Democracies live and die by the vote and political engagement, and research shows Canadian youth aren't turning out at the ballot box. But does that mean they're disengaged?
A new study led by Western political science professors Laura Stephenson and Christopher Alcantara, commissioned by the Max Bell Foundation, digs into how young Canadians are participating in politics, and whether their civic engagement translates into formal participation.
"There's this notion that youth are apathetic, but this is false," said Alcantara. "They're very political and just as engaged with the world as adults, just in different spaces. The challenge is recognizing that."
The research team found youth choose to participate politically through activism and in online spaces. Youth are more likely to engage with politics on social media or attend political rallies and take part in boycotts.
Still, that doesn't mean the kids are alright. There remains a wide gap between the informal spaces where youth discuss or act on political issues and more formal participation like voting. Stephenson says that's a concern at a pivotal time.
"If we care about the health of democracy, we have to care that individuals are choosing not to engage through government or institutional channels," said Stephenson, who is also the chair of the department of political science.
Alcantara agrees: "We are living in a time of democratic backsliding, and we need to identify how to get young people more strongly involved in the politics of this country."
For these reasons the report outlines some key recommendations, including building national and regional youth engagement networks, expanding leadership and mentorship opportunities, and developing sustainable funding models to support civic participation.
What do the numbers say?
As part of their research, the team, including four political science PhD candidates at Western, examined voting data from Elections Canada during the 2015, 2019 and 2021 federal elections. They found the youngest voters, those aged 18 to 24, consistently had the lowest turnout, dipping below 50 per cent in 2021. By contrast, turnout among voters aged 65 to 74 remained steady between 70 and 80 per cent in each election.
Turnout in recent federal elections by age
Source: Elections Canada (https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=rec/eval/ pes2021/evt&document=p5&lang=e#sec1; https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section= res&dir=rec/eval/pes2019/vtsa&document=index&lang=e)
Lack of interest wasn't the main reason young Canadians stayed home, researchers found.
Drawing on survey data gathered by the Consortium on Electoral Democracy (C-Dem) (the 2019 and 2021 Canadian Election Studies and Democracy Checkup surveys from 2019-2023), the report probes deeper into the behaviour, opinions and attitudes of youth. The researchers found nearly 40 per cent of people age 18-30 reported time constraints as their reason for not voting, compared to 26 per cent who said they weren't interested and 17 per cent who couldn't prove their ID or address.
Yet when it comes to other forms of civic participation, youth are leading the way. Canadians aged 18 to 23 were the most likely to attend a rally or political protest, despite being the least likely to vote. More than half of Canadians under 30 said they had boycotted or made ethical or environmental purchases for political reasons.
Digital engagement was also strong with nearly 50 per cent of young Canadians saying they follow politicians on social media and interact with political content online, the highest rate of any age group.
A polarized world
The numbers reveal a generation of politically engaged young Canadians, whether attending rallies, boycotting products or volunteering in their communities, but the researchers also wanted to understand what is keeping youth from traditional forms of participation like voting.
Examining responses from three youth dialogues hosted by the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University in collaboration with C-Dem, the research team identified two barriers of interest: political polarization and a belief that governments don't care.
"The degree to which polarization is important was a bit of a surprise," said Stephenson. "If politics is distasteful and too polarized or if they're worried about what friends might say, that is a barrier we didn't know about."
One secondary student explained bluntly the turn off to politics is people who are unreasonable or who seem to just want to make others angry.
Research team from left to right: Laura Stephenson, Christopher Alcantara, Juliette Leblanc, Justine Béchard. Not pictured: Craig Mutter, Tess Whillans. (Laura Stephenson/Faculty of Social Science)
The second major barrier, said Stephenson, is the perception that governments don't care about the same issues as young people, and that politics offers little room for real impact. "That's a fair assessment at times," she said.
As another secondary student respondent said, "What turns me away is how little I can do to change how the world works. At the end of the day, I can't do anything about it."
Stephenson says these attitudes highlight the work governments must do to become more welcoming for younger voices and help channel their very real interests and enthusiasm into avenues/opportunities that can shape policy.
Alcantara adds that certain groups of young Canadians face even greater barriers.
"New immigrants and immigrant youth experience language and cultural obstacles that make it hard for them to be reached by civic programming," he said. "We also see lower engagement among Indigenous youth and youth in northern communities; these are difficult groups to reach."
Real world impact
The team's report is already driving policy discussions, with presentations on behalf of the Max Bell Foundation in Calgary and Toronto to organizations and stakeholders actively looking to improve youth civic engagement.
Stephenson said she's proud of the work, noting it showcases the value of strong political and social science training at Western.
"This report was something our students were extremely well placed to do," she said. "It's a different kind of research, done on behalf of a foundation, that's going to have real-world impact."
In order to support the five recommendations made by the research team The Max Bell Foundation has committed $250,000 to explore ideas to help get youth more engaged in traditional political activities.
"It's a great example of Western's expertise being translated into policy action," said Alcantara. "This is real, evidence-based research that reflects the lived experience of Canadian youth."
The Max Bell Foundation, along with the Centre for the Study of Political Behaviour at Western, is holding an essay contest seeking original research papers from graduate and undergraduate students that explore innovative approaches, barriers or strategies related to increasing the civic participation of youth in Canada. Essay contest details can be found here and here.
