Youth, Climate, and Progress: A Night of Community Vision
312 Main, Downtown Vancouver, March 27, 2025.
The Youth Climate Corps (YCC) Election Town Hall brought together young organizers, federal candidates, and community leaders for an evening of dialogues, visions, and actions. As one of the organizers through UBC’s Certificate in Climate Studies and Action program, I witnessed first-hand the passion, determination, and imagination from our community members that filled the room on this special night.
The event in Vancouver was the first of a series of pre-election town halls across the country, as part of the national campaign led by the Climate Emergency Unit, advocating for a federally funded Youth Climate Corps. The goal? To invest in youth employment and climate action simultaneously.
As the cost-of-living crisis deepens and climate emergencies grow more urgent, young people across Canada are demanding bold solutions that provide economic security and ecological resilience. A Youth Climate Corps would do just that: offering meaningful, attainable green jobs to youth while addressing real needs in communities.
Our Vancouver town hall opened with a powerful panel featuring young climate and labour organizers: Naisha Khan (Climate Recentered), Ismail Askin (Worker Solidarity Network), Zainab Sayedain (Common Horizon), and Molly Henderson (Dogwood BC). They spoke about what a Youth Climate Corps could mean for housing justice, Indigenous sovereignty, young labours, and the climate.
Panel Discussion
Then came the federal candidates panel. We were joined by a multi-partisan group of candidates including:
Incumbent MPs seeking re-election: Jenny Kwan (NDP, Vancouver East), Taleeb Noormohamed (Liberal, Vancouver Granville);
MP candidates: Wade Grant (Liberal, Vancouver Quadra), Avi Lewis (NDP, Vancouver Centre), Scott MacDonald (Green, Vancouver Centre), Steven Ji (Green, Richmond East–Steveston), and Michael Sisler (Green, Richmond Centre–Marpole).
Each of the candidates fielded questions from youth attendees about climate funding, affordability, and whether they would publicly endorse a federal Youth Climate Corps. The responses varied, but one thing was clear: the candidates were listening to our call. Youth brought passion and policy to the mic, challenging all parties to rise to the moment.
Candidates question period
And the result was much to our delight: by the weekend before the election, the Liberal Party of Canada had published their complete election platform, in which they promised to advance the establishment of a Youth Climate Corps, becoming the third federal political party to have done so (after Green and NDP). (view article)
Graphic recording for the event, created by Adriana Contreras
This was truly an unparalleled experience. I am very grateful for the active participation of community members, youth leaders, and local politicians, for the generous contribution from our sponsors and partners (Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, UBC Centre for Climate Justice, 312 Main, Ritmos Climáticos, and The Sustainable Act), for the great support from our community partner, the Climate Emergency Unit, and our capstone cohort at the UBC Certificate in Climate Studies and Action program, as well as the amazing work of our team members, Lukas Troni, Yeslie Lizarraga, and Katelyn Croy. This wasn’t an easy task, but it felt good seeing our ideas coming into reality, and our efforts paid off.
