The Young Caregivers Collective of Canada: A Call to Action

Written by Lux and Rebekah.

"Young carers should be invited to help shape the way supports are designed and the priorities of what supports we even need in the first place" - Member

Across Canada, young people are supporting family members and/or friends every day while balancing school, work, and their own personal lives. These responsibilities shape everyday life, relationships, and future plans in ways that may not always be visible to others. The Young Caregivers Collective of Canada (YCCC) creates space for our experiences to be recognized and valued by connecting young carers with diverse identities and stories across Canada. As a national group of young carers we use our collective wisdom to advocate for change. 

Who are Young Carers?

Young carers are young people who support someone living with chronic illness, mental health concerns, disability, substance misuse, parental absence, aging needs, and/or other social and/or cultural factors (e.g., language). We are students, friends, co-workers, and family members who take up complex responsibilities, often without recognition or support. While balancing school, work, and social lives, we assist with everyday routines and challenges, coordinate care across medical and social systems, provide different types of support, and advocate for our families in systems not designed with caregiving young people in mind.

Our Beginnings

The Young Caregivers Association® (YCA) envisioned a national advisory of young caregivers that would inform programs and services for young caregivers across Canada. Through the Petro-Canada CareMakers Foundation National Grant, the YCA connected with Co-founder and Director, Rebekah Gold, to make this vision come to life. Over the last three years, Rebekah has worked alongside brilliant young carers to build the YCCC from the ground up. Drawing on her experiences as a young carer and critical participatory researcher, Rebekah worked to ensure the YCCC was created by young carers for young carers, prioritizing community, mentorship, shared decision-making, and meaningful partnerships and advocacy work. Naturally, the YCCC became a powerful space for advocacy and community among young carers. 

Fast forward to 2025, and the YCCC had grown to become their own entity, while maintaining a strong partnership with the YCA. The YCCC is a collective of young carers from across Canada who believe that our stories and experiences should guide conversations and decisions about us. We believe in celebrating difference and that every young carers' story is unique. We come together not only to share stories but to drive change that is grounded in care, community, and connection. Too often, decisions about young carers are made without including those of us who take up care work every day. 

In 2026, we became an in-house initiative of the Azrieli Foundation’s Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence. We also changed our name to the Young Caregivers Collective of Canada, to reflect the dynamic community of change makers that we have become. We continue to mobilize the stories and wisdom of young carers across Canada.   

Why we Care

As young people with care experiences, we hold wisdom about the challenges that come with supporting a family member and/or friend. Most of us have navigated caring for someone without any formal supports and became aware of the term young caregiver later in our youth. We hold valuable knowledge about disability and illness, we recognize and experience stigma and injustices that lead to silence and isolation, and we feel deep empathy for young carers and families across Canada who have also been left unsupported. Through caring for someone, we have learned important life skills that help us support our family, friends, and community. 

Why do we care? Because every young person and their family should have access to quality supports and resources. At the YCCC, we join together to lift up the stories of young carers and acknowledge them as leaders, wisdom-holders, advocates, storytellers, and change-makers across Canada. 

Our goal is simple:

We want young carers to be recognized, supported, and valued. 

We want to create a space grounded in connection and co-creation, where we design our own projects, share our lived wisdom and work alongside professionals and policymakers to transform the systems that shape our lives.

Why Awareness Matters

Presently, young carers are still largely unsupported and unrecognized in Canada. A teacher may not understand why a student is late or tired in class. An employer may not see why a young worker needs flexibility. Emergency services may not see or hear the many young people that are navigating crises and call responders for help. Health and social services may miss opportunities to identify, understand, and provide resources to young carers. 

Awareness matters because it is the first step toward change. 

When people know we exist, they can begin to create policies, programs, and practices that support us.