About the website

vancouveryouth.ca is the City of Vancouver’s youth portal.

It was created, and is maintained, by youth and staff in the Social Policy Division at the City of Vancouver. We’ve been online since 2003, digitally engaging Vancouver’s young residents in municipal decision-making and in their communities. 

But, we’ve been working for the better inclusion of the voices of Vancouver youth for much longer…

What do we do?

Social Policy staff work to address social issues facing our city through:

• Information & Research
• Strategic & Systemic Advocacy
• Coordination, Collaboration & Civic Engagement
• Service Access & Quality Enhancement

Some work we currently do that relates to children & youth include:

• Research & policy on children & youth issues in Vancouver
• Civic Education & Civic Leadership Development for young Vancouver residents
• Civic Engagement of young Vancouver residents in municipal decision-making
• Assisting young Vancouver residents working towards positive change in their communities
• Childcare & out-of-school care development & promotion
• Enhancing community & collaborative efforts to prevent the sexual exploitation of young people
• Developing directories, maps & inventories of youth-led & youth-serving organizations and programs in Vancouver
• Action & participatory action research with young Vancouver residents to develop policies & practices addressing issues such as bullying, racism, discrimination, neighbourhood planning and service enhancement

Check out some of our current Projects.

Youth and the City of Vancouver

In 1992, the City of Vancouver adopted a Children’s Policy.

In 1995, the City of Vancouver passed its unique & innovative Civic Youth Strategy that committed all City departments to work together to:

1. Ensure youth have a "PLACE" in the city.
2. Ensure a strong youth VOICE in decision-making.
3. Promote youth (and their contributions) as a RESOURCE to the City.
4. Strengthen the SUPPORT BASE for youth in the city.

In 2003, the City of Vancouver followed up by developing a New Model of Youth Engagement, which created structures and strategies within the City for youth outreach and civic engagement.