Celebrating Young Changemakers on International Youth Day

August 12th 2025, is International Youth Day; a perfect time to honour the incredible work young people are doing to protect our planet. Across Canada in 2025, students planted native gardens, cleaning trails, tracking wildlife, and brang climate action to their schools and communities. Let’s explore real examples and how you can get involved!

Burns Bog Youth Stewardship Project (Greater Vancouver, BC)

Awarded First Prize in the 2025 Canadian Youth Climate Action Awards, this initiative brought together over 25 youths—including Indigenous, newcomer, and BIPOC participants—to restore two hectares of fire-damaged peatlands in Metro Vancouver. They removed invasive species and re-established native plants, guided by Tsawwassen and Musqueam Knowledge Keepers, and were paid as trainees—demonstrating how justice and ecology can go hand in hand 

You can read more about it Here

École Christine Morrison Elementary Greening Project (Mission, BC)

This winner of the 2025 Empowering Youth for Climate Action Awards created a “Forest Classroom” and vegetable garden using native species alongside food crops. Students installed rain barrels, composted, and linked Indigenous-informed learning with biodiversity and food security—empowering young stewards right at their school.

You can read about their mission here.

Composted Vegetables to Fresh Vegetables (Fisher, BC)

At Fisher Branch Collegiate, students tackled food waste by installing an electric composter, turning scraps into fertilizer for their outdoor garden. They then used the harvest to teach multicultural cooking, blending composting, ecology, and community culture—all recognized in the 2025 national awards 

Read about their mission here.

More Youth Environmental Leadership in Canada

• The Gener8 (Generate 2025) Youth Climate & Energy Summit brought together 80 students from across Canada in Calgary (March 13–16, 2025) to design local environmental innovation projects. You can read more about it here (https://www.enbridge.com/stories/2025/may/inside-education-sustainability-at-school-innovation-energy-climate-leadership-summit?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
  
  

• Youth Climate Leadership Programs like YCI’s “Climate Futures Lab” engaged Ontario teens to build climate solutions with human-centered design and municipal collaboration. If you live in Ontario read about the program here (https://yci.org/find-an-opportunity/climate-action-network/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
  
  

How You Can Start Today (At Home or School)