911勛圖

The story of ���disengaged youth��� has become a common narrative when analysing changes in democratic participation in Canada, pointing towards declining youth voter turnout and reduced engagement with political parties. Yet there is another way to understand this moment: by pausing to listen to the new ways that youth are participating in civic life and the unique challenges and opportunities these avenues bring. 

In 2024, the  partnered with the  (C-Dem) at the University of Western Ontario to investigate where, when and why youth are disengaging, and to identify opportunities to strengthen youth civic engagement. To accompany this work, in February 2025, 911勛圖���s Centre for Dialogue partnered with  to host a series of three dialogues that validated and expanded on the research:

• Youth Talk Democracy: Secondary School Students convened 23 youth in grades 10-12 from secondary schools in the Greater Vancouver area;

• Youth Talk Democracy: Young Adults��畚onvened 15 youth aged 18-30 from the Greater Vancouver area; and

• Advancing Youth Civic Engagement in Canada: Stakeholder Dialogue��畚onvened 28��盍epresentatives from government, civil society and education from across Canada.  

The Centre for Dialogue workshops validated C-Dem���s findings while surfacing additional nuances and insights about youth experiences. Key findings from these workshops are summarized below and detailed in full in our Advancing Youth Civic Engagement in Canada final report.    

Youth Participation is Transforming

Although the youth dialogues drew participants with higher-than-average levels of civic engagement, the groups nonetheless replicated trends identified in C-Dem's research:

• High levels of participation through digital channels, especially amongst high-school youth;

• High levels of participation in community volunteering, petitions, protests and political consumerism; and

• Lower levels of institutionalized participation, such as joining a political party or attending a political meeting

Digital Challenges

Conversations with youth highlighted the unique challenges of civic engagement in a rapidly advancing digital world. Youth expressed concerns about the prevalence of mis- and disinformation and bias in both traditional news channels and social media. Distrust in the accuracy of information limited youths��� confidence in participating in political discussions or even stopped them from trying to stay informed, due to the challenge of validating information and the emotional toll of constant exposure to news media. Youth emphasized media and information literacy as a critical component of civic education. 

The Impact of Polarization

Discussions on the drivers of and barriers to participation reflected the five core factors identified in C-Dem's research (knowledge, socialization, efficacy, interest and resources). However, they also prominently surfaced the theme of polarization, with many youth noting their discomfort with conversations that escalate into conflict. Participants affirmed the value of dialogue and the need to normalize respectful disagreement.

Meaningful Participation

Participants in the stakeholder dialogue went beyond discussions on youth behaviours to also address what it would mean for governments to meaningfully include youth voices in decision-making through quality consultation. These conversations pointed to a notable gap in current data on Canadian youth civic engagement: while focus tends to draw towards voter turnout and engagement with political parties, there is little to no data on levels of youth participation through consultation processes such as youth councils or public consultations. At a time of democratic renewal, it will be important to redefine how we measure progress on youth participation. 

Advancing Youth Civic Engagement in Canada

C-Dem's research and the Centre���s validation workshops surface several key directions to advance youth civic engagement in Canada, including:

• Sustaining and scaling school-based civic education that incorporates models and strategies that have been proven effective���including experiential learning and place-based learning;

• Supporting and connecting champions of youth civic engagement such as by establishing national and regional networks, developing of a resource repository or transitioning to more sustainable funding models to maintain and scale effective programming;

• Expanding formal channels for youth participation in decision-making, with models such as public consultation, youth councils, representative deliberative processes or participatory budgeting���and measuring these forms of participation;

• Further research into the diverse experiences of youth across Canada, especially youth who are less politically active, youth in rural and remote communities, Indigenous youth and newcomer youth; and

• Further research into youth experiences of digital civic participation including how best to support youth in navigating mis- and disinformation, online polarization, and mitigating the impacts of digital technology on youth wellbeing.

Read the full report from the Centre for Dialogue and CityHive on Advancing Youth Civic Engagement in Canada:

Read the report from Max Bell Foundation and C-Dem on Youth Civic Engagement (Available in English in French):