Question Period Note: Canada Service Corps

What is the Government of Canada doing to engage more youth in volunteer service, particularly Indigenous and under-served youth who may face barriers to volunteering?

• The Government of Canada recognizes the value of service and volunteering for young people. The Canada Service Corps is helping to build a culture of service among youth that empowers young people across Canada to practice and gain leadership skills, grow professional networks and make a positive impact in communities across the country.

• The Canada Service Corps continues to expand and diversify its programming to ensure that youth, especially those facing barriers to volunteering, are included and encouraged to participate in service opportunities.

• To increase the engagement of Indigenous and under-served youth in the program, the Canada Service Corps is prioritizing funding for diverse organizations across the country including setting a participation requirement of 50% Indigenous and under-served youth across all of its funding streams.

• Since its launch in 2018, CSC has funded over 24,000 service placements and over 6,600 micro-grants for youth across Canada.

Investment

• Budget 2016 provided $105 million over five years and $25 million per year thereafter ($22 million of which is contribution funding) with a vision of creating a culture of youth service in Canada.

• Budget 2019 allocated an additional $314.8 million over five years to the Canada Service Corps (CSC) starting in 2019–2020, with $83.8 million per year in ongoing funding ($70.8 million of which is contribution funding).

Results

• Launched in 2018 after an initial design phase, the CSC provides funding to approximately 100 recipient organizations to create thousands of service opportunities annually for youth.

• CSC provides funding for organizations to establish service opportunities for youth that support CSC program themes including advancing reconciliation, preserving the environment, and strengthening youth resilience.

• Projects include national and regional youth volunteer service placements and micro-grants. Micro-grants provide youth with micro-contributions of up to $5,000 to lead their own service project in their community.

BACKGROUND:

• The most recent Call for Proposals (CFP) was open between February and March 2022 to establish new agreements with approximately 130 more diverse organizations beginning in Fall 2022-23 and continuing through 2023-24.

• This CFP aimed to expand the program and strengthen diversity by reaching a larger number of Indigenous and under-served youth to reflect the Government of Canada’s ongoing priorities around supporting diversity and inclusion.

• To enhance engagement of Indigenous and under-served youth, this CFP required organizations to set a participation target of 50% Indigenous and under-served youth across all funding streams.

• In addition to the original micro-grant stream, CSC also offered two new micro-grant streams, including the:

o Accelerator micro-grant stream that is geared towards supporting youth who have taken part in a previous CSC service opportunity to facilitate scaling-up of projects; and

o Diversity micro-grant stream that funds organizations where at least 50% of their leadership/governance identify as members of the Indigenous and under-served communities they serve. This eligibility criterion is intended to give youth access to leaders and mentors who may have similar lived experiences, a theme that emerged as important in consultations with youth during the design phase of the program.

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