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Share Your Input! Canada’s Second State of Youth Report

The Government of Canada is now seeking input from youth living in Canada between the ages of 16 and 29 for inclusion in the second State of Youth Report, to be published in 2025. The State of Youth Reports helps the Canadian government understand the challenges youth face, from finding jobs to accessing mental health support, and outline steps to create better opportunities for the future.

Join in: how to participate

Are you a youth between the ages of 16 and 29 living in Canada?

The second State of Youth Report will be released in 2025. By reflecting the diverse experiences and concerns of youth, the second State of Youth Report will play a vital role in building a more inclusive, equitable and supportive Canada for all young people.

Your voice matters – by completing the engagement tool, you are ensuring that the second State of Youth reflects the diverse experiences and concerns of youth. The engagement period is now open until March 16, 2025.

If you want to learn more about the engagement tool, or if you are unable to access or complete it electronically, please send an email to jeunesse-youth@pch.gc.ca.

Visit the web page now: Have your say!

Apply for the RCMP Troop 17 Scholarship!

The RCMP’s Troop 17 Scholarship was established to recognize students who have made significant efforts toward the prevention of bullying and harassment in their schools and/or communities. Up to five scholarships in the amount of $1000 are awarded annually to full-time college or university students.

Eligibility Criteria

  1. be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
  2. be enrolled in a full-time accredited Canadian college or university
  3. demonstrate they have made significant efforts in preventing bullying and harassment in their schools and/or communities
  4. explain how they continue to promote anti-harassment and anti-bullying principles in their schools and/or communities

Deadline

Applications will be accepted from January 15, 2025 until April 30, 2025.

Visit this page for more information: https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/troop-17-scholarship#s3

Make a Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada 2025-26 Scholarship Application Today!

Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada post-secondary scholarships award young people $5,000 for each academic year until they finish their program (to a maximum of 7 years from their program start) through a once yearly competitive application for 300 awards. The deadline to apply is Monday, February 3rd, 2025.

If you are starting or continuing in full time studies in the 2025-26 academic year, and aren’t already receiving a CAFC Scholarship ($5,000 a year)*, apply here for the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada Scholarship today!

Visit our website for the link to the online application form, full eligibility information and answers to the most asked questions, or contact the Foundation’s PSE team at grants@cafdn.org.

Scholarship applications are open to youth with both financial need and the potential to succeed in their program of study. To be eligible, a student must be:

  • Be attending a post-secondary institution full-time or on a reduced schedule due to an academic accommodation, for a full school year starting in September 2025 or January 2026
  • Have been or will be in the temporary or permanent care of the Ministry or Department responsible for child protection services up until your age of majority birthday or had been in permanent care of the Ministry or Department responsible for child protection services for at least 12 months
  • Are under the age of 30 if you have or are currently receiving Foundation supports, or,
  • Are over the age of 30 and currently receiving a Foundation bursary ($2000) or have not received a CAFC Scholarship or Bursary before
  • Not currently receiving a CAFC Scholarship*

*Current 2024-25 CAFC Scholarship recipients do not need to make a new scholarship application.

If you aren’t sure if you are currently receiving a CAFC Scholarship or bursary or have any questions about the application form, process, or eligibility, we can help!

Email grants@cafdn.org with your questions and visit our website for more information and the application link.

Current and Former Youth in Extended Care Eligible for Annual Bursaries at Trent University

Students who have been or are in extended society care and demonstrate financial need are eligible to receive $3,000 in bursary funding during each academic year ($1,500 in each of the fall and winter terms).

How to Apply 

Eligible students are required to complete the UG Bursary Application at the beginning of each term. The application will be available on the Finances page of the myTrent Student Portal. 

To be eligible, students must be: 

  • In receipt of Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) funding, Government Student aid from another Canadian province, Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP), or First Nations Band Funding  
  • Canadian citizens, permanent residents or protected persons as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada   
  • Enrolled in an undergraduate program at Trent University and enrolled in at least 60% of a full course load (or 40% for students with permanent disability status)  
  • A current or former youth in extended society care

Willsy’s Extended Society Care Fund  

The Willsy’s Extended Society Care Fund, created through the generosity of Elizabeth Wills-Edwards ’08, provides an annual bursary of up to $4,000 for students who lived under Extended Society Care.

Preference will be given, but not limited to, mature students who are at least 24 years of age and there is no restriction on the students’ academic year or field of study.

An application will be available on the Finances page of the myTrent Student Portal beginning in June each year. The annual deadline to apply is July 31.

Learn more about Willsy’s Extended Society Care Fund.

Support for Students who have been or are in extended society care

Transitioning to University can be made easier with the right support. We have resources that are specifically designed to help you reach your full potential, while providing you with the foundation, guidance and support you need.

Learn more about Support for Students who have been or are in extended society care.

Apply for a free 2-day Trades training!

Are you 18+ with lived experience in the child welfare system? Discover your passion for Ontario’s skilled trades!

The Trades Ready Youth 2-Day Workshop entails:

  • Construction Industry Certifications
  • Hands-on training for entry-level Electrical apprentice skills (Wiring, VR, etc.)
  • Mentorship sessions
  • Networking opportunities

Coffee, light snacks and lunch will be provided. Hard hat and work boots included.

Date and Time: Feb. 4 and 5, 2025, 8 am – 4 pm

Address: IBEW Local 804 5158 Fountain St N, Breslau, ON

Register now at: Give the Trades a TRY! | Child Welfare PAC.

Consultation opportunity for Indigenous youth from Care!

The Indigenous Youth Advisory Council at ANCFSAO has a new series called the “Youth Led, Youth Friendly Document Series”. This Series aims to broaden the network and understanding for children and youth in care and how they engage with the system.

As part of the series, they want to engage with youth across the province for the following dates (all meetings will be 4:30-6:30 PM to accommodate school/work schedules): 

  • December 18th, 2024
  • January 8th, 2025
  • January 15th, 2025
  • January 16th, 2025.

These engagements will include fun ice breakers along with interactive activities and questions to get a sense of what the youth wish was more youth friendly about the system, their learning styles. Each youth who engages will be provided with honorarium for attending and engaging.

ANCFSAO aims to create deliverables based on this consultation phase (podcasts, infographics, short animated videos, pictures, etc.) to help youth find additional routes to understanding the navigation of their journey in child welfare. 

After this they will be re-engaging with the youth groups so they can provide feedback on the deliverables and if they think these truly are youth led and youth friendly. Once they have amended from the feedback they will begin rolling this out online and through their networks by holding sessions to introduce and teach their new sets of tools to Child Wellbeing and CAS agencies across Ontario.

Eligibility

Indigenous youth between the ages of 14-24 across Ontario who have been involved with a CAS or Child Well being agency and want to share their stories and provide feedback to help the next 7 generations. 

They are accepting up to 18 youth per engagement, once you have received the invitation to the meeting it means your registration has been accepted. If they have reached the limit they will reach out to inform you or reschedule you for another date. 

Sign up

Please follow the link Here to sign up! Please forward to any youth you think would be interested.

Nia:wen and we really look forward to seeing you there!

If you have any questions reach out to prevention@ancfsao.ca 

Invitation to take part in study for child welfare workers

You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Drs Kristen Lwin and Kristina Nikolova from the School of Social Work at the University of Windsor.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This study is aims to examine Canadian child welfare workers’ quality of life being in a helping profession, and organizational culture and climate. The study also aims to assess whether child welfare worker and organizational characteristics are related to service decisions.

PROCEDURES
If you volunteer to participate in this study, you will be asked to complete an online survey, which includes questions about yourself (e.g., education level and field, position, caseload), your perception of the social context in the organizational environment, and your quality of life being in a helping profession. The online survey also includes a case vignette, where you will be asked to identify the risk of future maltreatment to the child, the family’s strengths and needs, and next service steps. The online survey should take between 30 and 40 minutes. The survey is fully anonymized, and we do not require any personal information, such as your name or employing agency.

POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
There is a potential risk that you may feel uncomfortable, anxious, or upset participating in the study. There is also a risk to feel a loss of privacy or reputation for choosing to, or choosing not to, participate in the study. The decision to participate in the study is totally voluntary and fully anonymous; there is no requirement to participate. The URL from which you are completing the survey cannot be traced back to you. If you agree to participate and begin to complete the survey, you may withdraw from the study by closing your browser at any time. There are no consequences or repercussions for choosing not to participate in the study or by choosing to withdraw from participation. Your participation in the study will not be known by the organization that recruited you or PART and your decision to participate or not will have no impact on your relationship with your employer or the organization that recruited you or PART.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
Findings from this study aim to build knowledge about child welfare workers’ quality of life being in a helping profession and service delivery in Canada. This is the first time many of these measures have been used in Canada and will hopefully be used in future studies to support child welfare workers and service delivery.

RENUMERATION
If you choose to be included, there will be a random draw for $25 gift card where 50 people will receive an e-gift card to Tim Horton’s or Amazon, based on their preference. If you would like to enter into the random draw at the end of the survey you will find a link to a separate survey where you can enter your name and email address. This second survey, where you enter your name and email address, is not linked to your first survey,
therefore, your participation in the study remains anonymous. If you enter into the random draw and are one of the 50 people chosen you will be notified by email, if you are not chosen you will not be notified.

PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
Upon consenting to participate in the study, you will be automatically directed to the online survey. You can withdraw your consent to participate in the study by closing your browser and not completing the survey or specific questions. Your responses will be saved after the completion of each section of the survey. You may choose to close your web browser at any time; however, any pages of the survey that have been completed will be included in the analysis. Once the survey is closed ([insert date here]) responses will be downloaded and saved on a University of Windsor computer and kept under password protection and retained until the completion of the study. Only Drs. Kristen Lwin and Kristina Nikolova, and research assistants will have access to the data. The data will not be shared with any other party or agency. It is estimated that the survey will take between 30 and 40 minutes to complete.

You may choose to withdraw from the study at any time. There is no penalty for withdrawing from the study. You cannot, however, have your data removed from analyses, as all surveys are anonymous.

FEEDBACK OF THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY TO THE PARTICIPANTS
Results of this study will be found on the University of Windsor website in summer 2026 at https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/research-result-summaries/.

Results will also be provided to child welfare workers through written reports and oral presentations through Practice and Research Together (PART) www.partcanada.org in spring 2025. If you would like a report emailed directly to you please email Kristen Lwin at kristen.lwin@uwindsor.ca

SUBSEQUENT USE OF DATA
These data may be used in subsequent studies, publications, and presentations. All data will be presented in the aggregate. Data on Qualtrics will be deleted upon completion of the study (spring 2026), the PI will securely store the data for further analyses.

RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
If you have questions regarding your rights as a research participant, contact: The Office of Research Ethics, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4; Telephone: 519-253-3000, ext. 3948; email: ethics@uwindsor.ca. This study has been cleared by the University of Windsor Research Ethics Board (clearance #24-009).

Link to survey: https://uwindsor.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bxPZlV51026hct8
Please contact Dr. Kristen Lwin (University of Windsor) if you have any questions at kristen.lwin@uwindsor.ca.

Manitobans can now access addiction treatment virtually without appointment

Manitobans can now access addiction treatment through Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine (RAAM) clinics virtually without an appointment. This new option allows individuals to connect with RAAM clinics online.

The Digital Front Door platform provides virtual drop-in services led by nurses. This platform aims to reduce barriers to care, such as transportation costs, travel, and stigma, making it easier for individuals to seek help for substance use and addictions.

RAAM clinics are drop-in facilities that help people manage substance use, including medical assistance to reduce or stop use.

The clinics operate on a firstcome, first-served basis. Dr. Erin Knight, medical lead for RAAM, said that the virtual platform allows for aspects of addiction services such as treatment overviews, harm reduction education, and connections to counselling while still enabling in-person assessments when necessary.

Register for BOLT’s Day of Discovery in Toronto to learn about a career in construction

Registration for BOLT’s Day of Discovery is open! Participants have the unique opportunity to tour a high-rise construction site, meet with a variety of industry professionals to learn more about their roles and how to get started and determine if a career in construction is right for them.

Please check this flyer and BOLT’s Instagram Highlights for more info.

WHEN AND WHERE?
 Date: Wednesday, October 10th Time: 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Location: George Brown College – Casa Loma Campus

WHO SHOULD JOIN

  • Youth 17-29 years old, living in the Greater Toronto Area
  • Curious or interested in a career in construction
  • Facing barriers to accessing training and employment

This program is not recommended for youth who have a fear of heights. Space is limited and registration for the event is mandatory.

REGISTER BY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4TH

Please register by filling out this form: BOLT Charitable Foundation | Building Opportunities for Life Today (neoncrm.com)