Youth Climate Corps makes its way into parties’ election commitments
This Earth Week, some political parties are inviting young people to act on the climate crisis. The Youth Climate Corps Campaign and Climate Action Network- Réseau action climat Canada (CAN-Rac) respond to parties’ YCC commitments.
Read the platform commitments and our responses below.
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Platform Commitments and Responses
The political parties have now released their federal election platforms, and some have made specific commitments to establish a Youth Climate Corps (YCC), a new federal program to train and employ young people to respond to the climate crisis.
The Youth Climate Corps campaign – which is backed by Climate Action Network Canada, the Climate Emergency Unit and many other civil society groups – calls for the creation of 20,000 well-paid jobs that drive down emissions, strengthen our ecosystems and respond to climate disasters. The campaign has called for a start-up budget of $1 billion a year (with the intention that the budget would then grow with demand, and people 35 and under enroll in the two-year program). The YCC represents a compelling new program that addresses many of the challenges young people face in Canada including climate anxiety and youth unemployment.
CAN-Rac and the YCC campaign are pleased to see cross-party support, with the Liberal, NDP and Green parties each taking up the growing call for a Youth Climate Corps. The Liberals have proposed a 2-year pilot YCC with funding of $28 million each year. The NDP has proposed establishing a YCC with funding of $500 million. And the Greens have proposed an ambitious YCC that would train and employ tens of thousands of young people.
Quotes
“Our next federal government will have to contend with the emergencies and disruptions brought on by the climate crisis. Our country desperately needs a new program that invites young people to meet this crisis at scale. A fully funded Youth Climate Corps will support communities most vulnerable to climate change, build local resilience, offer youth meaningful employment, seriously engage with the skilled labour shortage, and build a genuine and unifying national response in these anxious times. It’s gratifying to see some of the political parties vying for our support heed this call. Post election, we will need them all to ramp up the ambition.”
– Seth Klein, Team Lead with the Climate Emergency Unit
“These political commitments are a testament to the years of campaigning from youth across the country. Even more so, they show the strong belief for a Youth Climate Corps that exists across party lines, and speak to the hard work of youth inside parties who have fought for this policy commitment.”
– Juan Vargas, Co-Director of the Youth Climate Corps Campaign
“In this moment of economic turbulence, providing youth in Canada with an option for well-paid, stable, unionized jobs doing meaningful work is a no-brainer. The Youth Climate Corps provides all that and more, while keeping communities safe and supporting a Just Transition. Kudos to the parties that have committed to a YCC, which will give youth a role in building a better tomorrow.”
– Caroline Brouillette, Executive Director, Climate Action Network Canada
Canada’s farthest-reaching network of organizations working on climate and energy issues, Climate Action Network – Réseau action climat (CAN-Rac) Canada is a coalition of more than 180 organizations operating from coast to coast to coast. Our membership brings environmental groups together with trade unions, First Nations, social justice, development, health and youth organizations, faith groups and local, grassroots initiatives.
The campaign for a Youth Climate Corps is a flagship program of the Climate Emergency Unit, a 5-year project of the David Suzuki Institute. The CEU seeks to move governments and leaders in Canada into true climate emergency mode, pressing them to adopt ambitious policies that align with what science and justice says we must do.
For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Vicky Coo, Communications Manager - comms@climateactionnetwork.ca
Juan Vargas, Co-Director of the Youth Climate Corps Campaign - juan@climateemergencyunit.ca
Backgrounder
Prepared by Youth Climate Corps, a campaign of the Climate Emergency Unit and the Small Change Fund
Since the spring of 2022, a broad coalition of organizations has been campaigning for the creation of a Youth Climate Corps (YCC) – a public jobs training and employment program that would place youth in jobs that:
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through clean energy projects and retrofits across the country
Strengthen community and ecological resilience against the impacts of climate change, and
Responding to climate disasters (wildfires, floods, heat domes, droughts, hurricanes, etc).
A Youth Climate Corps would operate with a mandate to employ any young person between the ages of 18 and 35. Placements should last one to two years, and offer full-time employment with a living wage and benefits. To that end, the campaign advocates for an initial commitment of $1 billion which would set up the program in its first year and create 20,000 jobs. The program, meant to turn no one away, would then grow with demand, increasing in budgetary commitment annually.
The intergovernmental structure of a Youth Climate Corps should mean that provinces, municipalities, and First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities also help to build the program locally. More importantly, provinces need to be prepared to invest in a Youth Climate Corps. The inclusion of all levels of government and of Indigenous nations would localize the jobs created by a Youth Climate Corps, allowing a program to launch with hundreds of shovel-ready projects across the country, identified by local government and Nations.
The Youth Climate Corps campaign operates under six principles that guide our campaign vision. They are:
Good, Green Jobs for All
Build the Fossil Fuel-Free Future
Centre Indigenous Knowledge and Sovereignty
Empower Local Needs and Priorities
Rooted in Justice
Make it Big
To learn more about the Youth Climate Corps and our principles, visit goodgreenjobsforall.ca/principles
Youth Climate Corps in the Liberal platform
The Liberal platform includes the commitment to:
“Establish a Youth Climate Corps pilot which will provide paid skills training for young Canadians to quickly respond to climate emergencies, support recovery, and strengthen resilience in communities across the country. This is our moment to act boldly, prepare for the emergencies we know are coming, and empower the next generation to lead the fight for our future”
In their fiscal and costing plan, the Liberals commit $28 million a year over two years to the pilot.
Our Response
We are pleased to see a commitment to establish a Youth Climate Corps pilot in the Liberal party platform. It is a recognition of the climate threats faced by communities across the country, a credit to the hard work done behind the scenes and a tribute to all the many individuals and organizations who have worked so hard on this campaign.
However, if Prime Minister Mark Carney truly believes “it’s high time we built things we’ve never imagined, at a speed we’ve never seen” then the ambition of this commitment is at odds with his vision.
The program’s very nature as a “pilot” with a budget of only $56 million over two years is insufficient to meet the speed and scale required to address the climate crisis and the many challenges that young people face in Canada. At this budget level, this pilot will only create about 500 full-time jobs paid at $25/hour. That is not an emergency-level response.
If elected, the Liberals will need to table a budget that ambitiously ramps up the scope and scale of this program in order to fulfill its potential. The current Liberal proposal will be quickly over-subscribed, given the strong interest in the program among Canada’s youth. Our vision also includes training and jobs that would drive down carbon emissions – a crucial piece that is missing in the Liberal platform.
We are glad to see this important first step included in the Liberal platform and will continue to push for a much more robust program in an eventual federal budget later this spring.
Youth Climate Corps commitments from the NDP
The YCC was not named within the NDP platform, but then on Earth Day, April 22, the NDP announced the following:
“Young people are on the front lines of the climate crisis. New Democrats know their commitment to climate action deserves more than words—it demands investment. That’s why we’ll launch a $500 million Youth Climate Corps to train and employ thousands of young people in climate emergency response, community resilience, and renewable energy projects across the country.
The Youth Climate Corps is part of our Build Canada Plan. New Democrats will significantly boost the federal government's capital investment budget through this tariff-proof plan. We will help stimulate the economy, create jobs, and build assets. We are championing the passion of young people in this plan because we know that building is about more than constructing infrastructure, it's also about empowering youth and repairing our damaged ecosystems.”
Our Response
The NDP commitment to invest $500 million to a YCC is far more ambitious than the Liberals’ pledge and significantly closer to our demand (although remains half what the campaign has called for). It also demonstrates that the YCC is not a partisan issue, but a truly effective and sought-after response to the climate emergency.
The overall NDP platform is arguably stronger on climate action than that of the Liberals – with large commitments towards low-income housing retrofits and an end to fossil fuel subsidies – and it is certainly much stronger with respect to tackling inequality and tax fairness, with clear planks about wealth and windfall profits taxes.
NDP MP Laurel Collins was the first parliamentarian to table a private members’ bill in the Fall of 2023 to support the creation of a Youth Climate Corps, a bill that garnered support from NDP, Green, and Liberal Members of Parliament.
Youth Climate Corps in the Green Party Platform
The Green Party Platform includes a strongly worded commitment to:
“Launch a Youth Climate Corps, employing tens of thousands of young Canadians in ecosystem restoration and conservation projects, wildfire prevention and other ecology-based climate resilience strategies.”
While the plan lacks details on funding allocations, it also includes further commitments to:
Prioritize Indigenous leadership and local conservation efforts, ensuring that projects align with traditional ecological knowledge and community needs
Provide fair wages and career development pathways so participants can pursue long-term opportunities in the environmental sector.
These prioritizations closely align with the Youth Climate Corp campaign’s core principles and policy recommendations, as do the Greens’ commitments to:
Offer structured placements lasting from six months to two years, engaging young people directly in climate-focused work, including ecosystem restoration, wildfire prevention, flood mitigation, renewable energy projects, and sustainable agriculture.
Provide participants with a guaranteed living wage, indexed annually, comprehensive health benefits, and completion bonuses applicable toward post-secondary education or vocational training
Deliver professional certifications, skills training, mentorship, and job placement assistance to enhance long-term employment opportunities in Canada’s green economy
Ensure inclusive participation with culturally appropriate placements, particularly prioritizing Indigenous-led initiatives and community collaboration, reflecting commitments to reconciliation and intercultural understanding.
Establish collaborative governance managed jointly by federal ministries responsible for youth, employment, environment, and climate change, supported by an independent advisory council with Indigenous leaders, youth advocates, climate experts, and community representatives.
Our Response
The Green Party’s commitments to employ tens of thousands of Canadians to respond to the climate crisis through both a Youth Climate Corps and a National Civil Defence Corps most closely align with the guiding principles and vision of the YCC campaign, but the attainment of these goals is difficult to discern absent a budgetary commitment. However, their pledge demonstrates the ambition that we would like to see from all parties who commit to a Youth Climate Corps.
The Conservatives lack a climate plan
The Conservatives do not have a climate plan in their platform, let alone anything to say about the Youth Climate Corps. They say only what climate policies they will eliminate (such as the industrial carbon tax, clean electricity mandate and zero-emission vehicle mandate) and how they will expedite and expand the extraction of fossil fuels.
The Bloc Québecois has a strong climate plan, but has yet to offer public support for a Youth Climate Corps
The Youth Climate Corps campaign, with its presence in Québec, has sought significant support from the Bloc. However, while the Bloc makes strong commitments to oppose fossil fuel projects, they do not have a specific commitment to a Youth Climate Corps.
That said, the Bloc has stated that they 100% adhere to CAN-Rac’s Election Policy Platform, Made-in-Canada Climate Solutions, which includes a Youth Climate Corps. Bloc candidates have attended YCC events and have mentioned that the party supports the policy (but with less federal focus).
Regardless of which party forms government in the coming months, we hope that the BQ will step up their ambition on climate for a national program that acts big and respects local needs, in step with the BQ’s values.