Heading into the 8th edition of Young Citizens

The Young Citizens program, for students aged 10 to 16, focuses on citizenship and is a complementary component to Heritage Fairs, an annual event where students publicly present the results of their research on Canadian heroes, legends, and key events in Canadian history.

Participants  create a short video about their Heritage Fair topic, much like an evening news report or short documentary film. The videos are posted online, and the public is encouraged to vote for their favourites. The winners will receive a trip to Ottawa to screen their films and participate in the Canada’s History Forum.

Since the creation of the program in 2012, nearly 1000 student videos have been posted online. The videos have been viewed over 375,000 times and close to 280,000 Canadians have logged a vote for their favourite video.

This year, students from all provinces and territories across Canada will participate in Young Citizens. Their videos will be posted online in June so that Canadians can view their stories and appreciate their hard work. Members of the public — families, teachers, schools, and community members — will be encouraged to view, comment on, and vote for their favourite videos starting on June 11th. The online vote will close at midnight (Eastern Time) on July 1st, 2019.