The National Youth Climate Activism Award honours students across Canada under the age of 20.
UP TO 25 prizes to be won!
Make up to a 5 minute video or write a short story of 500 words with photos, and tell us how you are taking meaningful steps toward improving the outlook for our planet with respect to climate change.
The award comes with a prize of:
➜ $500 (ages 14 & under) OR
➜ $1000 (ages 15-19)
2026 NYCAA WINNERS
British Columbia student Melody Silva combines environmental advocacy, scientific research, and creative storytelling to inspire climate action, helping young people transform climate anxiety into meaningful community engagement.
Manitoba student Amy Clark is using science and innovation to tackle real-world environmental challenges, from investigating radon exposure risks to developing sustainable energy technologies that could help reduce future carbon emissions.
Quebec student Leila Pozzi is exploring the intersection of climate justice, environmental law, and community advocacy, helping to ensure that environmental solutions are both effective and equitable for the people they affect.
Alberta student Gayatri Sakharkar combines scientific innovation, environmental education, and community leadership, inspiring others through award-winning research and her youth-led Bhumii Initiatives project.
British Columbia student Leonie Murdoch is inspiring environmental stewardship through education, community leadership, and her Eco-Excursions initiative, helping people connect with nature and understand the importance of protecting local ecosystems.
"It's hard to be sad for long when you start reading about all the amazing climate work that Youth are doing in Canada. In every community there are young people getting together to use their talents and rally energy toward climate action. Our work at the National Youth Climate Activism Award is simply about shining a light on people who are already doing world-changing stuff!"
As well as being the YCAA spokesperson, Luke is a folk singer and climate advocate. Check out his new Album and project ‘The Dandelion Resistance’
On October 25, 2019, Peter Allan, the Executive Director of I-SEA joined thousands of people marching for the planet’s health and to see Greta Thunberg speak on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Greta’s 10-minute speech was deeply inspiring, but more significantly, the passion and enthusiasm of the young people in the crowd were very moving.
“We’re starting to see through their lies and we will hold them accountable for their actions. We will be a constant reminder that they are failing and that constant reminder is what we are today, and every Friday, every single day that goes by without sufficient action being taken and when the science is being ignored. Because we are not just some kids skipping school or some adults who are not going to work. We are a wave of change and together we are unstoppable.” — Greta Thunberg
“My experience among 10,000 fellow humans and the power of Greta’s words, planted the seed for a passion project. In my role as Executive Director for the Institute for Sustainability Education and Action, I was able to manifest a literal dream.
It’s a simple idea but it’s a big idea: shine a light so that teenagers can see the positive efforts their friends are making. Shine a light so that adults, communities and politicians can see these young spirits on fire by virtue of an award that becomes a symbol of the power of youthful voices. These inspiring messages will populate out into the virtual world as good news stories that help us all push back against climate despair." — Peter Allan
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
The Youth Climate Activism Award, launched in 2022, is the first award to recognize the young change agents driving this unstoppable wave.
NYCAA ALUMNI VOICES
In Grade 10, Melody Silva began pressing her Saltspring Island, BC, school to provide plastic recycling and composting. To her frustration and despite a strong economic argument and widespread student and community support, the school board remains mostly intransigent.
Leonie Murdoch, 18, of Nanaimo, BC believes people will protect what they know and respect — and so she leads guided walks and publishes Instagram videos that focus on wildlife within their own environments.
Gayatri Sakharkar has invented a substitute for agricultural plastic film that leaves no toxic trace because it is made from orange and pineapple peels. She is a 15-year-old, Grade 10 student from Calgary.
Payal Mehta has a plastic dream. This young climate leader from Guelph, Ont., was named a 2026 Starfish Canada Fellow for her work starting Reimagining Plastic , a youth-led initiative to raise awareness and take action on the impact of plastics in our environment and bodies.
Ahmad Chattha is passing on climate hope to the children who come next. This 18-year-old Toronto highschool student is determined to ensure that young children have stories of climate hope and resilience to lift them up.
Ashton Kerr connects and empowers people to take action for the environment. As acting director of partnerships and programs for Green Teams Canada, this 28-year-old North Vancouver resident shares the power and value of community organizing to create meaningful change.
Anne Liang, a 19-year-old Dawson College student in Montreal, organized and ran a thrift fashion show so successful that the college now plans to make it an annual tradition.
Veterinary medicine student Mikayla Astroff earned a Starfish Canada 2026 Climate 75 Fellowship for her work helping youth understand the impacts of climate change on our ecosystems.
Victor Yin shows people they are not alone in their grief and mourning over the climate. With his co-facilitator Christina Joy, the 25-year-old from Montreal hosts “Climate Death Cafés” to create safe spaces for these conversations. Victor is a 2026 Starfish Canada Climate75 Fellow.
Sofia Panzetta is helping restore balance to Pacific marine ecosystems. As climate change warms the ocean, the invasive European Green Crab thrives, threatening the health of clams, mussels and even salmon stocks.
Leila Pozzi is making it easier for children and youth everywhere to talk about climate change. This 19-year-old Starfish Canada Climate75 Fellow from Montreal has developed and tested a framework to allow teachers and student leaders, regardless of geography or social context, to engage young audiences.
Isabella Wen helps those directly impacted by climate change find their voice. This 18-year-old high school student from Surrey, British Columbia, is a Starfish Canada 2026 Climate75 Fellow. She is also media team lead for the food sovereignty conversation hosted by UBC’s Health Together project.
Mendel Skulski applies the art of conversation in service of a livable future. As a sound artist, this young Vancouverite co-produces Future Ecologies, a podcast exploring our relationships with the natural world, layered with stories, science, music and soundscapes.
With a belief that the climate crisis is as much an emotional and mental challenge as a physical one, 23-year-old Brampton, Ont. native Jashan Gill leads operations for Green Mind Canada, which aims to equip young people with the tools they need to process what is happening and take meaningful action.
Kiethan Theva is shifting Toronto’s coffee-drinking culture. The 23-year-old from Scarborough, Ontario, is building a network to help sustainability-minded cafés and values-aligned customers find each other.
Jacob Gerard, a 23-year-old wildlife biologist, storyteller and photographer from Ajax, Ont., has created a beautiful web-based story map called Neighbours of the North to help people protect the wild creatures that live among them.
Mackenzie Burnett explores the overlap between extractive industry and Indigenous concepts of land restoration. She also draws people into conversations about climate solutions in her work with Climate Justice Saskatoon and the Saskatoon Climate Hub.
Fatou Dieng, a 29-year-old Montrealer originally from Senegal, was raised to see the earth as the source of all life. Now, she dedicates hers to protecting it.
Many are tempted to focus on taxing luxury consumption, but this University of Toronto PhD student says they should aim bigger: rather than just focus on what the rich are consuming, policymakers should also keep their investments in mind.
Melody Li is designing her own path toward a fairer, more climate-adaptive future. In 2026, she will focus on her own project, Meals That Matter, helping people in vulnerable and marginalized communities see food that would otherwise be wasted can be redirected to provide delicious, culturally appropriate and climate-friendly meals — while keeping food out of landfills.
Danielle Romaine is creating a beautifully flowered world that buzzes with life. The 27-year-old from Montreal, Que., volunteers with Let's Plant, a project of Sierra Club Canada in partnership with Dutchman’s Gold, an Ontario-based honey and beehive wellness company, to help plant 10 million wildflowers and plant seeds across Canada. In 2025, she ensured 500,000 seeds were planted in Quebec.
Seeing parallels between Canada and his mother's hometown in India, Mihir Rao realized his own stories of the impacts of climate change on the places he loves needed to be told.
Dane Currie is cleaning up for good. The 12-year-old from St Catharines, Ont., and his Thursday classmates, the Green Herons, got tired of doing beach clean-ups, so they figured out how to stop pollution at the source. They are 2025 winners of the I-SEA National Youth Climate Activism Award for their Earth Day video.
Alexandre Bourré and his brother, Samuel, will help you declutter your home, reduce landfill waste and assist Canadians in need. The teenager from Richmond Hill, Ont., started Earthly Bros, working with the Electronic Recycling Association (ERA) to collect used electronics and make them useful to people who cannot afford new equipment.
Anya Yang turns badminton birdies bound for the landfill into useful works of art. This 17-year-old highschool student from Markham, Ontario, co-founded Birdie UP Canada to sell upcycled birdies. The group sends birdie proceeds to the World Wildlife Fund and other charities engaged in social and environmental justice.
Abby Van Helvoirt thinks globally and acts locally. This 13-year-old, Grade 8 student from Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, builds networks, relationships and partnerships to reduce waste.
Claire Lee is painting a safer future. This 16-year-old highschool student from Surrey, British Columbia, invented a recipe for high-quality, non-toxic, plant-friendly watercolour paints.
As youth unemployment soars and climate anxiety deepens, a youth training and employment program focused on climate resiliency offers hope.
Clara Phillips is helping Nunavut return to quiet. As development project manager at Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corporation, this 25-year-old engineer-in-training from Newfoundland is leading the installation of Nunavut’s first wind turbine and battery.
Eighteen-year-old Cleo Nickels has been recognized as a 2025 Youth Changemaker for Environmental Justice for her outstanding grassroots leadership on Salt Spring Island.
We would like to express gratitude to our SPONSORS past & present.
Quebec student Anne Liang is turning environmental ideas into action through student leadership, sustainability initiatives, and large-scale community events that inspire young people to engage in climate solutions and sustainable living.