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Youth CivicCorps

Equipping young leaders to build a stronger, more inclusive region

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Youth CivicCorps links young changemakers with real opportunities to strengthen their communities.

Turning Passion into Action

Real change happens when opportunity meets purpose.

Youth CivicCorps matches young people who want to make a difference in their lives and communities with local organizations working to address complex urban challenges. Through hands-on experience, leadership training, and real-world civic engagement, the program helps young adults build tangible experience tackling the issues shaping our region.

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Meet our Youth CivicCorps Volunteers

Youth CivicCorps is CivicAction’s transformative new volunteer initiative. Meet our first cohort of volunteers: diverse, rising leaders who are passionate about shaping their communities and their future.
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Why Join Youth CivicCorps

  • Make a Real Impact: Support projects on housing, affordability, and inclusion
  • Get experience you can actually use: Work on real projects with local organizations focused on solving complex urban challenges.
  • Build skills that employers look for: Strengthen skills like teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and leadership.
  • Find community and build your network: Connect with like-minded peers, community and civic leaders.
  • Get Support: Receive one-on-one mental health and professional life coaching and reimbursement for travel, meals, childcare, and more.
  • Flexible Placements: Volunteer placements are virtual, designed by you with you in mind.

Who can apply

Check your eligibility

Eligibility/who should apply:

  • Between 18-30 years old
  • Living in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area
  • A Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or refugee
  • Able to commit to 120 hours over six months, including pre-placement training and volunteer hours
  • Eager to grow your leadership skills and contribute to your community
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Check your eligibility

CivicAction encourages applications from youth who identify as Indigenous, Black, racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+, newcomers, or from other equity-deserving groups.

Over three years, and across three cohorts, 120 volunteers will join small project teams and complete 12-week placements with community organizations across the GTHA.

How you'll learn and lead

What You'll Do

Your role, in action
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Who Should Apply

Is YCC for you?
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What To Expect

Tools needed to participate
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Time Commitment

What’s expected
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How To Apply

Completed an online application
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Other Opportunities

Join a growing group of emerging leaders
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What to Expect

Youth CivicCorps provides the tools required to successfully participate in the program.

How to apply

We are currently accepting applications for Cohort 3

Join THE WAITLIST

Applicants are selected based on motivation, collaboration, and commitment to civic leadership.

Frequently Asked Questions

Good conversations start with good questions. On this page, you’ll find answers to commonly asked questions about the Foundation and its programs. If your question isn’t answered below, please contact us and we’ll get in touch with you directly.

Youth CivicCorps leverages CivicAction’s two decades of expertise in youth leadership development to empower young people to become active and engaged citizens. Youth CivicCorps is recruiting and placing 120 motivated young leaders aged 18-30 in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) into meaningful, flexible volunteer experiences with organizations committed to improving affordability, housing, and economic inclusion in their communities. Youth CivicCorps volunteers are provided with topical training on key social issues, practical leadership skills to apply during their placement, and well-being resources and coaching to build confidence, sense of purpose, and resilience.

The Youth CivicCorps volunteers are young people aged 18 – 30 from the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), who are looking for meaningful volunteer opportunities to help address critical community needs. Volunteers will come from all backgrounds and level of work experience. Each volunteer placement group will include a volunteer Team Lead who will provide peer coaching, monitor progress, and receive additional training on skills including conflict resolution, delegation, and team motivation.

CivicAction is partnering with organizations from all sectors, both large and small, who are interested in providing hands-on experience in addressing the priority crises of housing, affordability, and economic inclusion. Placement organizations should be based in or have an office in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).

Participants are organized into project teams of 4-5 volunteers and matched to a pre-selected host organization. Teams are provided a project outline to personalize and craft, then execute with guidance and resources from their host organization. Projects may focus on such areas of work as accessibility, advocacy, civic engagement, event management, marketing, research, social media, youth engagement, and much more. Measuring social impact, leadership development and personal well-being is embedded throughout the experience, and wraps up with celebration, sharing, and a recognition of service.

Placements may take place in-person, virtually or within a hybrid model, depending on the requirements.

Please note: placements will not be able to offer school credit (for example, student co-op) or honorariums.

The youth volunteers will be completing 84 hours of volunteer time in placement. Approximately 7 hours per week for 12 weeks. The schedule of hours will vary based on placement and may include evenings and weekends.

Placements will take place from October 2025 to January 2026 for the first cohort.

Placements for the second cohort will take place from July 2026 to October 2026. There will be three cohorts in total.

You are eligible to apply if you meet the following criterion:

 

  • Able to commit to the hours required during your time as a volunteer in the Youth CivicCorps program (includes both pre-placement training and placement hours)

     

  • Be between the ages of 18-30 (no older than 30 years of age at the time the placement begins)

     

  • Living in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area

     

  • A Canadian citizen, permanent resident or refugee

     

  • Looking for meaningful leadership training opportunities

Applications will be open from June 2nd, 2025. The link to apply can be found here: https://bttr.im/wtm6i

While exact dates for each activity will be shared with selected volunteers, the tentative timeline for Cohort 1 is as follows:

  • Applications will open from June 2nd, 2025
  • Virtual information sessions will be hosted on June 19th and June 24th, 2025
  • Interviews will take place in early July 2025
  • The first cohort will be announced in July 2025
  • Welcome and orientation session will take place in August 2025
  • Pre-placement training will run from August – September 2025
  • Co-creation symposium will be held in October 2025
  • Placements will begin from October 2025 – January 2026.

This volunteer experience is designed to break traditional barriers to volunteering and support youth in gaining critical leadership skills.

Youth volunteers are provided with topical training on key social issues, practical leadership skills to apply during their placement, and well-being resources, leadership development training and coaching to build confidence, sense of purpose, and resilience.

Youth volunteers also receive wrap-around supports from CivicAction throughout their placements. They will have access to non-financial incentives to remove barriers to volunteering and participating in the program. These can include covering costs for travel and meals when completing in-person training and volunteer hours among others.

You can get in touch at our email volunteer@civicaction.ca and a member of our volunteer team will get back to you.

Meet our Youth CivicCorps
Placement Hosts

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Real stories. Real impact.

“It's a good way of learning something you couldn't learn at university or even in high school, which is really working with different styles of people and working on a certain project rather than just fear of school tests… that's something that I really appreciate.”
Diala Abu Baker
“My experience here has been incredible. I've met some of the best people, most optimistic people and inspiring people, and it's really changed my life. I think I've learned the power of community and the people around you, and if you support and bring up people around you, they'll bring you up too.”
Hyunjin Lee
“As team lead, this program has taught me that leadership means creating safe spaces for people to come talk to you and creating spaces where you can co-create solutions with your teammates.”
Sonika Kumari

Build skills. Build community. Build the future you want to see. Be part of the generation turning passion into action.

JOIN THE WAITLIST

Youth CivicCorps is funded in part by Canada Service Corps, a national movement that empowers youth aged 12–30 to gain experience and build important skills while giving back to their community. Learn more at canada.ca/CanadaServiceCorps

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Our Volunteers

Youth CivicCorps Volunteers, Cohort 1

Aliza Khan

"Through this placement, I hope to learn from the people around me and work towards meaningful change in my community!"

Christopher Williams

"I am excited to begin my journey of growth and learning with the Youth CivicCorps volunteer program."

Dara Wu

"Through my participation in the 2025 Youth CivicCorps Volunteer Program, I hope to raise public awareness about the ongoing housing and affordability crisis and explore ways to build a more inclusive labour market for all. "

Diala Abu Baker

“It's a good way of learning something you couldn't learn at university or even in high school."

Dinojah Patkunarajah

"My passion lies in ensuring youth voices are not only heard but actively embedded in the decision-making processes that shape their futures.”

Evisella Matsika

"I am driven to help less privileged individuals meet their needs for affordable housing, access food, accessibility of transit systems and good education for residents, and citizens of the Greater Toronto Area."

Hyunjin Lee

“My experience here has been incredible. I've met some of the best people, most optimistic people and inspiring people, and it's really changed my life."

Katherine Lu

"I am especially passionate about health equity, housing affordability, and supporting disadvantaged populations."

Kyla Sebial

"I am excited to join this year’s cohort and looking forward to orientation next week."

Madelyn Mariyanayagam

"I strongly believe that Youth CivicCorps would give me more opportunities to develop new skills for meaningful impact."

Mary Beth

"I’m grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with other young changemakers, learn more about my community, and develop my leadership skills while helping address important urban issues."

Mathura Yogeswaran

"I really hope that I'll be able to make a meaningful change throughout this placement in the program.”

Matifadza Kuimba

"My goal is to inspire and support other young people in becoming well-engaged and informed citizens for the betterment of the region."

Milad Moghaddas

"As a First-Generation student raised in a single-parent, extremely low-income household, I am passionate about supporting the academic, professional, and personal development of at-risk, marginalized youth."

Raad Imran Khattak

"As a newcomer to Canada, I’m excited to join CivicCorps to connect with other changemakers, grow as a leader, and contribute meaningfully to the GTHA."

Raj Barot

"Given my background, I’m confident I bring value to CivicAction’s mission of creating better, inclusive cities and inspire others to do the same."

Rebecca Bekele

"Through the Volunteer Civic Corps, I hope to support inclusive, creative, and community-informed civic engagement."

Sonika Kumari

"What I hope will come out of this program is that through my project with Homeless Connect, I will make people feel seen, heard, and valued.”

Tania Sheikh

"I hope that through Civic Action, I can learn valuable skills, gain deeper insights into civic engagement, and become better equipped to make a lasting, positive impact."

Yat Tung Maris Kwan

Yat Tung Maris Kwan, known as Maris, is a second-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

Yifan Zhang

"I look forward to integrating the CivicCorps experience into my professional path."

Zainab Fatima

"As a volunteer under the Youth CivicCorps Program, she is committed to fostering fairer, more resilient communities and helping ensure that every person has the opportunity to thrive."

Core Sessions

Fellows participate in facilitated monthly sessions that explore both personal and professional leadership competencies and topics including team dynamics, self-awareness and emotional intelligence, empathy in communications, conflict management, and relationship-building across sectors. These sessions provide the tools, skills, and language for Fellows to develop as inclusive leaders and effective changemakers within their communities. 

What You'll Do

As a Youth CivicCorps participant, you’ll be matched with a community organization where you will co-create a project from end-to-end that responds to real community needs and supports the organization’s mission. Host organizations and placements vary, but will include work related to inclusivity, economic equity, housing, and affordability, or other urban challenges.

Who Should Apply

  • Able to commit 120 hours of time as a volunteer (includes both pre-placement training and placement hours)
  • Between the ages of 18-30 (no older than 30 years of age at the time the placement begins)
  • Living in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area 
  • A Canadian citizen, permanent resident or refugee
  • Looking for meaningful leadership training opportunities

What To Expect

  • Orientation: Virtual welcome session 
  • Pre-placement training: Urban Issues Seminars, leadership workshops, and online learning modules
  • Personalized volunteer placement: Design your 12-week project with your chosen local organization through a collaborative all-day co-creation symposium
  • Investments in you: Access to mental health and professional life coaching
  • Continued growth: Access to CivicAction’s Emerging Leaders Network to continue building your leadership journey

Time Commitment

Each cohort will take approximately 6 months total and include:
  • 3 months of training, typically one session or 2–3 hours per week
  • 3 months of placement, typically one volunteer day or 7–8 hours per week.
  • Training, coordination and ongoing support throughout the program.

How to Apply

Complete an online application that includes:

  • Complete an online application that includes 6 short answer questions.
  • Provide a resume and one recommendation letter.
  • Attend an in-person group interview.
  • Sign off on program policies and code of conduct 
  • Applicants are selected based on motivation, collaboration, and commitment to civic leadership.
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Other Opportunities

Youth CivicCorps participants will also receive exclusive invitations to educational and networking events that focus on city-building and leadership development.