Show Your Love for Ottawa with our Youth Week Film Festival

Filmmaker looks through the viewfinder on his camera as he films a scene

Show Your Love for Ottawa with our Youth Week Film Festival

VESPY’s 2023 Video Competition (Video Engagement Showcase Program for Youth)

Thanks to our Ottawa Youth Engagement Committee team, Youth Ottawa is preparing to celebrate our second ever National Youth Week! We had lots of fun seeing everyone celebrate youth achievement last year and are excited to amplify more creative minds this year!

This Youth Week, we are hosting a rad video competition for youth called the VESPY’s (Video Engagement Showcase Program for Youth). It will be our first ever time hosting a video competition and we hope you are as pumped as we are!

Each video must fall into this year’s theme: My Ottawa.

Participants aged 21 and under as of May 2023 were encouraged to send us a video between 15 to 90 seconds long that features their favourite parts of Ottawa, things they would change, their vision for the city’s future, or anything else their creativity could come up with!

Participants had the chance to receive the following prizes:

First place: 65″ TV

Second place prize: Canon camera

Third place prize: $150 cash

Congrats to our winners: Sophie Longval, Murtaza Tahmid Rhythm and Wanees Fatine (video 5, 4, and 7)!

Check out the submissions!

What's next?

The VESPY’s video competition are part of Youth Ottawa’s 2023 youth week celebration. Check back here soon to learn more about what we’re doing to celebrate youth this month!

March 6, 2023March 6, 2023

OYEC Spotlight

Sam Turgeon-Brabazon

By the time he reached his Grade 11 environmental science class, Sam Turgeon-Brabazon had already been a social activist for years.

Jason Collard, a facilitator going into classrooms with Youth Ottawa at the time, worked with that class. There, he hosted a “DILA” day, which is our old Active Citizenship Initiative (ACI) equivalent, and invited guest speaker Ryan Hreljac. Hreljac had founded a non-profit project for clean drinking water in Africa, and was an inspiration for Sam.

This experience with a Youth Ottawa program then inspired him to join our Ottawa Youth Engagement Committee (OYEC), where he would soon be elected to co-chair and would meet several other members in his final two years of high school. Their mentorship was a valuable process, he said.

Realizing that OYEC was a starting point for success in any possible avenue, Sam started a sustainable agriculture project kit called “Sam’s Sprouts.” The project allowed people to grow their own micro-greens in an urban farming environment, while simultaneously growing his own love for civic engagement.

“Then, I realized that business is a vehicle for social good,” Sam said.

While the Sam’s Sprouts project is no longer ongoing, Sam’s sprouts are still growing in terms of his impact on the community.

He said working with OYEC and observing the behind the scenes processes of public policy was a privilege, and it allowed him to gain comfort in public speaking, leadership skills, and set him up for success while interacting with city councillors who noticed these amazing qualities.

In 2015, he left OYEC and started pursuing an undergraduate degree in public affairs at Carleton University, and then a degree in business studies at Queens’ University in 2022.

“In a direct way, my time with OYEC helped me discover my love of contributing to the betterment of my community,” Sam said. “In an indirect way, I first discovered my love of social entrepreneurship in 2014 at the same time as when I was on OYEC, and my fellow OYEC members played a significant role in motivating me on my entrepreneurial journey … If it wasn’t for their steadfast encouragement, it’s uncertain whether I would have continued to pursue entrepreneurship and business development more broadly as a career path.”

Want to follow in Sam's footsteps and make a BIG impact? OYEC is now recruiting!

Requirements:

Between the ages of 15-24 and live in Ottawa
Enthusiastic, energetic & proactive
Able to participate by bringing new ideas, input, and fair decision-making to the table
Committed to attending 1-2 meetings a month for 1 year
A team player through fairness, integrity, and respect for others

February 25, 2023April 17, 2023

2023 Mayor for a Day Contest

Applications now closed

Youth Ottawa is proud to host our first Mayor for a Day contest with the new Mayor Mark Sutcliffe’s, in collaboration with the City of Ottawa and Youth Ottawa’s Ottawa Youth Engagement Committee (OYEC)!

We brought the contest back in 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic put it on pause in 2020 and 2021 and have been working hard to bring it back again this year!

Nominations were open for any Ottawa high school students from Grade 9 to 12 from Feb. 25 to March 25.

On April 11, OYEC and the mayor’s office finalized our two winners: Shanaz Sabir from St. Francis Xavier & Anya Watson from Nepean High School.

Shanaz Sabir loves the close knit communities Ottawa provides. Her ideas to improve the city include promoting encouraging green initiatives; renewable energy, reducing waste sustainable transportation, and also supporting small businesses.

Anya Watson believes Ottawa is a city full of life, and should be a role model for the rest of Canada. She wants to see Ottawa provide youth more opportunities to experience the outdoors, and a refresh of zoning bylaws to lower costs of infrastructure, revitalize neighbourhoods, and lower environmental issues.

What is the Mayor for a Day Contest?

The Mayor for a Day contest is a unique and exciting opportunity to engage local youth from around the city on municipal politics and civic issues. Ottawa high school students in Grades 9 to 12 are invited to apply by outlining their vision for Ottawa over the next 50 years, for their chance to experience a day with the new Mayor Mark Sutcliffe!

The Mayor for a Day contest is organized by the Ottawa Youth Engagement Committee (OYEC) in partnership with the City of Ottawa and Mayor Sutcliffe’s office, as a way to promote youth engagement on municipal politics and civic issues.

What's Next?

Our two winners will be shadowing the Mayor throughout the day on May 3, 2023.

February 22, 2023March 31, 2023

Spirit Nominations NOW OPEN!

The 2023 Spirit Awards are coming...

and nominations are OPEN!

Nominations are now OPEN for the 2023 RBC Spirit of the Capital Awards and we’re looking for 14 young people to recognize!

The Spirit Awards ceremony is an annual gala hosted by Youth Ottawa and presented by RBC to showcase and celebrate youth achievement. Fourteen young change-makers are chosen to win an award in one of the seven categories:

Arts and Culture
Service and Caring
Take a Stand
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Academic Perseverance
Strength through Diversity
Max Keeping for Personal Courage

We’re looking for youth who possess qualities such as perseverance, integrity, and empathy and are leaders in their community.

This year, we are moving our gala back to the spring season and our 2023 nominations are now open until March 31, 2023. If you know anyone who fits the features of a Spirit Award Winner, we would love for you to tell about them!

Anyone can nominate a young person whether that would be a teacher, friend, parent, mentor, guidance councillor, etc. To learn more about the nominations categories and the selection criteria please visit us here.

Each recipients will receive:

$1,000 Bursary
Tickets to the award gala on June 29th, 2023
Networking opportunities
Opportunity to be featured in CTV Ottawa

*nominees must be between the ages of 14-21*

Our Spirit Award winners have gone on to do wonderful things, and here’s a story about one of them!

The story of a Spirit award winner

Rehani Akenga’s dedication to community service has followed him from across the Atlantic Ocean.

Growing up, giving back to his community was a core memory for Rehani.

In 2013, he left Congo for a refugee camp in Malawi, where he volunteered in various community initiatives. In 2021, he would arrive in Canada, where he would continue to serve his community.

The path to success wasn’t easy: Rehani had to face a high cost of living and food insecurity, forcing him to seek employment to support his family. Despite these challenges, Rehani persevered by collecting food and money for prisoners in Maula Prison and by participating in litter pick-ups in the city.

In 2022, he was awarded a Strength through Diversity award as part of our 25th Annual RBC Spirit Awards.

Since then, Rehani has continued to be an active member in the community while studying at the University of Ottawa. He volunteers with Shepherds of Good Hope, Knights of Columbus and has joined the Ottawa Police Youth Advisory Committee.

Rehani is also currently working with our Ottawa Youth Engagement Committee, a group which aims to engage youth in municipal government decision-making.

The advice and encouragement Rehani received from community members led him to feel even more motivated to support his community, he said.

“It was an extraordinary step in my life,” Rehani said. “Astonishingly, I felt motivated and continued to be active in Ottawa and Canada. Explaining in words how colourful that day was will not be enough.”

How to keep up with Spirit this year

Please visit the link below to nominate a young person:

*nominees must be between the ages of 14-21.

Nominating someone or not, we will keep you updated on everything about the Spirit Awards this year, so keep an eye out for us!

January 24, 2023January 27, 2023

Thanks for making 2022 brighter

Our yearly gratitude report is here!

2022 was an amazing year, all thanks to you. To show our appreciation, we have assembled our annual gratitude report highlighting all of our accomplishments over the past year.

Take a look and pat yourself on the back for supporting youth in the city!

What's next?

Interested in what you read? Please contact info@youthottawa.ca to learn more about how you can get involved in our initiatives.

January 16, 2023December 2, 2023

Join us for our 2023 Annual General Meeting

Youth Ottawa’s Annual General Meeting will held on January 24th, 2024 from 6-8 PM at 90 Spark Street on the 2nd floor.

Want to hear about what we accomplished in 2022 and where were headed this year? Share some thoughts or feedback? Join us! Public and open to all.

If you would like to attend or be added to the speakers list please email info@youthottawa.ca to RSVP. Please RSVP before January 21st at 5PM.

November 15, 2022February 1, 2023

Home is Where Love Grows

Two students work on their laptop together at a desk

Let's Spread the Love this Giving Tuesday

Once upon a time...

We challenged grade 10 students from St. Francis Xavier High School to use their voice to address a social issue in one of our Active Citizenship Initiative programs last year.

The class created a list of issues they wanted to address, and four of the students–Ella, Noah, Raya and Federica–chose domestic abuse as their issue.

“We would ask our teacher if it was in the curriculum at all, or if teachers were taught how to deal with it when they learned to become a teacher and we just found it was something that just wasn’t talked about enough and that we could make a change there.”

At first, the group said they struggled with finding the right medium for their message. After floating around a few ideas, they finally landed on their children’s book idea, which Frederica’s little sister would illustrate.

The book, Home is Where Love Grows, follows the story of two friends, Max and Quincy. The friends live in a world where everyone has flowers growing out of the top of their heads, and all is well until Quincy notices Max’s plant wilting more and more each morning. It becomes Quincy’s mission to help make Max feel better. The plot explores the hidden signs of abuse and teaches youth how to help their friends if they notice these signs.

“I think just because something is difficult, or it’s complicated, it shouldn’t be something that doesn’t get told,” their teacher, Heather Bilder said. “We need to find age-appropriate ways that students can engage with it. This group of students were really thoughtful in the imagery they pulled from their knowledge of metaphor to really go beyond just that surface level… and they looked for meaningful ways that their readers could support a friend.”

In the span of two months, their school project blossomed into a social justice initiative, now being published with the help of Youth Ottawa.

In our ACI programs, classes go through a three-step process:

1. Our facilitators introduce youth to civic issues, allowing them to choose their focus

2. Students create an “Action Plan” to guide their next steps in tackling the issue, using civic “tactics” such as lobbying, surveying, and petitioning

3. Students execute their action plans, learning while making a positive difference in their communities

In 2021, we introduced ACI students to several call-to-action videos from city councillors, allowing them to choose issues that aren’t addressed enough. Bilder’s class took these challenges on and narrowed their focus to six topics, including domestic abuse. The program was combined with a careers class, allowing them to focus on resume-making to “apply” for positions in their groups. Upon choosing their teams, they began to work on steps two and three.

Chapter 2: From School Project to Real Project

In May, the group of students showcased their work at our Youth Action Showcase, which kicked off Ottawa’s first official Youth Week. The Youth Action Showcase was launched by Youth Ottawa in an effort to bring student projects in front of key decision-makers and thought leaders.

“You work on a project for a month and you don’t really get much feedback, but we went to City Hall and the amount of positive feedback and the amount of people that went home and said ‘I really love your story,’ just really motivated our group and made us want to keep on doing this,” Noah said.

Since then, we have met with them bi-weekly from June through August in the hopes of bringing their book into Ottawa libraries in schools, while chatting with them about their goals for the project.

Heather Bilder said she was impressed with their lack of hesitancy in communicating such an important topic, even working on the book throughout the summer.

“I think a lot of people can be critical of younger generations, and I think watching them take on this complicated topic and problem solve and work in collaboration is like, we’re in good hands,” she said.

Over the summer, they worked on creating an acknowledgement page, and it goes as follows*:

*Please note that this is a preview, and the full page can be found in their book.

Take a look at their pitch presentation here!

Chapter 3 - What’s Next?

The team is also seeking support from programs like Market13 that can help them create a free eCommerce website to sell their book online.

“Our goal is to get it in as many kids’ hands as possible, just so that they can really read it and understand what the message is,” Federica said.

Along the way, we are working with the students to refine their presentation pitch and teaching the group of youth about accessing the right grants and looking for other funding opportunities, all with the goal of both their personal and professional growth.

The End…or is it?

This is normally where you’d read “The End” in a story, but these students are nowhere near finished! Their story is just beginning, and they will need your help to turn the next page. Our Giving Tuesday campaign started on Nov. 29 and is now closed. We were able to raise over $4,500 to deliver books to several Ottawa schools and continue funding our ACI program!

As a thank you for each donation, we are sending packs of seeds to donors. These seeds are a symbol of support highlighted throughout the book, and we can’t wait to see what they grow.

November 7, 2022November 7, 2022

Building Communities for Student Success

People listening to a student project presentation

Why Community Engagement Matters for Student Success

Community engagement is the foundation of all that we do at Youth Ottawa. Students who are engaged in their communities are confident in using their voices for change, are active in team cooperation, and have improved communication skills. There are several reasons why small-scale community engagement matters for student success, especially in an era when social media is facilitating global engagement.

In our years running the Active Citizenship Initiative (ACI) program, we have learned about:

LGBTQ+ history
Ottawa’s housing emergency
The importance of recreational opportunities
The Black Lives Matter movement
Tackling climate change through community gardens
And much, much more!

Community engagement builds trust & community

Bilateral communication between youth and their communities foster a sense of trust and belonging in their home communities. In an era where much of our interactions are done online, feeling connected to the real world is getting harder and harder, especially for youth. In order to build our communities, we must spend time in them and trust them to hear our voices. By building these communities up with trust and personal connections, we will eventually find ourselves in safer, happier, and healthier environments.

According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Institute, 35 per cent of teenagers are “almost constantly” spending their time on social media. A third of them said they spent too much time on social media, while only eight per cent of them said they spent too little time on social media.

Though phone use may be addictive, it is no question that youth want to be more engaged in their communities, whether online or in person, though many are facing fatigue in the online realm after two years of a pandemic.

Community engagement increases visibility of youth issues

Who better to understand youth issues than youth themselves? As much as adults like to think they understand youth because they used to be youth themselves, times change and world issues change. Youth are the only ones who know what they truly value and what they are concerned about. By listening to their voices, we will be better equipped to help them solve these issues and support them in taking leadership in their communities to build a better future.

Heather Bilder worked with us last year at St. Francis Xavier to implement the Active Citizenship Initiative in her class. One group of her students created a children’s book dealing with domestic abuse.

“I think it’s just really awesome to see how empowered they are when they’re engaged in their learning,” Heather Bilder said about her students.

In 2020, the General Social Survey (GSS) on Social Identity found that youth were among the least civically engaged in Canadian communities, with only 60 per cent of youth aged 15-30 reportedly interested in politics. Meanwhile, 68 per cent of people aged 31 to 46 and 74 per cent of those aged 47 and older reported interest in politics. However, youth were found to be more engaged in recreational activities or hobbies than those in the older categories, suggesting that youth are interested in the things that affect them most, but may not have the education or encouragement to follow up with civic engagement.

Community engagement promotes fairness, equity and diversity

An engaged community results in a diverse range of voices, ensuring fairness and equity for all sub-groups. In creating an ideal society, youth know what solutions they would like to see. An environment that excludes certain groups of people is not an environment that is safe or positive, and is not an environment that people want to live in.

Not only is equity about human rights, a fair and diverse environment is one that is also healthy for our identities. Learning from a range of cultures and peoples ensures that we become well-rounded, attentive citizens who can make the world a better place for everyone, from our homes to our workplaces.

Throughout our years running ACI, we’ve come up with several projects addressing this same issue. In 2018, we supported the Mural Project by students from the Glebe Collegiate Institute which featured community artists painting a mural to draw attention to LGBTQ+ history for equity and inclusion.

In another class, students wrote letters to school boards about a range of topics including the need for more LGBTQ+ topics in their curriculum.

“LGBTQ+ students have been overlooked by the education system continuously for several decades, leading to hazardous learning environments for any student under the lesbian/gay/bi/trans/queer umbrella. There have been a multitude of faults perpetuating this issue, but it’s time for the Ontario government to take action and provide safe and healthy learning conditions for students of all gender identities and sexual orientations alike.” – A Concerned Student

Our Rainbow Bridges program also used to partner with students to create welcoming spaces in schools, and in 2021, we hosted a film festival to highlight a variety of topics the LGBTQ+ community faces.

Education's role in student engagement & how you can help!

At Youth Ottawa, we help teachers engage students in focused reflection and hands-on experiences that increase knowledge, develop skills, and expand students’ capacity to contribute to their communities.

Our Active Citizenship Initiative Program (ACI), for example, aims to engage students and transform the world around them. We introduce students to several issues through our educational programming, encouraging them to take action and guiding them along the way. In the past, students have worked on affordable housing, sustainable gardening, and much more.

On November 29th, we will be participating in Giving Tuesday. We have an ambitious goal to support more student projects like the ones highlighted above. From now until December 31st you can do your part in amplifying youth voices, by donating here to our Active Citizenship Intiative.

September 29, 2022September 29, 2022

Join Us on Our 25th Spirit Anniversary

Join Us on Our 25th Spirit Anniversary!

Wait no longer! It’s our 25th Anniversary of celebrating our city’s youth and all of the amazing things they have done! To commemorate such a big milestone, we are planning a bigger and better award show than ever before and can’t wait to see you there!

Our 25th Annual RBC Spirit of the Capital Awards will feature 14 incredible youth, all awarded for their hard work and resiliency throughout seven categories.

Traditionally, we welcome over 300 guests to celebrate youth in our community, but the past few years have been tumultuous for us all. In 2020, we celebrated the Spirit awards online due to COVID-19 restrictions. In 2021, only Spirit recipients, their plus-ones and sponsors were invited to the gala.

This year, we’re opening the guest list for the first time since 2019 and are thrilled to be hosting an award ceremony to remember. Guests of all ages are welcome to join us, & the event is completely free! Even if you don’t know the award winners, come stop by and cheer them on!

Reserve your free tickets and join us on Wednesday, October 26th at the Shenkman Arts Centre, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m!

What to expect when you arrive

When you arrive in your “Wednesday best” (all dressed up), head to the lounge for a cocktail hour between 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

As you make your way across the red carpet, you will find light refreshments and youth-friendly finger foods, a mocktail bar, and a photo area!

To enter the main event area, make your way to the Harold Shenkman Hall, where we will hear the inspiring work and stories of 14 young changemakers from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

We will also have musical performances during intermissions by MoovOttawa, a BIPOC, Women & Immigrant lead Street Dance Company. They specialize in Hip Hop, House, Waacking, Breaking “Break Dance” and more.

The categories

Learn more about the recipients here!

Learn more about our 25th Anniversary here!

September 13, 2022September 13, 2022

Summer Recap Report 2022

Building Hope for our Tomorrow

Education doesn’t end in July! Youth Ottawa has consistently been helping youth amplify their businesses for years now, but this summer we decided to take it up a notch.

Take a look at our report below!

What's next?

As the summer starts to cool down, our staff are getting ready to ramp up the learning opportunities and they’ll need your help to do it! If you’re interested in working with us, contact info@youthottawa.ca or consider donating!