My Experience with the 2025 Canada Youth IGF Honorarium Program
Last November, I sat at Vancouver International Airport, waiting for an early-morning flight to Ottawa to participate in the Young Digital Leaders of Canada’s (YDLC) 2025 Canada Youth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Honourarium Program. I looked out over the tranquil Pacific Ocean through the terminal windows. At the time, the world of digital policy did not feel so tranquil. As an undergraduate student studying communication, I knew how technologies like social media threatened our information ecosystem and sense of community. While I didn’t know it then, the Honourarium Program would empower myself and other young digital leaders to face these challenges head-on as engaged citizens and chart a course to help build better digital governance policies.
The program ushered me into a vibrant room of policymakers, industry leaders and youth, where I listened to and engaged in conversations about some of the most pressing topics in digital governance. Through these conversations, issues like cybersecurity and digital sovereignty were no longer just buzzwords but became accessible concepts.
The program also empowered me to consider how these conversations and concepts could be translated into meaningful change. During the Digital Governance Leadership and Civic Engagement Day, I heard from senators, diplomats and professionals who shared their approach to charting a course through stormy waters to achieve policy change. Their stories inspired me to imagine my path to create more beneficial technologies.
Yet, charting a new course can be uncomfortable. This is why I appreciated how the program brought together nearly a dozen young digital leaders from across the country to participate as a cohort. Each member brought unique passions and perspectives that expanded my definition of digital governance. At the same time, we shared a commitment to making digital spaces work for all Canadians.
Equipped with knowledge of digital governance topics, strategies for change, and a supportive network, our cohort left Ottawa tasked with creating events that removed the barriers to engagement in digital governance for youth in our home communities. I designed a workshop empowering participants to use generative AI in a way that aligns with their values and avoids the technology’s risks. Building these projects from scratch was at times daunting, but with the barriers removed by the Honorarium Program, I designed a successful event that I was truly proud of.
This April, I presented the results of my workshop at the YDLC’s Honorarium Symposium, where our cohort celebrated each other’s successes. Now, I am looking forward to future opportunities to continue on the course I set during the program.
These opportunities are all-too rare. A recent report from the Max Bell School of Public Policy noted that young Canadians are the most disengaged with our democracy out of any population due to structural barriers — many youth lack the resources, knowledge and support networks to feel they can navigate the stormy waters of issues like digital governance. The Honorarium Program empowered me and my cohort by removing the barriers for us to get engaged, understand an issue and chart a course towards policy changes. Its success is a testament to initiatives like it that shift young people’s role from being consumers of digital technologies to being engaged citizens who respond by turning their ideas for a better digital world into meaningful action.