Canada’s ‘State of the Youth’ Priorities Call on Education and Learning Solutions
Canada’s first State of the Youth Report published in 2021 marks an important moment in Canadian history. The report recognizes the importance of consulting with youth to understand our national priorities. We acknowledge the progress this report symbolises and seek to remind us all to engage with and act on the input provided by Canada’s youth. To support the continuation of this conversation, we are re-engaging with the State of the Youth report.
The State of the Youth Report identifies 6 priority areas:
Truth and reconciliation
Environment and climate action
Health and wellness
Leadership and impact
Employment
Innovation, skills, and learning
These priorities still need our attention and many of them call for an education or learning solution that can also be supplied by nonprofit or social-purpose organizations in Canada.
While government organizations will play a significant role in responding to these needs, community organizations focused on youth can respond as well. A large proportion of Canada’s nonprofits are focused on youth at the Local (65.8%), Regional (66.9%), Provincial or territorial (58.5%) and National (57%) levels.
While we recommend reading the full report here, we’ve compiled all the youth recommendations within the report that can be supported by education and learning services and programs.
Themes related to education and learning
Youth want to provide input on what they learn in school and what learning opportunities exist outside of school – indigenous history and culture, climate change, and mental health figure prominently.
Youth want equitable access to educational opportunities and the infrastructure and technology needed to be successful for all.
Youth want flexibility and options when it comes to learning, including lower-cost options, options in both official languages, work-integrated learning, and a focus on skill building to better prepare for the workforce.
Youth Priorities that call on Education or Learning Solutions
Note: As the youth authors share in the Glossary, “Language matters. Youth have used language throughout this process to share their perspectives and express how they wish to be seen and understood.” (p.69) We honour their words by preserving them in their original form below.
Priority 1: Truth and reconciliation
During the COVID-19 pandemic, pressures on Indigenous communities have increased, causing the amplification of existing problems and the creation of more. Students were required to participate in online learning, and for the many Indigenous youth affected by the current infrastructural and housing crisis, this online learning could be occurring in unsafe living conditions. This makes it difficult for young people to access learning and to concentrate on it in their homes. Additionally, addictions, abuse, and the number of suicides has become more frequent in Indigenous communities. Lastly, the pandemic has limited consultations, engagements, and communications with Indigenous communities.
Citizen responsibility Every Canadian has a role in the reconciliation and un-colonization process. This shared commitment must be rooted in Indigenous experiences and spearheaded by everyday actions. The act of reconciliation will only be achieved with the participation every inhabitant of this land.
Education and awareness are the foundations of reconciliation. Indigenous Peoples in most northern and remote communities continue to face a major gap in education and training. Indigenous People in these regions experience a lack of choice in K-12 and degree granting institutions. In turn, this lack of available education forces Indigenous People and especially, Indigenous youth to relocate to areas with little to no familiar supports.
Along with addressing gaps and barriers to Indigenous education, every single inhabitant of Canada needs to learn about the true history of Indigenous Peoples and what happened when this land was encountered, such as land theft, residential schools, murder, the Sixties Scoop, food sovereignty, and the current living conditions in Indigenous communities. A mandatory Indigenous history curriculum within all the education systems would substantially facilitate the progress of reconciliation.
Indigenous languages represent an enormous part of Indigenous cultures and need to be protected, taught, and celebrated. The cultural assimilation that has led to the loss of these languages has caused a catastrophic deficit in knowledge, tradition, and connections to ancestry, which together catalyzed and facilitated the horrific consequences of the colonization of this land. Decolonization must include the rematriation of languages in order to begin to address the damage caused by residential schools and the cultural decimation that Indigenous Peoples faced. (p.24)
“It should be free to learn Indigenous languages as it was taken away from Indigenous Peoples.”
Truth and reconciliation recommendations
1. COVID-19
a. Offer substantially more mental health support to Indigenous communities.
i. Including therapists, social workers, and school counsellors.
2. Citizen responsibilities
a. Create opportunities for nation-wide participation in reconciliation through community-based programming and organizational/institutional training.
5. Education
a. Work to embed Indigenous history and cultural education into all curricula across the country.
b. Create opportunities for all students who lack them, to experience Indigenous culture and understand the past and present, traumas and strengths.
c. Provide greater investments in Indigenous schools in order to facilitate their success and prosperity.
d. Encourage and support access to post-secondary education.
i. Supports such as childcare, transport, and mental health services must be offered.
6. Language preservation and vitality
a. Prioritize the teaching and protection of Indigenous languages.
Priority 2: Environment and climate action
Education
Education is, of course, a necessity when discussing environment and climate action. A main reason for this is the result of new information as well as misinformation coming out on the topic all the time. Although some teachers or schools cover climate change, it is often old information that does not accurately portray the urgency and the different facets of the crisis, and it is often taught in a rushed manner. This means that youths are often left to their own devices when gaining access to new and more up to date information on the topic. As a result, youth turn to the internet and social media, but we must also note that many young people do not have access to internet at home. This, in turn, leads to increased inequality and divide with who can participate in the climate change discussion. Despite its benefits, social media can also lead to misinformation and over-simplification.
Education on this topic is also important once people are no longer in school. There is a need for more young adult programming, outside educational institutions, on the subject as well as community building. Some respondents mentioned more community gardens popping up since COVID-19, which is wonderful to see! There is definitely a need to make these types of programs more accessible and possibilities for funding for communities that want to offer educational activities on environment and climate action to create better and more sustainable communities. (p.31-32)
Environment and climate action recommendations
1. Implement just transition principles into its policies.
b. Re-train and re-tool workers of climate-catastrophic industries like oil and gas and fossil fuel industries into green jobs.
2. Create accessible grants for community projects geared towards environmental education – such as community gardens, solar farms, composting initiatives and more.
c. Subsidized projects to lower the cost of long-term green initiatives (e.g.,: community solar farms) and community education initiatives.
Priority 3: Health and wellness
Mental health
Throughout the engagement sessions, it became evident that there is a mental health crisis impacting many youth in Canada. Youth mentioned that the lack of mental health education and accessible resources has led to continued stigma around mental health. Further, social media trends are identified as a concern among youth as well, as several individuals mentioned they were dealing with body image issues as a result of the content they were exposed to online. Additionally, an important point surrounding the safety of minors and privacy was mentioned, since the school has a legal duty to inform parents if their child is in crisis:
“Getting support for mental health support is hard because the parents are always involved. The parents don’t always understand the extent to which their child is suffering, therefore, communication is hard. Youth would be more comfortable to express what they are feeling if their parents weren’t involved.”
Students mentioned teachers and staff should receive better mental health training so they can assist youth and refer them appropriately. There is especially a need for better support for youth that are affected by bullying, an issue which disproportionately impacts people of colour, LGBTQ2 youth, youth with disabilities and those from marginalized communities, including linguistic minorities. Individuals also noted that there are long wait times to speak with counselors, and financial privilege associated with accessing private mental health care. (p.40)
Health and wellness recommendations
1. Provide health and wellness education to youth.
a. Utilize an intersectional lens to raise awareness around healthy lifestyles, provide education on nutrition/wellness and to reduce stigma around mental health through the school and healthcare system.
i. Establish youth-targeted substance use prevention resources.
ii. Ensure cross-sector collaboration among ethnic media, service providers and health practitioners in order to address cultural stigma.
b. Provide educators with mental health and substance use training, so they understand warning signs among students and assist in appropriately referring them to resources and additional help if needed.
c. Educate youth on using social media in a positive way to reduce detrimental impacts on mental health, and to develop cyberbullying prevention strategies as usage of these apps has increased due to COVID-19.
Priority 4: Leadership and impact
Employment, education and credentials
Youth note that the importance of higher education in the current job market and economy makes it extremely difficult for those youth who face barriers to post-secondary education to find a meaningful path to employment or leadership opportunities in their community. Youth recognize that education is an enabler, because it provides credentials and employment opportunities, but it’s equally a barrier, as not everyone has equitable access to pursue education.
“As a barrier, meaningful leadership opportunities are sometimes directed solely for youth in school without consideration of youth not in school or requires decades of experience without a chance for new leaders to come to the table.”
Leadership and impact recommendations
1. Provide increased opportunities for youth to lead and make an impact in all communities, especially on reserves, in rural areas and urban centres.
a. Governments can do this by implementing skill-building workshops, investing in Member of Parliament-led youth councils and leadership training for youth.
b. Provide funding and incentives for grassroots youth led organizations.
2. Increase barrier free, paid leadership opportunities that do not require any experience as many youth cannot financially afford to volunteer.
a. Support schools in sharing opportunities for youth, especially on reserves/smaller communities. These opportunities need to be advertised via multiple channels.
5. Provide greater opportunity for youth to transfer knowledge to decision makers via direct participation.
a. Provide youth more opportunity to be involved in government, to actually be listened to, and to grow as leaders while contributing meaningfully to a cause they are passionate about.
b. Invest in more youth-led programming and organizations as a way of creating increased work-integrated learning opportunities.
c. Urgently prioritize lowering the voting age for youth from 18 to 16. (p.50)
Priority 5: Employment
Barriers to employment
Youth face many barriers that hinder their access to employment such as a lack of access to technology, professional networks and career development opportunities. Youth that come from low-income or marginalized communities are disproportionately impacted by these barriers. It is also problematic for youth who cannot find work in their official language of choice due to a lack of appropriate employment opportunities.
Financial concerns
Youth are struggling to pay the bills. The cost of post-secondary education continues to rise and entry-level salaries are not enough for youth to pay off their student loans. This financial stress takes a toll on youth and can make it difficult for them to excel in school.
“The cost of post-secondary education compared to the wage received for those jobs is not aligned. My generation spent >$50,000 on post-secondary education with the promise of well-paying jobs. This is not the case and sets youth back in their ability to earn money, afford housing and take care of themselves financially.”
Youth are missing out on career development opportunities that are volunteer and/or unpaid.
“A lot of the job building opportunities aren’t paid, which prevents a lot of people from succeeding in their field.” (p.55)
Employment recommendations
1. Barriers to employment
a. Provide support for programs that help students grow their network, develop core 21st century skills (communication, technical knowledge, creativity) and gain meaningful work experience.
b. Incentivize post-secondary institutions to increase the number of co-op/internship opportunities offered to students.
2. Career aspirations
a. Support programming that exposes youth to a variety of careers and helps youth understand how the skills they learn in school/extra-curriculars/part-time jobs are transferrable to different careers.
3. COVID-19
b. Provide more support for entrepreneurial programs that help youth create a solution to a problem they identify in their community.
Priority 6: Innovation, skills, and learning
Technology
Accessibility and the possibility of different educational settings via online engagement are important to youth. As it pertains to accessibility, the positives include not having to constantly move locations to meet other people or to take advantage of services, which uses more energy and resources. However, on the negative end of the spectrum, internet speed and the price of services can hinder work especially in rural and remote communities. When working from home, technology access and home environments could pose daunting hurdles. But on a more positive note, there could be a sense of greater autonomy and less social anxiety.
“I believe I have become more independent as a student.”
Education
Education is a big part of life for youth in Canada. Post-secondary education can give access to better income later in life. However, education is expensive and many youth leave school still feeling the need to be better prepared for the workforce; youth are seeking unique opportunities to learn more about who they are as individuals and ways to apply their unique interests or skillsets. Students who are active outside of school via community development initiatives and entrepreneurial pursuits have a harder time graduating within 4 years, or completing their education entirely. Students with disabilities often graduate later than their peers as well. For those who wish to study in French, access to francophone schools in official-language minority communities is more difficult and there are disparities between French and English programs. Programs like Mitacs29 create pathways for post-secondary students to explore entrepreneurship and innovation, however, these are limited in impact because of scope. Undergraduate students from underrepresented communities want to have similar opportunities to gain hands-on experiences in entrepreneurship and innovation.
“I go to school for career opportunities, I work to pay tuition, my household and diet are limited by what I can afford.”
Equity
Access and quality of education is dependent upon location and wealth. Indigenous youth in particular have low rates of completing post-secondary education as a result of relevant ways of knowing and learning, transportation, and other support systems. Youth want to provide solutions to the problems our society faces today and we want to be a part of leading the change. Youth-led organizations must be seen as an asset and not a liability, they want an opportunity to contribute to “building back better” and they are seeking to be valued as part of the structural change needed to achieve equity.
“Disability is a huge and often overlooked source of disparity in education.”
Finally, while COVID-19 has, in some ways, made education more accessible it has also made learning more difficult in other ways.
Mental Health
Mental health has been greatly impacted by COVID-19 and education. COVID-19 has caused heavier workloads, and has not allowed for the prioritization of learning the skills necessary for a smooth adjustment to virtual learning. There have necessarily been fewer opportunities for social interactions, making it harder to make friends and nurture strong relationships. Some youth have been isolated with toxic family environments since they are no longer spending time at school. On the other hand, the pandemic has allowed some individuals to learn time management and self-discipline. Schools should prioritize mental health as the pressure to succeed and take the “right” courses are felt very strongly by many youth. Some youth report feeling pressured to attend postsecondary because society wants them to, despite not having a genuine interest. Having mental health issues distracts from the ability to develop the learning outcomes youth need to advance.
“Spending every hour of the day within the same walls has been soul crushing.”
Skills
The development of skills has been one positive aspect of the pandemic. More free time has, in some cases, led to periods of reflection and self-care. In addition, people delved into entrepreneurial opportunities. A lot of skill building opportunities are made available for university students; however, COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of skill-building outside of educational institutions and into community groups that youth are active participants of.
“During this time, I was able to start up my own small business.”
Innovation, skills and learning recommendations
1. Technology
a. Provide subsidies for youth and students who are working from home, or in more rural/ remote areas in order to support greater access to affordable technology and internet.
b. Support financial and infrastructure investments in rural/remote areas to enhance connectivity.
2. Education
a. Increase youth investment for social-enterprise, entrepreneurship and innovation fellowships (especially targeting underrepresented communities).
b. Increase investment in work-integrated learning opportunities for students in high school and post-secondary education.
3. Equity
a. Increase investments and capacity building initiatives for youth-led organizations.
4. Skills
a. Develop a national skill-building strategy; one that allows youth to provide input into the types of skills they want to develop and the kinds of learning experiences that they value.
