Sustainable Youth Canada (SYC) is making waves in Montreal’s climate movement by empowering young people to take action against environmental destruction. Led locally by Regional Co-Directors Nico Serreqi and Mairin Burke, the youth-led nonprofit bridges grassroots organizing with policy-level advocacy, helping the next generation of climate leaders find their voice. From sustainable fashion shows to citizen science projects, SYC fosters creativity, collaboration, and resilience—giving youth the tools to turn eco-anxiety into tangible change.
Describe your charity/non-profit/volunteer work in a few sentences.
Sustainable Youth Canada (SYC) is a youth-led nonprofit organization in so-called Canada, building community capacity for climate mitigation, adaptation, and justice. With chapters across Canada, SYC gives young people the tools they need to make their entry into climate organizing, providing a national network of committed collaborators and mentors. Through our initiatives, we aim to educate, uplift, and empower Canadian youth voices in the climate context, helping them combat eco-anxiety through tangible changemaking.
What problem does it aim to solve?
Our chapters address local sustainability issues by spearheading environmental initiatives, hosting events, and sharing our insights from these projects through social media campaigns and educational workshops. We aim to bridge youth-led grassroots efforts with top-down policy campaigns, empowering young people to hold decision-makers accountable while centring fairness and inclusion in climate action. We encourage our youth to engage in the forms of climate activism that inspire them most—from citizen science projects and policy consultations to sustainable fashion shows.
When did you start/join it?
Nico started volunteering with SYC in 2019, and Mairin in 2023. Both of us worked in communications roles before stepping into our co-director positions.
What made you want to get involved?
Youth, including ourselves, often feel underqualified and overwhelmed when it comes to getting involved in climate activism. The skyrocketing negative impacts of climate change on the environment and the social realm can cause immense eco-anxiety and make getting involved feel like a Herculean task. SYC has provided a space for us to learn about the climate organizing network in Montreal and see just how many people across all walks of life care about fighting for the environment. These connections and resources have empowered us to undertake a range of initiatives and dialogues, big and small, that protect ecology and community—allowing us to gain confidence in our unique skillsets as young people and understand that ecoactivism is effective and important to any degree.
What was the situation like when you started? How has it changed since?
When we started, SYC was still setting down its roots in Montreal and building capacity through community engagement and collaboration with other environmental non-profits already leading the way. In the years since, we have blossomed into a robust team of youth across diverse fields, educational communities, and backgrounds, all using our unique skillsets and insights to come up with original, local initiatives that combat the climate crisis and promote youth solidarity in the face of environmental destruction. We participate in a vast network of fellow organisations, activists, experts, and professionals who support our cause and with whom we share opportunities. We have also built our credibility at the national level by participating in youth consultations with the federal government of Canada.
What more needs to be done?
We need to continue to mobilise youth by finding a way to break the language barriers between anglophones and francophones that can inhibit young people’s collaboration in Quebec. We are a fully bilingual organization, and we value the exchange of ideas between primarily French organizations and English-speaking organizations. By centring linguistic and cultural collaboration in climate action, the movement will become stronger internally and reach more people externally. The inclusion of Indigenous voices must also be prioritized for improvement in the climate space, as climate destruction disproportionately impacts Indigenous communities. The global fight for climate mitigation cannot carry on without incorporating Indigenous insight, and parties on all levels of climate action—from governments, to non-profits, to individuals—have a long way to go in showing true allyship to the lands, waters, and traditional custodians of these spaces they work amongst.
How can our readers help?
Even just showing your support for our work on social media by liking and sharing our content helps our projects gain exponentially more awareness. On our social media, you can also find information about any upcoming events we host—from martial arts fundraisers to town halls with election candidates—which we encourage members of our community to attend.
Do you have any events coming up?
Keep an eye on our social media for our upcoming initiatives, environmental recommendations, and calls for recruitment. We also welcome general attendance at our team meetings, which you can arrange by email or Instagram direct message.
Where can we follow you?
Facebook | Instagram | Website
PAY IT FORWARD: What is an awesome local charity that you love?
Welfare Avenue: another local youth charity whose mission is to work towards the advancement and inclusion of low-income and unhoused individuals in the greater Montréal area, nationally, and internationally. Welfare Avenue’s initiatives work to relieve poverty and isolation and address food insecurity, and we are honoured to have supported their Sunday meal distribution program, led entirely by volunteers.
