What We Do
The story of what’s happening now right back to our origins in 1940.
Canada’s most recognized career event TAKE OUR KIDS TO WORK (TOKW) AND THE ART OF WORK (2023) - 2023
Assuming leadership of the TOKW programs builds strong connections to schools and employers, connects year-round Art of Work youth placements.
PRIORITIZING YOUTH VOICE (2022) - 2022
The SCC facilitated XXX formal youth advisories and consultations for federal, provincial and municipal governments and major youth organizations.
SAFER SPACES AND MENTAL HEALTH PRIORITIZED (2021) - 2021
The SCC supports more than 158 other organizations to adapt and respond to youth needs during the Pandemic.
GROUND BREAKING RESEARCH ON YOUTH GENERATIVITY; YOUTH ACTION AS LEGACY (2020) - 2020
The Pandemic accelerated CEYE/SCC’s Dr. Lawford and Ramey’s research.for UNICEF and Frayme on impacts of the pandemic and polarization.
SOCIAL IDENTITY FORMATION AND HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS (2019) - 2019
SCC responds with multiple programs to youth requests for help with pressures on being authentic in on-line and in-person spaces.
A YOUTH POLICY FOR CANADA (2018)-2018
The SCC begins hosting workshops across Canada to support youth input into Canada’s first federal youth policy.
THE CANADA WE WANT (2017) - 2017
The SCC launches the #CanadaWeWant Youth Movement
SHARING THE STORIES RESEARCH AND EVALUATION PLATFORM (2011) - 2011
The SCC pilot tests and launches the Sharing the Stories Research and Evaluation platform.
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR YOUTH ENGAGEMENT (2000) - 2000
The SCC is awarded the designation of the Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement. CEYE is a network of youth, organizations and academics focused on generating and sharing knowledge of youth engagement best practices.
HEALTH CANADA YOUTH ACTION COMMITTEE ON TOBACCO (1999) - 1999
The SCC supports Health Canada to setup a Youth Action Committee (YAC) on Tobacco. The Youth Leadership Team (formerly YAC) is now the longest-serving federal youth advisory mechanism.
ASIA CONNECTS CONFERENCE (1997-1998) - 1997
50 SCC staff across the country. 10 simultaneous youth conferences in each province connected by video link software.
THE STUDENTS COMMISSION OF CANADA (1991) - 1991
270 young people generated recommendations for action to improve the lives of youth in Canada. The final recommendation "commissioned" an organization for "students" to implement the recommendations. That is who the Students Commission was born.
YOUTH ADULT PARTNERSHIPS (1991) - 1991
TG Magazine invited to report on a national youth conference at Humber College. Event demonstrated the power of youth-adult partnerships
TEEN GENERATION (1980S) - 1980
Teen Generation (TG) written by youth with adult support and distributed to all schools across Canada
NATIONAL YOUTH MAGAZINE (1940S) - 1940
National youth magazine founded by youth
We achieve our charitable purpose and desired outcome by:
Providing Youth Opportunities
"We incubate and innovate through inter-generational partnerships and, because we do, we generate sparks for positive change."
We work in inter-generational partnerships to support young people to put their ideas for improving themselves, their peers and their communities into action. We design programs and facilitation to run conferences, events, youth groups, advisories and skill building opportunities. We work to deliver these programs through our youth-adult partnerships in a network of organizations across Canada. This Youth-Adult Partnership Network Includes youth, adult allies and grassroots organizations in local communities who support youth to thrive. Many of our network partners participate in our funded projects and support us to deliver national programs connected across the country. Two other networks are also co-ordinated nationally: The Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement and Sharing the Stories. Various local and regional networks include the Greater Than Network in Prince Edward County, ON, the Y2KFLA Network in eastern Ontario, and the Saskatoon Youth Strategy Network, SK
Influencing Those Who Influence Youth
"We work with partners and, because we do, we are inclusive and supportive, building community and strengthening a network of partners dedicated to youth thriving."
We are grounded in the principles of network leadership (Wei-Skillern, Ehrlichman, and Sawyer (2015):
- Trust not control… Diverse actors invest resources into building long-term relation
- Humility not brand…Network leaders are largely anonymous by design… they cede their power to the collective
- Node not hub…Network leaders not only connect to the larger system around them…, but also deliberately catalyze and lead action-oriented networks that are aligned around a defined shared purpose.
- Mission not organization… Network leaders are motivated to achieve maximum impact rather than to advance themselves or their organizations.
Storytelling, Research and Evaluation on the Impact of Youth Engagement
"We turn knowledge into action, and action into knowledge and, because we do, we are constantly learning and improving our process, as well as those of others."
We lead the Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement, a national network of youth, youth-serving agencies and academic partners interested in sharing best practices on youth engagement. We facilitate the Centre’s research initiatives including Sharing the Stories, an on-line, interactive research and evaluation platform focused on amplifying the voices of youth. There are currently 315 organizations subscribed to the Sharing the Stories platform. We work with each subscriber to develop a customized evaluation plan, support the collection of voice, analyze voice to identify key learnings and outcomes, and facilitate opportunities for the subscriber to engage with and make meaning of the data.