ABOUT THE YOUTH CLIMATE CORPS CAMPAIGN

This national campaign is led by youth across so-called Canada who are tired of waiting for the government to act at the speed and scale needed to confront the climate crisis.

The Climate Emergency Unit, in partnership with Small Change Fund, is convening this movement and helping train and mobilize activists to fight for a better future.

The Youth Climate Corps campaign is fighting for a transformative federal program that would provide two-year fully paid job training and placement opportunities for anyone 35 and under. Government-funded but directed regionally by communities, Youth Climate Corps jobs would include working in renewable energy, building retrofits, ecosystem restoration, forest management, emergency response and community aid.

Want to know more about what a Youth Climate Corps could look like?

Our overarching campaign goal is for Canada to commit to a $1 billion and rising annual investment into a Youth Climate Corps in the 2025 Federal Budget. Our current objective is to see a commitment in the 2024 Fall Economic Statement for the creation of the first tens of thousand Youth Climate Corps jobs across Canada, following a consultation process promised in the 2024 Federal Budget.

Differences between our national campaign for a Youth Climate Corps & the BC Youth Climate Corps non-profits

If you live in British Columbia and you’re plugged in to climate initiatives, you have probably heard of the work being done by two inspiring non-profit organizations, Youth Climate Corps BC and Wildsight’s Youth Climate Corps program.

These non-governmental organizations provide a proof of concept of a climate corps as they work to train young people in climate jobs that are desperately needed in this era of mass climate breakdown. We are not officially partnered with these organizations and our campaign is separate from the work they do on a daily basis. While we are excited to see the work being done in the non-profit sector, we firmly believe that we need to act at the speed and scale required to rapidly transform our society from fossil fuel-based infrastructure to electric.

That’s why we believe that the solution must be a federal government program that is state-funded and led by communities, with Indigenous sovereignty, knowledge and wisdom enshrined at the heart of it.

Interested in learning more about our vision? Check out our campaign video.

Timeline of the Youth Climate Corps campaign

March 7, 2023:

Youth Climate Corps campaign launches with a national online event featuring Naomi Klein, Anjali Appadurai, Juan Vargas Alba, and Kate Watt (alumnus and board member of the non-profit organization, BC Youth Climate Corps), YouTube

March 7, 2023:

Official Youth Climate Corps campaign video is released, YouTube

May 8, 2023:

100 mock cover letters are delivered to Federal Minister of Employment Carla Qualtrough, CBC

June 22, 2023:

Youth Climate Corps event featuring Raffi! This info session for parents and caregivers featured special guest Raffi, Seth Klein, Lella Blumer, and Juan Vargas Alba, YouTube

September 2023:

Youth Climate Corps campaign launches in Toronto

October 2023:

Polling shows that the concept of a Youth Climate Corps is popular with young Canadians, Abacus Polling Results

November 17, 2023:

City of Toronto officially endorses Youth Climate Corps campaign, City of Toronto

November 30, 2023:

Over 630 mock cover letters for a yet-to-exist Youth Climate Corps are delivered to MP Marci Ien and MP Chrystia Freeland, CTV News, Press Release

December 4, 2023:

MP Laurel Collins brings a motion of support for a Youth Climate Corps to the House of Commons, Victoria Buzz

January 17, 2024:

Union of BC Indian Chiefs officially endorses Youth Climate Corps campaign

March 18, 2024:

Multi-party town hall event with speakers from the NDP, Greens, and Liberal Party. Activists and organizers attended watch parties across the country, YouTube

April 16, 2024:

City of Penticton officially endorses Youth Climate Corps campaign, Penticton Western News

May 14, 2024:

City of North Vancouver officially endorses Youth Climate Corps campaign

May 29, 2024:

32 Members of Parliament from the NDP, Liberal Party and Green Party sign letter drafted by MP Laurel Collins to PM Justin Trudeau, Minister Chrystia Freeland, Minister Steven Guilbeault, and MP Marci Ien, MP Letter

April 16, 2024:

Consultations for a Youth Climate Corps is included in the 2024 Federal Budget, Blog Post

August 14 2024:

Indigenous climate leaders gather virtually for the Rooted in Justice webinar to envision what an Indigenous-led Youth Climate Corps would look like.

August 26 & 27 2024:

Young climate activists hold action in Halifax outside of the Liberal cabinet retreat to make sure a Youth Climate Corps stays top of mind for the federal government.

September 10 2024:

Youth Climate Corps organizers set up a table to give away free coffee, tea and lemonade outside of the Liberal Caucus Retreat in Nanaimo BC, gaining the attention of Liberal Ministers who reiterated their promise to establish a Youth Climate Corps.

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Youth Climate Corps campaign principles

  • Good Green Jobs for All

    Uphold workers’ rights and provide a pathway to long-term, dignified careers in the post-fossil fuel, carbon-zero economy of the future. Ensure the Youth Climate Corps is a public, accessible, and well-paying program that turns no young person away.

  • Build the Fossil Fuel-Free Future

    Develop evidence-based programming in collaboration with Indigenous nations, industry, labour, youth, post-secondary, and climate experts so that youth are safely deployed on projects that maximize greenhouse gas reductions and pay thriving wages.

  • Centre Indigenous Knowledge and Sovereignty

    Respect the inherent title and rights of Indigenous nations and centre the needs, knowledge and leadership of communities; nations must be able to give free, prior and informed consent to all projects on their territories.

  • Empower Local Needs and Priorities

    Allocate ample resources with consideration to the needs of all of Canada’s regions, in alignment with regional and local climate action priorities.

  • Rooted in Justice

    Build equity for systematically marginalized populations and under-served communities. Acknowledge, prioritize and tell the truth about historic and ongoing environmental racism that gravely impacts Indigenous communities and impoverished populations.

  • Make it Big

    Create a brash and transformative new public program, not a non-profit organization or wage top-up program. The Youth Climate Corps must be government-funded and community-led at a massive scale to confront the needs of the climate emergency.

ROOTED IN JUSTICE: INDIGENOUS YOUTH & THE GREEN JOB REVOLUTION

On August 14 2024, we held an event with Sacred Earth Solar to explore the Youth Climate Corps campaign principle, “Centre Indigenous Knowledge and Sovereignty.” We heard from an incredible panel of Indigenous climate leaders. The conversation was captured in the graphic recording below.

WATCH THE ROOTED IN JUSTICE WEBINAR

Polling shows young people want this:

According to a 2023 national survey conducted by Abacus Data, after being given a short description of the program, 55% of adult Canadians support it, with a further 23% who can accept it. Only 12% oppose the idea. Support for a youth climate corps crosses demographic, regional, and political lines.

Among those aged 18 - 35 (the group who would participate in the program), support rises to 65%, with 33% saying they “strongly support” the idea of a YCC (and only 6% opposed).

View the polling results