Youth find the federal government's failed Youth Climate Corps commitment “extremely concerning”

Vancouver, BC – As we enter the third month of this new fiscal year, the federal government has already failed to act on its Youth Climate Corps commitment and has disengaged from the project’s longstanding civil society partners.

Since March 2023, the Youth Climate Corps campaign has been fighting for a transformative federal program that would provide two-year, fully paid job training and placement opportunities for anyone 35 and under. Since January 2024, we have been collaborating with the federal government to put the project into policy. 

After many years of campaigning, a commitment of $40 million over two years to establish a national Youth Climate Corps was announced in Budget 2025, to begin in the April 2026 fiscal year. Although we have concerns about the small financial commitment, the type of work, length of placements, the metrics, and more, we welcomed this as progress and a great step in enabling us to expand our existing collaboration with Minister Hajdu, Employment and Social Development Canada, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. 

However, we have been unable to raise these concerns as the federal government, now in the third month of this fiscal year, still fails to act on the Youth Climate Corps commitment and has noticeably disengaged over the past few months from civil society partner organizations, like ourselves, who have been collaborating on this project for years. 

“The lack of available information about the Youth Climate Corps pilot, despite our extensive outreach, and the lack of stakeholder engagement are extremely concerning,” said Aliya Boga-Hirji, the Western Canada Campaigner at Organizing for a Youth Climate Corps.

Our campaign team has met with over 104 Members of Parliament and federal agency staff members since January, 2024. In addition, dozens of supporters of our campaign have contacted and met with their representatives to discuss the Youth Climate Corps pilot, increasingly so in the past few months, but none have reported back to us having received any substantial information about the pilot. 

We have exhausted all avenues, and the Prime Minister's Office and Minister Hajdu have been unable to answer the simple question: What is the status of the Youth Climate Corps pilot committed to in Budget 2025, and why have longstanding civil society partners been completely cut off from supporting its development?

“We deserve a government that reflects the needs of its citizens and follows through on its commitments, especially as young people struggle under the climate crisis and unemployment crisis,” said Boga-Hirji