Skip to main content

The CCR Youth Network: What We Stand For

For and by the Youth

The Youth Network is guided by the principle of being youth-led.  The Youth Network seeks to center and amplify the voices of refugee and newcomer youth in programs, settlement organizations, and policy. 

The YN also promotes youth leadership among member organizations, who are asked to support youth participation in the Youth Network (including through funding travel to meetings and committing staff time to connecting youth to the CCR). Youth that are not associated with a member organization are welcome to participate in the Youth Network.

The Youth Network exists to provide a youth-only space and facilitate leadership opportunities for newcomer youth, helping them  to work alongside others to promote the rights and protection of youth refugees and migrants, and to create a safe space for networking and information-exchange for youth doing this work.

Our Core Team

The CCR Youth Network is directed by a Core group made out of 6-9 newcomer youth from across the country. With each member taking on a specific role, we collaborate online to plan in-person and virtual events, campaigns, workshops and much more on issues youth newcomers care about.

Co-Chair(s)

VACANT

Education and Programming Coordinators

VACANT

External Communications

VACANT

Internal Communications 

VACANT

Terms of Reference

In 2015, after consulting with the Youth Network, the Executive Committee adopted formal Terms of Reference for the Youth Network to ensure that it continues as an integrated and valued component of the CCR. 

Our objectives:

  • To offer a network for youth involved in the settlement, sponsorship and protection of refugees and immigrants.
  • To influence CCR policy by providing a collective voice through which youth can bring their ideas, objectives, and concerns to the Canadian Council for Refugees.
  • To promote and support youth engagement in advocating for refugee and immigrant rights.

The Youth Network is committed to:

 

  • Addressing challenges faced by newcomer youth
  • Youth and refugee inclusion
  • Youth engagement within the CCR
  • Working within an anti-oppression framework
  • Newcomer Youth and Refugee representation
  • Gender representation
  • Bilingualism

 

How we work

Most Youth Network members are active in local communities as volunteers, community workers and rights advocates.  

The Youth Network it is led by a Core Group made up of youth from across Canada.

We come together nationally through cyberspace, in telephone conferences and at face-to-face meetings at CCR Consultations to talk about common issues across Canada affecting newcomer youth. 

The Youth Network works closely with the rest of CCR, including with the Working Groups. This means that the CCR as a whole hears and acts on Youth Network concerns, and the Youth Network acts on some of the priorities identified by the rest of CCR.

We plan actions to address these issues locally and strategies to advocate on these issues nationally as part of the Canadian Council for Refugees.