THE PROJECT
In partnership with Youth IGF Canada, The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University hosted Canada’s first-ever Youth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in September 2024. The event brought together 88 in-person and 40 virtual participants from across the country to engage in multistakeholder dialogue on internet policy issues ranging from broadband access to online harms and Indigenous language inclusion. “Youth are often left out of internet governance spaces because they don’t yet fall into traditional stakeholder groups,” said Dana Cramer, President of Youth IGF Canada. “This forum gave them a seat at the table and a platform to be heard.”
The event featured keynote addresses from Minister of Justice Arif Virani and Senator Andrew Cardozo, as well as speakers from ICANN, ISED Canada, TELUS and Indigenous organizations. A post-forum report was submitted to the UN IGF Secretariat, helping to establish Canada’s Youth IGF as a recognized national initiative.
The Net Good Grant enabled the team to offer 20 travel bursaries, ensuring youth from every province and territory could participate. “That was the most impactful part,” said Cramer. “It allowed us to build a truly pan-Canadian network of young internet leaders.”
COMMUNITY IMPACT
The forum sparked new partnerships, career opportunities and long-term engagement. “Some of the youth who attended have since joined our organizing committee,” said Cramer. “Others applied to ICANN’s NextGen program or the Internet Society’s Youth Ambassador program after learning about them at the event.”
Panel sessions were developed through a collaborative, bottom-up process involving organizations like the Centre for International Governance Innovation, Indigenous Friends Association and Young Diplomats of Canada. “We wanted to make sure the agenda reflected diverse perspectives and empowered youth to engage meaningfully,” Cramer explained. The Universal Acceptance (UA) panel, hosted by ICANN, was a notable standout. “It changed the way people thought,” said Cramer. “Many attendees had never heard of UA before, and it opened their eyes to the importance of linguistic diversity online.”
“We’re building institutional memory and a pipeline of youth leaders,” said Cramer. “This is just the beginning.”
RELATED LINKS
• Youth Internet Government Forum program: https://www.youthigfcanada.ca/canada-youth-igf/
• Youth Internet Government Forum recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3zCtZpG_lI
