ABOUT THE YOUTH CLIMATE CORPS CAMPAIGN
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ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN
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CAMPAIGN TIMELINE
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CAMPAIGN PRINCIPLES & DEMANDS
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POLLING ON A YOUTH CLIMATE CORPS
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 to create tens of thousands of jobs across Canada.
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
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.
October, 2024:
The Green’s Budget Coalition’s Recommendations for Budget 2025 and Budget 2026 includes a fully-funded Youth Climate Corps to support sustainable career paths for workers in a rapidly changing world.
October 1, 2024:
Youth Climate Corps organizers present to the House of Commons Standing Committee of Finance (Video).
October 16, 2024:
CUPE Ontario confirmed their formal endorsement of the national campaign for a YCC.
November 13, 2024:
The Climate Emergency Unit releases an open letter to federal leaders calling for a YCC signed by over 150 organizations. (Now the letter has more than 200 signatories from across civil society).
December 4, 2024:
A YCC reception on Parliament Hill hosted in partnership with CAN-Rac and co-sponsored by MPs Laurel Collins, Patrick Weiler and Elizabeth May brought together MPs from across parties and leaders from civil society to discuss the implementation of a Youth Climate Corps.
December 5, 2024:
The BC Federation of Labour passes a resolution in support of the YCC.
December 13, 2024:
The pre-budget report of the House of Commons Finance Committee includes the recommendation to “Establish a Youth Climate Corps to provide jobs and training for Canadian youth aged 35 and under to address the climate crisis with an investment that would grow to accommodate demand.”
January 16, 2025:
YCC organizer Juan Vargas Alba’s op-ed “Big action on climate can help young people find meaningful work” is published in Canada’s National Observer.
January 30 and 31, 2025:
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) LED consultative round-table around the development of a Youth Climate Corps.
February, 2025:
The Ontario NDP commit to establishing a provincial Youth Climate Corps in their campaign platform
February 20, 2025:
Over 50 representatives of signatory organizations and chapter organizers from Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ville De Québec, Halifax and St. John’s take part in a national organizing call.
February, 2025:
The Green Party of Canada includes the YCC in its climate plan.
March and April, 2025:
YCC chapters and local partners host election town halls on youth and labour featuring federal election candidates in Vancouver, Edmonton, Québec City, Montréal and St. John’s.
April, 2025:
CAN-Rac’s “Made-in-Canada Climate Solutions 2025 Election Priorities” includes a call for a Youth Climate Corps.
April, 2025:
The federal Green Party includes the YCC in its election platform.
April, 2025:
The federal Liberal party commits to establish a Youth Climate Corps pilot funded at $28 million a year over two years in its election platform.
April 22, 2025:
On Earth Day, the federal NDP announces an election commitment to 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.
June 11, 2025:
An editorial by YCC organizers – “If Carney wants to build, he should go big on a Youth Climate Corps” – is published in Canada’s National Observer
August, 2025:
CAN-Rac’s submission the federal pre-budget consultations has 3 top priorities, one of which is the call for a Youth Climate Corps, funded at $1 billion annually.
August, 2025:
The Green Budget Coalition includes the YCC in its pre-budget recommendations.
September 1, 2025:
Lloyd Axworthy publishes a Substack post in support of Youth Climate Corps for Labour Day.
September 10, 2025:
YCC organizers and civil society allies in Edmonton host a reception to discuss the need for a YCC that brings in more than 22 MPs, two parliamentary secretaries and two ministers during the Liberal caucus retreat.
September 20, 2025:
The call for a YCC is one of the core climate demands from the national Draw the Line cross-movement day of action.
September 20, 2025:
Hospital Employee’s Union of BC endorses the YCC campaign.
Youth Climate Corps campaign principles
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
