A big win! Youth Climate Corps in the federal budget
Something big may have just happened that could be life changing for young people in Canada.
On April 16, the Liberal government announced its federal budget.
On page 126 of the budget, the government says that it “intends to launch consultations on the development of a Youth Climate Corps program that will equip young people with jobs that work to address climate change.”
Although the government doesn’t highlight or elaborate on what they mean, this could be huge. We have been fighting for a Youth Climate Corps alongside young people all across so-called Canada, who have been waiting for a transformative job and climate solution just like this. We could not have accomplished this win without every young person who has written a letter to their Member of Parliament, attended a Youth Climate Corps campaign event or canvassed their college campus. This is just the beginning.
Young people are fighting for this
Young people have been fighting for this. We have been on the front steps of offices of Members of Parliament. We brought the Youth Climate Corps to the Federal Parliament in December, and its encouraging to see politicians finally paying attention.
A national Youth Climate Corps would create jobs focused on addressing the climate crisis, while also giving young people the skills and experience they need to succeed in their careers. This would be a no-barrier program, where no one would be turned away.
A climate corps program, as we envision it, would offer paid training and job placement for anyone under 35, in roles like renewable energy, building retrofits, ecosystem restoration, emergency response, and even community care. A Youth Climate Corps would mean relying less on the military and volunteers for responding to deadly climate disasters. It would also mean having a large workforce trained to do the essential work needed for a just transition.
So, the fact that the government seems actually to be listening to young people’s demands is pretty exciting.
Our friends at BC YCC also had a win!
Recently, it was also announced that our friends at Youth Climate Corps British Columbia received $3 million from the province to expand their programming. This is a win for our national movement for a Youth Climate Corps.
If you, like many folks, are confused about the distinction between our campaign for a national Youth Climate Corps and the BC YCC program, let us explain. The wonderful folks in BC YCC have been successfully running small-scale climate corps projects in a dozen municipalities throughout British Columbia. They are our proof of concept and our allies in the movement to win something bold, transformative and at the national level!
There’s still a long way to go
We’re excited to see this federal announcement as a win and we know there’s a long way to go before we can celebrate the creation of a Youth Climate Corps.
We must be clear that we are not looking to get dragged into a years-long process, only to receive a plan to create a plan. The time to invest in this program is now, and we’re going to continue to demand a program that is created at the speed and scale necessary to fight the climate crisis.
We’re ready to keep building this movement, and nothing signals a movement more than acting big and acting fast.
So this summer we’re going to continue to hone our demands and expand the vision of what our communities want and need. We’re building this together and we want you to be a part of it.
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