Youth In The Communities

Youth4Change In The Communities

The Project is a youth-led proposed advocacy and education initiative conducted through a partnership between Lung Sask, The Students Commission of Canada, and File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council.

Vision: Empowering youth to reduce harms caused by commercial tobacco and vaping

Mission: Youth and adult allies coming together to enhance their knowledge of commercial tobacco use and vaping in order to advocate for long term change and to promote healthy behaviours

Through a multi-pronged approach that includes education and prevention, cessation, and policy advocacy initiatives, Youth4Change targets youth and young adults to increase awareness and decrease the uptake of smoking and vaping rates among First Nations youth. This project brings together youth, leaders, and on-reserve and urban First Nations communities to work towards healthy lungs for Saskatchewan First Nations youth.

The three main pillars of action are...

In 2020 Lung Sask, in partnership with Federation of Sovereign First Nations and The Students Commission of Canada, successfully applied for funding and support through the LEAP Healthy Futures Accelerator program. In Fall 2021, File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council joined the Youth4Change project as a partner!

The Project is guided by an Advisory Committee with amazing volunteers from our partnering organizations, youth, Elders and educators from around Saskatchewan. This project will work closely with communities to create customized smoking and vaping programming in each community and engage with youth leaders to work towards a healthy Saskatchewan.

The mission of Lung Sask is to improve lung health one breath at a time. The vision is healthy lungs for everyone. As such, they aim to engage in a project that not only aligns but increases reach to underserved populations working with different partners. Lung Sask expertise on smoking cessation intervention, education, and will be coordinating the success of the project.

File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council is the political and service organization for the Qu’Appelle Agency and the File Hills Agency, delivering programs and services to the 11 First Nations in the Treaty Four Territory. As a partner on the project they bring expertise on Indigenous Nations and protocols.

The Students Commission of Canada is a charitable organization that purposefully works with others to ensure that young people are valued, heard and their ideas for improving themselves, the lives of their peers and communities are put into action. Their desired outcome is a world where all young people transition positively into a successful adulthood. The Students Commission brings expertise on youth engagement, leadership, and evaluation.