members will talk about their experience of being involved in the pilot, both at their local YAC level, as well as at the national level.

Community Foundations of Canada appreciates the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage for this program, which also partnered with several other organizations to support Youth-led Community Action Projects:
Redwire (Magazine) Native Youth Media Society
YEN: Youth Environmental Network
Heartwood Centre for Community Youth Development
Global Vision - Junior Team Canada
SEVEC - Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada
Esteem Team
L'Association des Scouts du Canada