Youth learn about leadership, career choices, and making a difference

by Gloria Welton

Are you passionate about making a difference? Looking for a new direction? Getting started in the workforce or looking for a new career?

Katimavik has been offering youth the opportunity to become leaders and to make a difference across Canada since 1977.

Katimavik participants are currently located in nine communities, including Halifax, Quebec City, Saguenay, Brandon, Winnipeg, Nanaimo, Calgary, Wetaskiwin, and Sudbury. And the list of locations is always expanding! PEI residents can apply.

Katimavik aims to help youth become engaged, caring citizens and capable contributors for a better Canada. This is done through the development of 21st century skills, experiential learning, and civic engagement.

Katimavik currently offers two programs. Both are fully immersive and require a full-time commitment from participants.

Katimavik’s National Experience program

This program includes 22 weeks of volunteering, experiential learning, and discovery in two provinces, including one Francophone and one Anglophone province if possible. It is open to youth aged 17 to 25 years old who are citizens, permanent residents, or have landed refugee status in Canada.

The National Experience is a volunteer program. Participants receive a weekly stipend of $25. Participants’ travel expenses, living accommodations, and daily needs are fully funded by the program. “All you need to bring is your dedication, empathy, and commitment to making a better world,” says Elliot Boulanger, Assistant Program Manager with Katimavik.

In addition to an extensive volunteering and community support curriculum, the National Experience program offers various workshops and learning opportunities to participants. Some topics and skills include:

• The history of Indigenous peoples in Canada and the importance of Truth and Reconciliation
• The benefits and impact of civic engagement
• Professional work skills in a variety of sectors, depending on volunteer placements
• Cooking skills, house maintenance, and practical life skills
• Conflict resolution, communication, and how to strive within a team environment
• Environmental protection and sustainable development
• English or French as an additional language
• Leadership, advocacy, and project management skills
• Canada’s cultural, geographic, and linguistic diversity.

“During the program, the youth make a real difference through volunteer work with community partners, make lifelong friends living with other young people, and discover their power for self-determination,” says Elliot.

“We have a staff person living with the youth to support their learning.”

FuturePerfect by Katimavik

Looking to jump-start your career, find work in a new field, or experience employment in a new community? The brand-new FuturePerfect Program is for people who are the age of majority in their home province and up to 30 years old. They must be citizens, permanent residents, or have landed refugee status in Canada. There are no educational requirements to apply.

“The FuturePerfect program offers young Canadians a way into the workforce and gives them an opportunity to try out different employment sectors in different parts of the country,” says Elliot.

During this 12-week program, participants relocate to another community in Canada for a fully-paid work position in a field related to their education or their interests. The upcoming 2023 cohorts will be based out of Quebec City.

The program offers a crash course in personal autonomy, career skills, and professional development. “Travel costs and lodging are provided, and participants experience a new community and work environment.”

Examples of employment opportunities include early childhood education, ceramic arts, behavioral support and skills-based therapy, laboratory work, restaurant work, solar and clean technologies, innovation and leadership work, charities, and not-for-profit organizations.

In the charitable field, employers are looking for skilled people in a variety of roles, including accounting, client relationship roles, and other crucial roles that allow charities to operate.

A Job Developer will be on hand to support participants.

FuturePerfect participants receive an hourly wage which is dependent on the job placement they are matched with. Participants are all paid at least minimum wage in the province where they are working plus two dollars over.

During the first week of the FuturePerfect program, participants attend workshops and career skills training, including:

• Workplace etiquette
• Budgeting and financial literacy
• Self-care and personal responsibility
• Demystifying career counsellors and employment centres
• Identity sensitivity
• Digital professionalism
• Truth and Reconciliation
• Project Management
• Tenant and landlord rights and obligations
• Speed networking and public speaking

There is a possibility to stay on with the employer after the program ends.