International Youth Day: Environment as a priority

Around the world, young people are speaking out in support of the fight against climate change. Canadian youth are no exception to this movement, actively participating in it by donating, volunteering or promoting sustainable transportation: simple actions, that can be easy to adopt, to protect the planet.

While the environment is an important issue for young Canadians (aged 15 to 30 years), they also face other challenges such as affordable housing and health care, to name a few. These factors may influence their decisions and behaviours, including volunteering and purchasing decisions. Certain groups of youth face more barriers, including those living in less affordable large cities, Indigenous youth, and youth in low-income households.

Young people giving to the cause

In 2018, about 4 in 10 Canadians volunteered their time to charities, non-profits and community organizations. Youth born in 1996 or later had a 52% rate of mentored volunteering, which is higher than older adults.

Some 6% of youth volunteered their time to environmental organizations, compared with 7% of those aged 31 to 46 years and 6% of those aged 47 years and older.

In 2018, youth spent proportionally more of their volunteer hours working with environmental organizations relative to older age groups. Specifically, 7% of all hours volunteered by youth aged 15 to 30 years were spent volunteering for environmental organizations, which was higher than the proportion among those aged 47 years and older (3%).

I give, you give... and young people give!

Philanthropy remains an effective way to get involved in your community. According to the General Social Survey – Giving, Volunteering and Participating, 68% of Canadians aged 15 years and older were donors. Specifically, 53% of youth aged 15 to 30 years were donors, a much lower proportion than the donor rate for those aged 31 to 46 years (70%) and those aged 47 years and over (74%).

In terms of donations to environmental organizations, younger donors gave an average of $125, compared with $134 for those aged 31 to 46 years and $151 for those aged 47 years and older. The lower amounts may be attributed to the lower average incomes of young people.

By bus, on foot, or by bike?

For both youth and adults, the choice of method of transit to work depends on many factors, including place of residence and place of work, individual preferences, and access to a vehicle. For those who care about the environment, sustainable or active transportation is a choice.

According to the 2016 Census of Population, 46% of youth aged 15 to 30 years used a sustainable method of transportation, which included public transit, walking, cycling, or carpooling (i.e., two or more passengers sharing a car). They are the most frequent users of sustainable transportation, with 63% adopting it to get to work. By comparison, the proportion of adults aged 31 years or older who used sustainable transportation was 28%.

To get to work, young people chose public transit (19%), carpooling (16%), active transportation, walking (9%), and cycling (2%).

The future belongs to the youth, as the saying goes. May the voices of Canada's youth continue to be heard and may their actions inspire all of us to become more engaged, across all generations, in the climate emergency.